Congratulations on the new job, although it can definitely be bittersweet. I cried buckets leaving my last job, and I didn't even like it that much. Lol.
Cozy book recs for me usually skew toward YA, generally fantasy - I love to lose myself in a good world and it feels like coming back to myself, in some ways, because the very best ones really transport you back into your teen years. Which in a lot of ways blows chunks, but at least I was reading some truly heartfelt books as a teenager (think: Infernal Devices, Gallagher Girls, etc.)
Okay, this is sending me because I read A Little Hope for the first time maybe about a week ago and was beyond unimpressed. Thrilled that it landed for someone else, and I hope you love it when/if you get there!
I bet I am a bit older than you because we didn't have as much YA out there when I was younger, we went right from Nancy Drew to RL Stine, maybe some Sweet Valley and then straight into the dark stuff like King (which is my theory for millennial obsession with King, its an early inundation thing) or Grisham. Fantasy was something I read as a child and then discovered again as an adult, but I have grown to appreciate it SO much more!
And thank you! now about a month in and I THINK I am getting it.. 😵lol
I haven't read it yet (but I own it, etc. etc.) but I've heard great things about Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries. There's a sequel out now, too, and it involves a curmudgeonly professor going to the north of England to research faeries and the adventures she has along the way.
Dog of the North! I hope you enjoy it if you end up reading it ☺️ also, sending you good vibes for the new job 🤞🏻 I also worked in higher ed for 8 years before I went full time with my photography business! What area do you work in? I worked in student affairs and then alumni relations
Somehow I missed this comment a month ago!! I am a Budget Analyst for one of the colleges at a state university. How I ever got a job involving numbers is one of life's greatest mysteries...
I am reading a cozy mystery for, I believe, the second time in my life. (I read a book many years ago that I picked up at a Little Free Library that I think qualifies, but it was before I was aware of the subgenre and all its specific conventions.) It's Mia Manasala's first: ARSENIC AND ADOBO. Definitely written with love for the book itself (and a serious love of food). Mostly it has left me craving Filipino food and googling for restaurants. (Sadly there are none near me, but there is a Filipino grocery store one town over and I'm on the verge of going!)
You know I have seen that book around and the cover has always put me off - I tend to recoil from cartoon covers. But maybe I need to not judge this book by its cover... :)
It was incredibly true to the cozy mystery subgenre, so if you enjoy those rules, I bet you'll enjoy this book! But if cozies aren't your thing, I have a feeling it won't be your fave. (Like, no swearing/sex/gore/on-page violence, heavy emphasis on food, quaint setting, a low-stakes vibe in spite of the bodies piling up!)
I hope the new job is going well. I always found it incredibly unmooring to start a new job. It always seemed 20% exciting and 80% nauseatingly terrifying. I hope you are finding a better balance than that.
I had a little loneliness and depression set in but it's only the first week I have plenty of time to find new emotions (hopefully good ones) in the near future. I'm just generally bad with change so I know its temporary. :) Finding new good places to eat has helped lol
Love this list— it + more stuff for cats seem together like a very healthy way to approach a major life transition. See, you did learn something in therapy.
I love everything about this post -- I am looking for that feeling you described - a softness to counter the hard edges of everything in the world and everything that is February. I am reading slowly right now and despair that I will read everything that I would like but I was happy to see the Backman book and I'm thinking I'll add it to the TBR list right away. I don't know why I haven't read Cloud Cuckoo Land yet. I just haven't felt it...
There are so many books on my "why haven't I read this" list and the truth is there just isn't enough time! If/when you feel ready Cuckoo and Beartown will certainly help soften some of the hard edges we all feel right now :) and thank you!
Ahhh Cloud Cuckoo Land has been on my shelf for, ashamedly, for years and I’ve never read. With your endorsement maybe now I’ll get round to it! I fully endorse Piranesi btw. I read it THREE years ago now and I honestly can still think about that book. And for a book to live in my brain for three years, that means it’s excellent right?
I’m really having a serious think if I can add a book loving book to this list. Have you ever read Wolf Den by Elodie Harper? This could be a wild card from me as I know you’re not totally sold on historical fiction. BUT it’s the first book of a trilogy and it is really really captivating. When I read it it made me feel like 13 years old ploughing through a story again with the most excitement ever. Just really well written story w correct amount of captivating storyline and characters you really fall for. Some others I’d throw out are - The Flames by Sophie Haydock, Daughters of the night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson or maybe The Trees by Percival Everett? These are all books that I feel like have big sink you teeth into storylines and feel totally like books that love BEING books.
