Cozy Trope Bingo

Jenn Northington Sep 9, 2021

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Jenn and guest Erica Ezeifedi discuss food in cozy mysteries, space opera of various kinds, recs for teenagers, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked.

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Questions

1. Dear Amanda and Jenn,

I am looking for a mystery series that contains a strong, hilarious, intelligent female protagonist and a bit of romance where the man may worry about the female but she can take care of herself and has a connection to the food. She does not necessarily need to be a cook or is trying to be a cook but food has to be mentioned throughout the books and maybe some recipes are on the side. I really devoured the Kendra Donovan series, while the Kat Holloway series was interesting that was not what I was looking for and I did enjoy Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series. Agatha Raisin series is on my TBR. ‘

Thank you, Love the Show

Cathy

2. Hi ladies

I recently watched the Valerian and the city of a thousand planets movie and well now I am hooked on space opera !

I want to read more space opera fiction, some with romance and action. I’ve been suggested The Wayfarers series, The expanse series and the murderbot diaries series

I need more suggestions !

P.S no Star Wars or Star Trek please, sorry

-Tamika

3. Hi Amanda and Jenn!!

My six younger sisters and I have a book club so we can all keep reading together like we did growing up. We all love magical worlds, fairy tale re-tellings and anything with witchy vibes. We’ve read the Harry Potter series, A Wrinkle in Time, and The School for Good and Evil series. My youngest sister is 12, so please keep subject matter and reading levels in mind. Bonus points if the protagonist is a person of color.

Thank you so much!

Bree

4. I absolutely loved the Sophie Katz series by Kyra Davis, and that was my first cozy mystery series. I’ve been looking for something that gives me the same feeling as that series did, but haven’t had much luck. I haven’t had a bad experience with the couple other cozies I’ve tried out, but it wasn’t the same feeling I’ve been chasing. I just want that zany Sophie experience that makes me want to curl up on the couch with hot chocolate on a rainy day and laugh, bonus points for a romance (catch me swooning over Anatoly).

Ashley B

5. You said it with your own mouths! (Or maybe someone stole the mic???? 🙂 ) — On the review of “all the recs” episode you said that there are now “comps for A Long Way to A Small Angry Planet.” I believe you IMPLIED there were many. I am super super super desperate to read more like that. I haven’t found ANYTHING like it. I looooove that whole series. I especially like the found family among all the differing species in the first & second books. I would prefer to read not a white male author’s works. I have decades of hearing that perspective and I am interested in broadening the views coming in.

I have read Ann Leckie’s books and those were not for me, really. I’ve picked up _Quarter Share_ by Nathan Lowell, but haven’t read it yet.

I have seen _Lady Astronaut_ but the stress levels of dealing with anti-feminism is not something I am up to right now.

I want to see a world where all that garbage has been dealt with already and we are now dealing with other things. I know it’s all “same problem, new species” but it is somehow less nausea-inducing to read about when it is not US. If I am even making sense here.

Thanks!

Lucille

6. Hi, Jen and Amanda! I had written in before and got recommendations for my mother in law! Thanks so much, she loved the books! Now I wanted to write in for a recommendation for my sister. My younger sister doesn’t read very often but has expressed interest in reading more. Some of the books that she has read and enjoyed are The Outsiders, Big Friendly Giant, Archie comics, and most recently, Monday’s Not Coming. She keeps going to the library and the bookstore, trying to find a book to enjoy but hasn’t had any luck. I’m hoping you guys can help in blooming her love of reading. Thanks again! Much Love!

-Sandi

7. I work in technical theater. My teenage niece has recently developed an interest in technical theater and, in her enthusiasm, asked me if there were any books about people in my profession. And I am at a loss. There are textbooks, but that is not what she wants. I bought her a couple volumes of “The Backstagers,” but I have never been able to get into graphic novels. So, it is not something that I can share with her. I remember reading a Stephanie Kallos novel in which the protagonist was a stage manager, but (without getting too deeply into backstage politics) I would say that stage managers are a different breed. What I do as a stagehand is run shows, build sets, hang lights; I climb ladders and crawl in tight spaces. I do plenty of reading (even in the dark of backstage), but I don’t know of any novels that feature technical theater or the technicians who work in it. Even an internet search has lead me nowhere. Are there novels or memoirs out there, or am I going to have to write my own?

-The Stagehand