The Cozy Owlet

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The rise of cozy reading: mystery, fantasy, and moreJanuary 13, 2025
The idea of “cozy” fiction seems to have spiked in the last few years. Cozy mysteries, cozy fantasies – shelves are overflowing with authors insistent of making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (Google Trends seems to agree with me on this. Searches for cozy mystery, cozy reading, and cozy fantasy grew 2-10x since 2022). I can imagine why… Read more: The rise of cozy reading: mystery, fantasy, and more
The gift of reading: Scenes of the Crime and Once Upon a Book ClubJanuary 6, 2025
Welcome, friends to 2025! I hope your first week of this mathematically fun year has been treating you well. I usually spend this week trying to recover from the intensity of the holiday season. This year, that means reading everything I can get my hands on and indulging in some cozy games as well. And I’ve allowed myself a special… Read more: The gift of reading: Scenes of the Crime and Once Upon a Book Club
Considerations – and charts! – on the challenges of 2024December 31, 2024
As we prepare to send 2024 out with a bang, I wanted to reflect on my reading journey this year. Personally, 2024 has been a year of immense growth and intense change. I hit a milestone birthday, and a major educational moment. I got a big promotion. And I did a big International trip (and several small ones). Somewhere in… Read more: Considerations – and charts! – on the challenges of 2024
Mystery, music, and everything in between: My Top 5 Epistolary Reads of 2024December 31, 2024
We’ve made it through mystery and fantasy to arrive at my favorite epistolary reads of 2024. I’ll be honest – this was not a great year for epistolary releases… but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get to read new material. Instead, I got to dig through some extant epistolaries to blend with the newer stuff. The result was a set… Read more: Mystery, music, and everything in between: My Top 5 Epistolary Reads of 2024
Tales of Magic, Mystery, and Other Marvels: My Top 5 Fantasy Reads of 2024December 30, 2024
Yesterday was mystery, and today we’re moving to my favorite fantasy reads of the year… It was an interesting year for my fantasy TBR. I started the year expecting to read a hefty list of new releases… And while I read some on that list, I found a lot of joy in books published earlier, discovered almost accidentally. A good… Read more: Tales of Magic, Mystery, and Other Marvels: My Top 5 Fantasy Reads of 2024
Wit, Intrigue, and Warmth: My Favorite Mysteries in 2024December 29, 2024
It’s the time of year for reading roundups and top-n lists, and this blog is no exception. I’ve read 180(!) books this year, some better than others, and I Have Some Thoughts on those I loved best and why. We’ll start with the mysteries, which were far and away the genre I spent the most time with. Writing this blog… Read more: Wit, Intrigue, and Warmth: My Favorite Mysteries in 2024
Advent of Mystery, 2024: Some thoughts on the Christmas crime genreDecember 25, 2024
Merry Christmas, my reading friends! I hope you have enjoyed this year’s Advent of Mystery at least as much as I have. I’ve certainly learned a ton about what it takes to manage a Christmas mystery story that still feels festive. As usual, we’ll keep it quick – starting with a roundup of all the Christmas crime we went through.… Read more: Advent of Mystery, 2024: Some thoughts on the Christmas crime genre
Advent of Mystery, Day 10: A Lively Midwinter MurderDecember 24, 2024
Our last day of book reviews brings us to A Lively Midwinter Murder, a continuation of the cozy Dahlia Lively series. For those unfamiliar, this series follows three actresses who have played three generations of the same female detective. They’re drawn together by this commonality – and when murders occur around them, of course they must investigate. Because the series… Read more: Advent of Mystery, Day 10: A Lively Midwinter Murder

Welcome to The Cozy Owlet, a home for all things bookish. If you love reading (especially of the cozy mystery, snarky fantasy, and meta-fictional variety), you’re in the right place. New posts on Mondays.

The Cozy Owlet

A bookish blog for curious readers

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