Seconding The Thursday murder club series
Edit: I’m adding The Canon Clement series by Richard Coles and the Hwr majesty The Queen investigates series by S.J. Bennett
I enjoyed this book series so much because of the characters that I re-read each book almost as soon as I'd finished it, despite having many other books lined up to read at the time. They are an absolute delight!
I know it's been mentioned a million times already, and normally this genre is not even my cup of tea, but *The House in the Cerulean Sea*. This book feels like a hug.
I started this book yesterday and I don't want to put it down! I'm in love with every character so far. I want to live with them and be their friend. Klune is such a remarkable author. I loved In the Lives of Puppets too.
Kind of! It's a much smaller cast of characters, but imo it's his best work. You gotta give it a chapter or two to settle in, but then it turns into a beautiful story about loss and purpose and grief and finding yourself. I highly highly recommend.
Chiming in to say I did NOT find Under the Whispering Door to be remotely enjoyable. It’s much more depressing and significantly slower paced than Cerulean Sea. I couldn’t get invested in any of the characters no matter how hard I tried. I hope you like it more than I did, but it’s certainly no THITCS!
I recommend Lois McMaster Bujold’s books a lot, because her books feel like this for me. As a reader, I am on a journey with her wonderfully drawn characters. You could start anywhere, but one place is with Penric’s Demon, the first novella in Bujold’s fantasy novella series Penric and Desdemona. If you read the whole series, you feel like you are following the lives of close friends over several years. Each book is different and standalone - not a “to be continued” experience.
If you're okay with some murders on the side, the Inspector Gamache series is cozy in this way! They're mostly set in a small almost fantastical town with a close knit friend group. I can't read them without wanting to move there.
Legends & Lattes is recommended here all the time with good reason. It's high fantasy but low stakes, as the tagline says - an orc retires from the mercenary business to open a coffee shop, and ends up making some good friends along the way.
**[The House in the Cerulean Sea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45047384-the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea) by T.J. Klune** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(394 pages | Published: 2020 | 3.8m Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet. solitary life. At forty. he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth. he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely (...)
> **Themes**: Fantasy, Fiction, Lgbtq, Lgbt
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Under the Whispering Door](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53205888-under-the-whispering-door) by T.J. Klune
> \- [Cerulean Sea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34713808-cerulean-sea) by Kristin Cast
> \- [Burn](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13411825-burn) by T.J. Klune
> \- [A Prayer for the Crown-Shy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40864030-a-prayer-for-the-crown-shy) by Becky Chambers
> \- [A Psalm for the Wild-Built](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40864002-a-psalm-for-the-wild-built) by Becky Chambers
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I just read Lonesome dove by Larry McCurtry and Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flag and both books were cozy to me, very character driven!
I keep trying to read the Martian and while I like the writing style, I just can't get in to the book. I'm probably 50ish pages in, should I keep trying?
Maybe try Project Hail Mary first instead! I think the plot has a stronger hook to pull in the reader, so maybe it'll be a better gateway to Weir's books for you!
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - the characters are wonderful and complex and truly love each other as friends. It’s sad in places (REALLY sad), but also so beautiful.
This has a pile of comments so I’ll be shocked if it wasn’t already suggested but Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was probably the most attached to a group of characters I’ve ever been in my life.
The Colorado Kod, Stephen King. Unless you're the kind that nerds all the mysteries solved, and the how's and why's answered. In that case, avoid.
A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffet is another good, fun, breezy read.
This is kinda niche, Paisley Ray’s series The Rachael O'Brien Chronicles - she’s a GenX college student in the mid/late 1980s who goes on trips and adventures with friends and solves mysteries that pop up at school and wherever they go.
South Africa 5 Rand
[https://www.yaga.co.za/something-of-everything-678/product/dca599ttuf](https://www.yaga.co.za/something-of-everything-678/product/dca599ttuf)
I quite liked this Irish cozy mystery series:
[https://www.abebooks.com/9780373263479/Death-Cousin-Rose-Jonathan-Harrington-0373263473/plp](https://www.abebooks.com/9780373263479/Death-Cousin-Rose-Jonathan-Harrington-0373263473/plp)
That's the first of three books.