I haven't read any of these suggestions yet! I like historical fiction but not so much that I will ready anything (like I will with crime or mystery). The Flames sounds like it would be a winner for me! And no shelf shaming around here - I have been meaning to get to so many books its comical. 😁
Ahhh excellent choice I LOVED the flames so much. I look forward to you maybe reading it! Haha no shelf shame here at all. This is a book hoarders safe space x
Loving a list of loving reads, I have similar emotional needs right now so i WILL be taking these recs to my Libby app ASAP.
In the interest of keeping things light, I just picked up the copy of Liarmouth, a new novel by John Waters that I got for Valentine's Day. Its subheading is "a feel-bad romance," LOL, but being familiar with Waters' work I expected it to be a romp that I can just relax into. And it has been!
Fun, filthy, low-calorie schlock can be good for the spirit :)
I'm sorry the transition to your new job is taxing. I hope it eases sooner than later. I sent you coffee/book money to get yourself a little treat. 💕 The kitties look like they are living their best life per usual. I love that for them. Sooooo many books to add to my TBR pile!!
I LOVE my Kindle paperwhite. When I was first using mine, I was mad that it had taken me so long to buy one. They really are life changing, especially for the ginormous books that you don't want to hold in bed. I def would have dropped one of the huge books on my face at some point.
I've been eyeing The Book Of Love but something about the synopsis isn't making me pull the trigger. Which is wild because it has everything that I normally love. I think I need to read a sample of it before I commit. Squeeze the kitties for me!!!
The transition was so much more emotional than I thought it would be!! Someone took a chance on me 9 years ago and changed the trajectory of my life. It's wild to think how proud 27 year old me would be of 37 year old me now.
I have actually dropped my iPad on my face before so Kindle Paperwhite to the rescue lol
That's how I've been feeling about the Kiley Reid book out so I get it - its a monetary and time investment for new books so they need to be worth it! Getting to The Book of Love is almost like a FOMO situation at this point which I guess is a terrible reason to read a book but oh well.
I’m (very) biased but I’m rooting for Piranesi as your next read! also, I’ve been waiting to start TD Night Country until it’s all out but I’ve been hearing such good things!! which is very exciting. thanks for the mention and for the recs!
Congratulations on the new job, although it can definitely be bittersweet. I cried buckets leaving my last job, and I didn't even like it that much. Lol.
Cozy book recs for me usually skew toward YA, generally fantasy - I love to lose myself in a good world and it feels like coming back to myself, in some ways, because the very best ones really transport you back into your teen years. Which in a lot of ways blows chunks, but at least I was reading some truly heartfelt books as a teenager (think: Infernal Devices, Gallagher Girls, etc.)
Okay, this is sending me because I read A Little Hope for the first time maybe about a week ago and was beyond unimpressed. Thrilled that it landed for someone else, and I hope you love it when/if you get there!
I bet I am a bit older than you because we didn't have as much YA out there when I was younger, we went right from Nancy Drew to RL Stine, maybe some Sweet Valley and then straight into the dark stuff like King (which is my theory for millennial obsession with King, its an early inundation thing) or Grisham. Fantasy was something I read as a child and then discovered again as an adult, but I have grown to appreciate it SO much more!
And thank you! now about a month in and I THINK I am getting it.. 😵lol
I haven't read it yet (but I own it, etc. etc.) but I've heard great things about Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries. There's a sequel out now, too, and it involves a curmudgeonly professor going to the north of England to research faeries and the adventures she has along the way.
anything with mystical creatures and I am in!!
Right? Always down for a good magical creature companion.
Dog of the North! I hope you enjoy it if you end up reading it ☺️ also, sending you good vibes for the new job 🤞🏻 I also worked in higher ed for 8 years before I went full time with my photography business! What area do you work in? I worked in student affairs and then alumni relations
Somehow I missed this comment a month ago!! I am a Budget Analyst for one of the colleges at a state university. How I ever got a job involving numbers is one of life's greatest mysteries...
I hope you love Piranesi. It’s just so pure and so innocent 🥹
that is the perfect way to describe it - and i LOVED it
I am reading a cozy mystery for, I believe, the second time in my life. (I read a book many years ago that I picked up at a Little Free Library that I think qualifies, but it was before I was aware of the subgenre and all its specific conventions.) It's Mia Manasala's first: ARSENIC AND ADOBO. Definitely written with love for the book itself (and a serious love of food). Mostly it has left me craving Filipino food and googling for restaurants. (Sadly there are none near me, but there is a Filipino grocery store one town over and I'm on the verge of going!)
You know I have seen that book around and the cover has always put me off - I tend to recoil from cartoon covers. But maybe I need to not judge this book by its cover... :)
It was incredibly true to the cozy mystery subgenre, so if you enjoy those rules, I bet you'll enjoy this book! But if cozies aren't your thing, I have a feeling it won't be your fave. (Like, no swearing/sex/gore/on-page violence, heavy emphasis on food, quaint setting, a low-stakes vibe in spite of the bodies piling up!)
