Top Ten Tuesday: Rewind – Cozy Reads!

Hi friends! Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Rewind, so I chose to go back to the old topic of Cozy Reads! I’ve been really enjoying the rise of cozy fantasy and sci-fi books lately. I mean, they’ve always been around, but they seem to be getting more attention lately. So I wanted to share some with you all!

Thank you to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting/organizing Top Ten Tuesday! Find my past Top Ten Tuesday posts here.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

• Author: Sangu Mandanna
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Fantasy (+ romance)

This is a very sweet standalone novel featuring witches, found family, finding your place, and a grumpy/sunshine romance! Obviously there is much more than that haha but those were some of my favorite themes from it. I really loved seeing all the different types of relationships that formed in the book, not just the romantic one. I’ve actually got a review of it here if you want to read! There’s a moodboard too hehe.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

• Author: Megan Bannen
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Fantasy (+ romance)

This is another standalone with a grumpy/sunshine romance! Hmm do I have a thing for this trope? PERHAPS. Anyway, this books is magical in a different way to Irregular Witches. Whereas that one is set in the UK, this one is set in an entirely fictional land. There are anthropomorphic animals that deliver mail, gods that interfere in the world, zombies, and dead bodies. The world-building is honestly wild, and I definitely want to learn more about it. I wrote a mini review of the book here, and Ri wrote a full review here!

Half a Soul

• Author: Olivia Atwater
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Fantasy (+ romance)

It seems to be that a lot of the cozy fantasy stories that are popular right now are also half romance, and this book is yet another one of those. I personally have no problem with this haha. Half a Soul is sort of a mix between Pride & Prejudice and Howl’s Moving Castle, while still obviously being it’s own thing. Also, there are FAE. I love a good regency fae story!! Honestly I love any fae story. Which leads me to the next book…haha.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

• Author: Heather Fawcett
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Fantasy

I talked about this one a little bit in my January wrap up post. It’s a little past the winter season, but this has alllll the wintery cozy vibes. It’s a great one to curl up on the couch with, next to a fire with a cup of tea. My favorite type of fae are the dangerous and wild kind, and that’s exactly how the faeries are in this book. I also love that Emily was the grumpy one in this romance!! Often with M/F romances, the men are usually the grumpy ones. I do want to note that the romance in this one is pretty light. I was expecting more given how it was marketed, but it’s not a major part of the story. Ultimately I still loved it though but I just want to set everyone up with the right expectations.

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

• Author: India Holton
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Fantasy (+ romance)

This is one I discovered recently because a friend on Bookstagram posted about how much they loved the third book in this series! So to start – THIS BOOK HAS FLYING HOUSES. The book is about pirates and the “pirate ships” are instead PIRATE HOUSES THAT FLY. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! It was just so much fun, a complete joyride of a book. I’m stoked to continue on with the series and get to know some of the other characters introduced in this one!

Legends & Lattes

• Author: Travis Baldree
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Fantasy

I think this book is probably the one that kickstarted the recent “cozy fantasy” surge. Want to hear something shocking though? I haven’t actually read it yet…haha. I swear I will! But you know how it is, too many books to read and so little time. Anyway, it follows a warrior who wants to retire and open a coffee shop, but naturally things get in the way. It is a much beloved book, and I hope to read it soon.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

• Author: Becky Chambers
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Science Fiction

I’ve written about this one just a few times here on the blog haha. It’s definitely an all time favorite book for me. Reading this book truly feels like drinking a soothing cup of tea. It features a nonbinary tea monk named Dex who meets a robot named Mosscap, and together they talk about life. I definitely agree with the articles that have called this a “hopepunk” novella. It just feels so pure and like Becky Chambers just reached out with words and gave me a big hug.

World Running Down

• Author: Al Hess
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Science Fiction

In the words of the author, this book is “of hope, trans joy, and robot kissin’.” I’ve heard amazing things from my friends who have already read it! I meant to read it in February but I had some family things to deal with. The marketing described it as a “cozy sci-fi Mad Max” and how can you not be intrigued by that??

The Cybernetic Tea Shop

• Author: Meredith Katz
• Target audience: Adult
• Genre: Science Fiction

This is an adult sci-fi novella on my TBR! The main character has a companion that is an AI hummingbird!! And grew up in a migrant family, so is used to moving around a lot. She comes upon a tea shop run by a robot, in a time where creation of robots is now outlawed. It sounds lovely, and I really want to pick it up.

Flowerheart

• Author: Catherine Bakewell
• Target audience: Young Adult
• Genre: Fantasy

Flowerheart is a recently released book that is described as a “cottagecore YA fantasy.” It was also said to be perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce, so you know that’s all I need to hear! A few of my friends read it and enjoyed it so I’m excited to get it. There is POISONOUS PLANT MAGIC!! I love any kind of plant magic honestly.

---

---

---

What cozy SFF books would you recommend? I would particularly love to hear about any science fiction ones, since they don’t seem to be as popular as fantasy!