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A new puzzle for old friends in Richard Osman’s The Impossible Fortune
Despite my personal preference for summer, fall is the best season for a cozy mystery reader. The air is crisp; dusk falls just as you get home — perfect for a cozy, dark reading session. And the releases flow fast and furious, both big-name blockbusters and pleasingly puzzly debuts. It’s the former I’ll focus on
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Through Hell and Back: On Katabasis, Academia, and the Hope of Connection
Grad school is hell. So sayeth all my friends with a doctorate, and so sayeth Dr. R. F. Kuang in her latest book, Katabasis. Katabasis (lit. “journey to the underworld”) follows a final-year doctoral candidate as she treks to Hell to rescue her (questionable) doctoral advisor. To her irritation, she’s stuck with the department’s Golden
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TCO Reviews: The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
The air is crisp, orange is back in season, cinnamon has started to permeate – mystery season is back. And what better way to celebrate than a new Janice Hallett? Long-time readers will know that Hallett is one of my favorite modern crime authors. She’s one of the only authors working in epistolaries today, and
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Reading roundup: Odds and ends
Because I’ve had so much travel since my last roundup, I haven’t had as much time to share my literary wanderings. So I thought I’d do a Very Special Reading Roundup. Some 52 Book Club updates, some TCO reviews, some other fun reads to keep an eye on. 52 Book Club – progress updates We
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Reading Adventures, Pt. 12: Ghosts and spies in the City That Never Sleeps
After a cozy weekend spent in small-town America, it was time for a full 180. You can’t get much more “big city” than the Big Apple! Bright, loud, and full of life, there’s someplace to go and someone to see in every visit I make. But between the dinners and the cozy hangouts, I made
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Reading Adventures, Pt. 11: Small Towns, Big Flavors – A Journey with Marilyn Hagerty’s Grand Forks
Long-time TCO fans may have picked up that I’m a city gal at heart. I love my life in San Francisco, with its walkable streets and abundance of creative restaurants. But I grew up taking many road trips, where I developed a deep love for small towns and their quirks. It’s that love that made
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TCO Reviews: Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher
As summer turns early fall, it’s time to start putting aside the beachy reads in favor of cozier aesthetics. It’s early for true dark academia vibes – I don’t need roaring fireplaces just yet; but I also want something a little more thoughtful and grounded. I’m hoping that T. Kingfisher’s recent desert retelling of Snow
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The Secret Lives of British Cities (According to Urban Fantasy)
I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy streak lately—though not the swords-and-sagas kind. These days, I’m drawn more to urban fantasy, that magical subgenre where the extraordinary exists just beneath the surface of the ordinary. It’s one of my favourites, in part because it makes the impossible feel just a bit more possible. Magic,
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Letters from the Reading Perch: Reading as Recovery
Reading has always been more than a hobby to me — it’s comfort, clarity, and, at times, the very thing that keeps me upright. So consider this the first letter from my reading perch: part journal, part meditation, part invitation. Dear Inklings, I’m never sure how universal my reading experience is, but I’ve always found
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Reading adventures, Pt. 10: Dusty legends and ocean breezes in Abu Dhabi
Just when I thought I’d got the hang of this reading-while-traveling thing, my latest trip threw me for a loop. Earlier this month, I was told I needed to travel to Abu Dhabi for work. Never one to waste a good trip, I dove into my usual pre-travel ritual: building a reading list rooted in