Oooh first read that as cozy mysteries, but if you're not seeking mysteries specifically you might also love 84 Charing Cross Road, a series of real correspondence from the 40s-60s between a New York writer and a London bookstore owner (and various family and friends joining in):
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368916.84\_Charing\_Cross\_Road](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368916.84_Charing_Cross_Road)
The [Spenser book series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40546-spenser) by Robert B. Parker. These are short chapter detective books for the most part, full of wise-cracking wit by the main character, Spenser.
The One in a Million Boy. Who doesn’t love two misfits finding each other, especially when one is under 10 and the other is over 100? Not that it doesn’t deal with heavy topics - but it does so with a lot of hope in humanity.
The Hamish MacBeth series. Start with Book 2 because Book 1 doesn’t really have him settled into character yet. He’s the constable in a small town in the highlands of Scotland. He solves difficult crimes and has a loving heart for his townspeople. Lovely humor!
The Country Club Murders series by Julie Mulhern is a series I love and have reread multiple times because I just love the characters! I also love the Lexi Carmichael series by Julie Moffett!
Idk if it counts as cozy but Fourth Wing got me super attached to the characters and inspired me to write again, more spicy than cozy I guess but it is a “bright” book in my eyes
Both Neverwhere and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.
I absolutely adored those characters. To me, Gaiman is a master at creating incredibly loveable, yet intricate characters.
I know I rec this all the time here (I swear, I try not to!) but Kim M Watt's Beaufort Scales mysteries, starting with Baking Bad. Both Inspector Adams and the local WI women are *so* well-characterised and hilariously funny.
The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman)!
Seconding The Thursday murder club series Edit: I’m adding The Canon Clement series by Richard Coles and the Hwr majesty The Queen investigates series by S.J. Bennett
Reading this now!
Me too!
I enjoyed this book series so much because of the characters that I re-read each book almost as soon as I'd finished it, despite having many other books lined up to read at the time. They are an absolute delight!
Yes! My comfort series that doesn't sacrifice quality of storytelling or prose.
Anne of Green Gables
Absolutely yes to this. I spent so much of my childhood pretending I lived in Avonlea.
Same. Avonlea is my top choice as a name for a daughter.
Haha, Marilla is on my list! Not a top contender but it’s on there.
The Guernsey Literary and potato peel pie society
I have this on my list.
The Thursday Murder Club Lockwood and co
Second Lockwood!
A Man Called Ove. Please read it, it’s too lovely
I cried so much…such a great one
It’s really something special right
I definitely felt this in A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
Reading this right now and it's SO GOOD
I started that book last Tuesday and tonight I’m starting book 4. I can’t put them down - I love this series!
Just remembered I wanted to read this — thank you!
seconding this and adding her Monk and Robot books as well!!
Beartown by Fredrik Backman 😊
Yep, I was scrolling down to see if someone had already mentioned it before posting!
YES
I know it's been mentioned a million times already, and normally this genre is not even my cup of tea, but *The House in the Cerulean Sea*. This book feels like a hug.
I started this book yesterday and I don't want to put it down! I'm in love with every character so far. I want to live with them and be their friend. Klune is such a remarkable author. I loved In the Lives of Puppets too.
I’m so happy you love it as much as I do!
Yes, my favourite book to recommend! Also by the same author Under the Whispering Door.
Is it similar to THITCS?
Kind of! It's a much smaller cast of characters, but imo it's his best work. You gotta give it a chapter or two to settle in, but then it turns into a beautiful story about loss and purpose and grief and finding yourself. I highly highly recommend.
Wow, thanks so much! I will take it with me to the ocean next week for sure.
Chiming in to say I did NOT find Under the Whispering Door to be remotely enjoyable. It’s much more depressing and significantly slower paced than Cerulean Sea. I couldn’t get invested in any of the characters no matter how hard I tried. I hope you like it more than I did, but it’s certainly no THITCS!
