My ultimate cozy fantasy is any book set in Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Although some books can get quite dark, I feel safe in the hands of the author and his stories and writing and characters give me the most comfort and warm feelings.
Also, the wizards guide to defensive baking is so cute, though it is for a younger audience (middle grade I think) so if that’s not your thing you may not like it as much.
For a cozy urban fantasy/sci-fi I adore the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrew’s. The first book is titled Clean Sweep. It has everything: werewolves, vampires, sentient houses, philosophizing space chickens
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is cute! It's middle grade and definitely has T Kingfisher's humor and unique story elements (there's a sentient Gingerbread man).
The Hand of the Emperor is my favorite cozy fantasy! It's about a secretary just trying to do his job well in a magical setting with lots of discussions of culture and friendship among working adults. Highly recommend!
You know I would have NEVER looked at Garden Spells as a book I would be interested in (based solely on the cover).. but just hearing you talk about it, def makes me want to pick it up!
I would recommend "The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear" or "The City of Dreaming Books" both by Walter Moers. They actually have quite a bit of plot (and sometimes tension) but they feel very cozy. The first is basically an autobiography "written" by Captain Bluebear and includes stories like how talking waves in the ocean taught him to talk or how he competed in a lying contest. And the second is about a young author (who is a lindworm) going on a quest to find the author of a brilliant manuscript he found (so a double threat - books and cozy fantasy). (I know the description sounds a bit middle grade but the main audience of these is actually adults) They are both incredibly creative and fun and deserve more hype!
YES I totally agree on this, and am super happy to see someone else mention Zamonia-books! They have so cozy and fun feel in them, and the most unique fantasy world ever. For me, if cozy is what we're after, City of dreaming books is the one, because the city itself, the food and the culture are so special and .... well, cozy.
since you recommended In the company of witches I have been BEGGING my library to get the audiobook and they finally added it! I have 7 people in front of me in the line but I’m SO SO SO SO excited to get to it! it sounds right up my alley and I’ve been craving a story like this for so long
I just finished garden spells and I LOVED it thank you for your recommendation I have ordered the second one from the library this afternoon. I really enjoyed in the company of witches and the follow up as well. I felt the same as keeper of enchanted rooms way more than I expected to. I have read most of these and they are all good! I am going to keep saying this the tea dragon series by kay oneill. It's more middle grade but it's adorable and such a fun read plus I want a tea dragon.
I need all the recommendations for this genre! I want to fill my winter with these kinds of books & what I've been calling "bookish books" or rather, books featuring bookshops/authors/editors/books bringing people together. Also, Tea without Treason is supposed to be getting a second printing! I need to add all these books to my TBR except for Keeper of Enchanted Rooms & Legends & Lattes. I've already read those on your recommendation & been quite pleased! You've helped me love reading again! 💜💜💜 What's on my cozy fantasy TBR: - The sequel to Keeper of Enchanted Rooms since the third one is meant to come out next year I believe - The House Witch trilology - The Burning Witch - The Modern Girls Guide to Magic - A Coup of Tea - Accidental Magic - Witches Get Stuff Done What's on my bookish books TBR: (several of these are WWII adjacent so likely not your cuppa) - The Bookstore Sisters - The English Bookshop - The Lost Bookshop - The Lost for Words Bookshop - The Italian Bookshop among the Vines - The Book Spy - The Personal Librarian - The Book of Lost Names
I want all the spoilers! It may be an unpopular opinion but I am more likely to read a book if I know what happens. I’m there for the journey, not the ending. I’m also a slow reader and don’t like to waste my time on books that are not for me.
I try and be careful because not everyone wants to know but I’m always happy to include them in here! What book? The irregular witches one? SPOILERS Basically when they have their first fight, I don’t think she did anything that bad but he tells her “what would you know about family?” And considering that she’s an orphan, it is way far past the line. I think that fighting maliciously is unforgivable. Plus he barely apologized 🤨
@@BookswithEmilyFox Thank you! I really need to pick that one up but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m currently reading the books in The World of the White Rat by T. Kingfisher. These include Clockwork Boys, The Wonder Engine, Swordheart, and her Paladin trilogy. Some people think her fantasy books are too dark but I think she hits a perfect balance between cozy and creepy. The first book in the series, Clockwork Boys, is about 4 people (an assassin, paladin, forager, and a scholar) going on a suicide mission to find a way to defeat an army of mechanical soldiers. They are not expected to survive but I still find it very cozy because most of the book is them traveling, camping, and staying at inns. Plus none of them get along in the beginning so there is lots of banter and silliness. I am 60% into it and really enjoying it.
I love T. Kingfishers writing Nettle and Bone is one of my favourite books of the year. Loved A wizards guide to defensive baking too, didn't realise it was meant for middle grades until after I had read it. She is fast becoming a favourite author.