Yay John Irving! 🤗 and yay cat tree!! 😻
I hope the new job is going well. I always found it incredibly unmooring to start a new job. It always seemed 20% exciting and 80% nauseatingly terrifying. I hope you are finding a better balance than that.
I had a little loneliness and depression set in but it's only the first week I have plenty of time to find new emotions (hopefully good ones) in the near future. I'm just generally bad with change so I know its temporary. :) Finding new good places to eat has helped lol
That’s a good approach 😋
Love this list— it + more stuff for cats seem together like a very healthy way to approach a major life transition. See, you did learn something in therapy.
so you're saying I need to give myself more credit. you are right. Look at my healthy coping skills!!
That’s more like it!!
I love everything about this post -- I am looking for that feeling you described - a softness to counter the hard edges of everything in the world and everything that is February. I am reading slowly right now and despair that I will read everything that I would like but I was happy to see the Backman book and I'm thinking I'll add it to the TBR list right away. I don't know why I haven't read Cloud Cuckoo Land yet. I just haven't felt it...
There are so many books on my "why haven't I read this" list and the truth is there just isn't enough time! If/when you feel ready Cuckoo and Beartown will certainly help soften some of the hard edges we all feel right now :) and thank you!
Ahhh Cloud Cuckoo Land has been on my shelf for, ashamedly, for years and I’ve never read. With your endorsement maybe now I’ll get round to it! I fully endorse Piranesi btw. I read it THREE years ago now and I honestly can still think about that book. And for a book to live in my brain for three years, that means it’s excellent right?
I’m really having a serious think if I can add a book loving book to this list. Have you ever read Wolf Den by Elodie Harper? This could be a wild card from me as I know you’re not totally sold on historical fiction. BUT it’s the first book of a trilogy and it is really really captivating. When I read it it made me feel like 13 years old ploughing through a story again with the most excitement ever. Just really well written story w correct amount of captivating storyline and characters you really fall for. Some others I’d throw out are - The Flames by Sophie Haydock, Daughters of the night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson or maybe The Trees by Percival Everett? These are all books that I feel like have big sink you teeth into storylines and feel totally like books that love BEING books.
I haven't read any of these suggestions yet! I like historical fiction but not so much that I will ready anything (like I will with crime or mystery). The Flames sounds like it would be a winner for me! And no shelf shaming around here - I have been meaning to get to so many books its comical. 😁
Ahhh excellent choice I LOVED the flames so much. I look forward to you maybe reading it! Haha no shelf shame here at all. This is a book hoarders safe space x
Loving a list of loving reads, I have similar emotional needs right now so i WILL be taking these recs to my Libby app ASAP.
In the interest of keeping things light, I just picked up the copy of Liarmouth, a new novel by John Waters that I got for Valentine's Day. Its subheading is "a feel-bad romance," LOL, but being familiar with Waters' work I expected it to be a romp that I can just relax into. And it has been!
Fun, filthy, low-calorie schlock can be good for the spirit :)
I mean the cover of Liarmouth alone gives me confidence its a fabulous filthy read. When life gets serious, we get silly!!
I'm sorry the transition to your new job is taxing. I hope it eases sooner than later. I sent you coffee/book money to get yourself a little treat. 💕 The kitties look like they are living their best life per usual. I love that for them. Sooooo many books to add to my TBR pile!!
I LOVE my Kindle paperwhite. When I was first using mine, I was mad that it had taken me so long to buy one. They really are life changing, especially for the ginormous books that you don't want to hold in bed. I def would have dropped one of the huge books on my face at some point.
I've been eyeing The Book Of Love but something about the synopsis isn't making me pull the trigger. Which is wild because it has everything that I normally love. I think I need to read a sample of it before I commit. Squeeze the kitties for me!!!
The transition was so much more emotional than I thought it would be!! Someone took a chance on me 9 years ago and changed the trajectory of my life. It's wild to think how proud 27 year old me would be of 37 year old me now.
I have actually dropped my iPad on my face before so Kindle Paperwhite to the rescue lol
That's how I've been feeling about the Kiley Reid book out so I get it - its a monetary and time investment for new books so they need to be worth it! Getting to The Book of Love is almost like a FOMO situation at this point which I guess is a terrible reason to read a book but oh well.
Kitties are spoiled rotten :)
Love!! Thanks for the shoutout :):):) now I have even MORE books to add to my list. Just what I needed ;)
RIGHT lol
I’m (very) biased but I’m rooting for Piranesi as your next read! also, I’ve been waiting to start TD Night Country until it’s all out but I’ve been hearing such good things!! which is very exciting. thanks for the mention and for the recs!
I'm now scrambling to finish Beartown so I can get to Piranesi.... 😎