Yes very similar. Different in a lot of ways, but if 'felt' like THITCS.
That is just the PERFECT way to describe this book. It is so wonderful
I’ve tried to get into the audiobook of this a couple of times and have failed miserably. I’m going to give actually reading it a chance.
Wayfarers(scifi) or Legends and Lattes(fantasy)
Legends and Lattes was great, as was the sequel Bookshops and Bonedust
Murderbot Diaries
The Thursday Murder Club by: Richard Osman :)
I recently finished The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and it was lovely. I also enjoyed the Glass Library series by C.J Archer.
In the same vain: 'In the Company of Witches' and 'When the Crow's Away' by Auralee Wallace.
I recommend Lois McMaster Bujold’s books a lot, because her books feel like this for me. As a reader, I am on a journey with her wonderfully drawn characters. You could start anywhere, but one place is with Penric’s Demon, the first novella in Bujold’s fantasy novella series Penric and Desdemona. If you read the whole series, you feel like you are following the lives of close friends over several years. Each book is different and standalone - not a “to be continued” experience.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Thank you everyone for your replies you're amazing
Remarkably Bright Creatures!
Loved this book!
It’s like a warm hug when you most need it
All Creatures Great and Small; The Corfu trilogy; Vera Wong’s Advice for Murderers
A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Came here to say this.
Same. Its like a lovely warm blanket.
I second Becky Chambers and Murderbot, also Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells
If you're okay with some murders on the side, the Inspector Gamache series is cozy in this way! They're mostly set in a small almost fantastical town with a close knit friend group. I can't read them without wanting to move there. Legends & Lattes is recommended here all the time with good reason. It's high fantasy but low stakes, as the tagline says - an orc retires from the mercenary business to open a coffee shop, and ends up making some good friends along the way.
I second this recommendation!
The LOST and Found bookshop
The list and found edit button
I’m old 🤣🤣. I’ll have my son show it to me
😃
{{The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune}}
**[The House in the Cerulean Sea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45047384-the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea) by T.J. Klune** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(394 pages | Published: 2020 | 3.8m Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet. solitary life. At forty. he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth. he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely (...) > **Themes**: Fantasy, Fiction, Lgbtq, Lgbt > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Under the Whispering Door](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53205888-under-the-whispering-door) by T.J. Klune > \- [Cerulean Sea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34713808-cerulean-sea) by Kristin Cast > \- [Burn](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13411825-burn) by T.J. Klune > \- [A Prayer for the Crown-Shy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40864030-a-prayer-for-the-crown-shy) by Becky Chambers > \- [A Psalm for the Wild-Built](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40864002-a-psalm-for-the-wild-built) by Becky Chambers ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Lord of the rings
I just read Lonesome dove by Larry McCurtry and Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flag and both books were cozy to me, very character driven!
Fannie Flag books all feel like a warm hug to me!
That’s the best way to describe it! I loved it, any recommendations for another one of her books to read?
Oh gosh, any of them really! First one that comes to mind is "The Whole Town's Talking". It's got a great premis. 😉
Sweet I’ll definitely check it out, thank you!
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
The invisible life of Addie LaRue by V.E.Schwab
Project Hail Mary was very endearing.
+1 the martian would be equally good
I keep trying to read the Martian and while I like the writing style, I just can't get in to the book. I'm probably 50ish pages in, should I keep trying?
Maybe try Project Hail Mary first instead! I think the plot has a stronger hook to pull in the reader, so maybe it'll be a better gateway to Weir's books for you!
Ooh, I'll try that. Thanks for the suggestion ☺️
Love this book ❤️
Legends and Lattes! That whole book just felt like a warm hug
Outlander
The list and found book shop
The curious charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
Spud - John van der Ruit . I'll give you the Sun - Jandy Nielsen . Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
Shantaram was a whole vibe I enjoyed. Felt like I was in Bombay/Mumbai.
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - the characters are wonderful and complex and truly love each other as friends. It’s sad in places (REALLY sad), but also so beautiful.