Feel like the only person who thought Legends & Lattes was meh 🙃 My favourite cozy fantasy is Swordheart by T.Kingfisher! It's very funny & sweet but with also darker elements. Found family, adventure & a lil romance 🥰
@@karynnthedreamer I have yet to read the rest of the series but it's great to know they're also good! I honestly think Swordheart is my favorite book of the year 😅
So glad you liked Garden Spells. It's a book I never would've picked up on my own, but was recommended to me by a coworker years ago. Since then I've read all Sarah Addison Allen's books and she's an automatic buy. Her book this year Other Birds is also very cozy. You should try it! ❤ 📚
I wouldn’t have picked it up either if not for my friend convincing me!! My library has her other books (didn’t have first frost!) so I’ll get them there!
Super video! I once saw something about "The House Witch" in your video... and so far I've read the first trilogy plus the first part of the next one :D More precisely, I listened to the audiobooks, which I sincerely recommend. The books are not perfect, there are some irritating details, but I honestly liked how the House Witch made friends and how the relationships between the characters were built... and I admit - I laughed more than once. It's not high literature, but as a humor improver - it worked great, I recommend it!
I am just finishing the first one. I will not finish the series, but it was “ok”. I do agree - I did laugh more than once! But you hit the nail on the head - definitely not “high” literature. It felt a bit juvenile to me, but it was a fun little read.
I definitely agree that Nettle and Bone feels like cozy fantasy! I loved A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking and am currently trying to work my way through all of T. Kingfisher’s work.
When you switch from cozy fall vibes to spooky Halloween vibes, T. Kingfisher is great for that too! What Moves the Dead was a creepy, Poe-inspired read that got under my skin. Best cozy books I've read so far were Legends & Lattes, of course, and Nettle & Bone, which totally counts as cozy. As far as books where nothing happens, I remember being more excited every time Thimble came up with a new recipe in Legends & Lattes than the more obvious action parts of the plot.
It's a middle-grade graphic novel, Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen. It's so cute, there's a sequel Garlic and the Witch. I haven't read it yet, but I really want to.
I really enjoyed Nettle & Bone! Also try the paper magician series by Charlie N Holmberg - it’s a lot of fun. Finally A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is definitely a cozy fantasy and I enjoyed it too
I loved a wizards guide to defensive baking! Very clearly middle grade but it was such a cute fun concept. Still a decent amount of action driving the plot tho!
Been reading some cozy fantasy this month. Cursed Cocktails, A Coup of Tea, and Heir of Uncertain Magics (I think it's called) were all enjoyable. If you like Beware of Chicken, you might like The First Law of Cultivation, about a kid who wakes up in the body of a low-level cultivator and starts trying to figure out how it works, like he's doing chemistry experiments in school, thinking there must be a way to systematize all this magic and make the benefits available to the masses. I'm still reading it, so can't speak for the ending, but it's a nice chill read so far.
The sequel to Keeper of Enchanted Rooms is a yes (though it has a bit more action, so perhaps not as cozy). I also loved The House Witch and A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. I need to move some of your recs up on my TBR!
I would definitely consider Nettle and Bone cosy! T. Kingfisher's writing is so fun and whimsical, even in her horror books. Have you read Cackle? It has all the small town witchy vibes!
I loved The Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking! I also enjoyed the sequel to Enchanted Rooms - I think a third book is coming out sometime. For me, a found family always seems part of a cozy fantasy. And you have added to my TBR - thank you.
Okay, I've read the House Witch (the one in the king's kitchen) and I really, really want your opinion on it! I don't want to influence you one way or the other, but now I want to hear your thoughts!
I made my library order Legends and Lattes after hearing about it. I get to be the first to get my paws on it!! Rainbo recs: -Redwall: animal ran abbey, both the book and the rest of the series!! - I think Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot classify as cozy fantasy!! -Piranesi - she’s dated but I still think a lot of Mary Higgins Clark’s books are cozy murder mysteries.
I fell in love with cozy fantasy last year when I read Legends and Lattes, so I'm eagerly awaiting Bookshops and bonedust. I also really enjoyed Half a soul (whole series) and Small miracles by Olivia Atwater. I'm currently 66% into The house witch and loving it so far. And there are more T. Kingfisher fairytale retellings I loved: Thornhedge, Bryony and roses, and The raven and the reindeer.
I 110% agree about Nettle and Bone. It is cozy. Also the cover of In the Company of Witches imo is gorgeous! It's definitely giving cozy vibes. I personally find a lot of middle grade fantasy to be quite cozy which is why I love them. I think big part of it is that I know the big confrontation with the villain will be decently short. A Wizard's Guide is definitely cozy (fun fact according to T.Kingfisher all 3 of her books with that style of covers were written to be middle grades, but publishers thought they were too dark), I also enjoyed Illuminations and Minor Mage. I started The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches a few months ago because it was compared to The House in the Cerulean Sea which is one of my favourite books ever. I admit I didn't get far into it at all, but I didn't get the vibes. They both have magical youths but that's pretty much it so far. I don't think I got to the part where he says what you didn't like, but I already don't care for the romance lol. I think I prefer my "enemies to lovers" romances to be based on people already knowing each other, not dislike at first sight.