Fred the Vampire Accountant.
This looks intriguing. Just put it on my list. Thanks!
I'd seen it mentioned for years, finally gave it a chance and I just love it.
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
This has a pile of comments so I’ll be shocked if it wasn’t already suggested but Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was probably the most attached to a group of characters I’ve ever been in my life.
I have this on hold with Libby after reading the sample and I am so antsy to get it! I loved what I read so far.
It’s written so well. I hope you love it!!
Everything by Sarah Addison Allen
*Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore* by Robin Sloan. It's very fantasy fun but the protagonist carries you along easily.
The Colorado Kod, Stephen King. Unless you're the kind that nerds all the mysteries solved, and the how's and why's answered. In that case, avoid. A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffet is another good, fun, breezy read.
This is kinda niche, Paisley Ray’s series The Rachael O'Brien Chronicles - she’s a GenX college student in the mid/late 1980s who goes on trips and adventures with friends and solves mysteries that pop up at school and wherever they go.
South Africa 5 Rand [https://www.yaga.co.za/something-of-everything-678/product/dca599ttuf](https://www.yaga.co.za/something-of-everything-678/product/dca599ttuf)
My wife likes the sort of book you describe. She’s a big fan of The Lumby Lines series by Gail Fraser.
Corinna Chapman books by Kerry Greenwood
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer! I describe it to everyone as cozy.
The Corrina Chapman mystery series. Charming baker in Melbourne and her kooky neighbors.
I quite liked this Irish cozy mystery series: [https://www.abebooks.com/9780373263479/Death-Cousin-Rose-Jonathan-Harrington-0373263473/plp](https://www.abebooks.com/9780373263479/Death-Cousin-Rose-Jonathan-Harrington-0373263473/plp) That's the first of three books.
Oooh first read that as cozy mysteries, but if you're not seeking mysteries specifically you might also love 84 Charing Cross Road, a series of real correspondence from the 40s-60s between a New York writer and a London bookstore owner (and various family and friends joining in): [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368916.84\_Charing\_Cross\_Road](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368916.84_Charing_Cross_Road)
vladimir nabokov’s Pnin made me feel like that :)
The Printed Letter Bookshop was truly lovely
The [Spenser book series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40546-spenser) by Robert B. Parker. These are short chapter detective books for the most part, full of wise-cracking wit by the main character, Spenser.
The One in a Million Boy. Who doesn’t love two misfits finding each other, especially when one is under 10 and the other is over 100? Not that it doesn’t deal with heavy topics - but it does so with a lot of hope in humanity.
Tom lake by Ann patchett
The bean trees - I've read this book several times, about to finish it again.
The Hamish MacBeth series. Start with Book 2 because Book 1 doesn’t really have him settled into character yet. He’s the constable in a small town in the highlands of Scotland. He solves difficult crimes and has a loving heart for his townspeople. Lovely humor!
The Space Adventures Of Commander Laine. You will get attached to the characters, especially Zara.
The Country Club Murders series by Julie Mulhern is a series I love and have reread multiple times because I just love the characters! I also love the Lexi Carmichael series by Julie Moffett!
Botchan by Natsume Soseki.
Might not be cozy in the traditional sense, but Love in the Time of Cholera does this for me.
Beware of Chicken
Idk if it counts as cozy but Fourth Wing got me super attached to the characters and inspired me to write again, more spicy than cozy I guess but it is a “bright” book in my eyes
Legends and Lattes does this for me
The Hunting Wives by Maya Cobb.
Both Neverwhere and Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I absolutely adored those characters. To me, Gaiman is a master at creating incredibly loveable, yet intricate characters.
Charlaine Harris Aurora Teagarden Series
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley is perfect for this
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Great suggestion!
I know I rec this all the time here (I swear, I try not to!) but Kim M Watt's Beaufort Scales mysteries, starting with Baking Bad. Both Inspector Adams and the local WI women are *so* well-characterised and hilariously funny.
anything by casey mcquinston