It doesn’t take much for a fantasy to be cozy for me lol! I think all medieval fantasy is cozy, but I find that don’t enjoy most books that are labeled “cozy fantasy” like I couldn’t get into legends and lattes, and I rated nettle and bone like 2 or 3 stars. Just not my thing I guess
I started An Heir of Uncertain Magic and can’t get into it. I think because it picks up right after the first book with no time passed and I was hoping there would be more to drive the plot and characters in between. Feels tv episodes back to back.Hopefully it picks up the pace soon. The House Witch series is a perfect cozy fall, magic, found family vibes read . Highly recommend!
I just finished The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang. It’s a decent read, clearly inspired by Legends & Lattes (and there’s a shoutout at one point). Not mind-blowing, but the humour is cute and it scratched my cozy fantasy itch.
I don't know if it's out in Canada as yet but i would recommend .. The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch Book by Melinda Taub Pride and prejudice and cozy feminist witch vibes seems right up your alley!
I enjoyed the Fix-It Witch series. I feel they are cozy fantasy/romance. I actually read the fourth one first - The Only Purple House in Town and it doesn’t have quite so much sex. But, if you're not too easily offended I would recommend the series. Loved Nettle and Bone. Definitely fairytaleish.
The house witch was not very good. I couldn’t finish it 🙁 I love a lot of others you mentioned here though. Other favorites are the encyclopedia of faeries and the secret history of witches. ❤
If it goes about the Nettle and Bone... I feel like I'm the only person in the world who didn't enjoy it. Even though I like cozy, simple, kinda fairy tail stories... this one was plain for me, it didn't make me feel anything - nothing. I couldn't wait for the end. Dunno where is the problem 😅
Cackle by Rachel Harrison could be cozy fantasy. Easy to read and maybe above average rating. I've also really enjoyed T Kingfisher's books - Nettle and Bone, Thornhedge and What Moves the Dead. I would call them, cozy reads.
Just rewatched Practical Magic movie (it is one of my cozy movies to see) and is still very good. Can't say the same about the book. I gave the book away to the library. I'm a book horder, i don't give books away, but couldn't stand that one.
Hi Emily! If you are ever in the mood for a super chunky book Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard is the coziest warmest book, I CRIED SO MUCH, so many happy warm tears and I NEVER cry.
I liked the sequel to Keeper of Enchanted Rooms less. I wouldn't pick it up, personally. There was less fun magical house, more breakups and arguments, more focus on his magic, less of the found family that all lives in the house together, and less cohesive villain.
I tried to pick up Can’t Spell Treason without Tea after hearing about it on this channel and it’s been unavailable on Amazon for at least two months… anyone know if it got picked up by a publisher or something? I’m so bummed!
So I just checked and on the Canadian Amazon it says that it's now sold by Macmillan so that might be the reason! They're announcing a publishing date for the paperback (May 2024) but it's available on Kindle (but not on the US one apparently!)
OMG!!! Emily you must read A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES … the quintessential witchy cozy read !!!! (Don’t watch the tv show … it’s good but not as good as the book) 😊 🧙♀️
@@BookswithEmilyFox the book is SO much better … I think you’d enjoy it … despite the cringe factor on the tv show 😂😂😂 For me it read very different than the show …
SPOILER It won't be the exact quote since it's been a while but he says something like "what would you know about family"... which like wow. So far past the line considering she's an orphan.
@@BookswithEmilyFox yep you are right.. beyond the line on that one! I totally forgot. I must have blocked it out of my memory to preserve the other things I liked about it 😄
In the Company of Witches isnt very good. Its only good towards the end. The rest of the books mentioned are good, but have not read Beware of Chickens.
Understandable. But if I may push it again (the former bookseller in me is strong). It’s a very small book (literally) composed of a few short stories that all tie together. All she wants is to stay in her rent controlled apartment and others are making that difficult for her so she kills them. It was laugh out loud funny for me and my mom. The audiobook is fantastic as well.
I do like some cozies, but not cost mysteries. I just finished In The Company of Witches, and I wanted more witch and less inane mystery...So with that, I highly recommend Cackle by Rachel Harrison! A witchy friendship book that's also spooky. I am currently buying up all her titles because that one was so good 🎃
I didn’t like Defensive Baking which felt too YA for my taste and a little boring and the political system felt childish 😬 is nettle and bone like this? I didn’t know it was the same author so now I’m scarred
We don’t know anything about you. Would you be willing to share something about yourself not book related? Thanks. It just makes the channel feel a little bit more personal
