Episode 204 - Cozy Fantasy

Book Club for Masochists: a Readers’ Advisory Podcast

It’s episode 204 and time for us to talk about the genre of Cozy Fantasy! We discuss what makes something cozy, romantasy, breakneck cozy fantasies, how much fantasy people need in their fantasy, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
  • Comparison between US and UK covers
• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
• The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
• The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
• Sorcery and Small Magics and Maiga Doocy
• The Baker & the Bard by Fern Haught
• Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynn Jones
  • Howl's Moving Castle (film)
• Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Other Media We Mentioned

• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
  • Matthew meant “solarpunk” as the genre that this is often described as
• Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
  • Episode 202 - A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
• Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children)
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
  • Canadian residential school system
• Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
• Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
• LoadingReadyRun
• The House Witch by Delemhach
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
• Moonstruck, vol. 1: Magic to Brew by Grace Ellis and Shae Beagle
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
• The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill
  • The Tea Dragon Society Card Game
• Balatro

Links, Articles, and Things

• What Counts as Cozy Fantasy?
• In Defense of Low-Stakes Fiction
• Iyashikei
  • “portraying characters living out peaceful lives in calming environments, and is intended to have a healing effect on the audience”

11 Cozy Fantasy by BIPOC Authors:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
• Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
• DallerGut Dream Department Store by Mi-Ye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee
• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
• The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
• Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim
• The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• The Fae’s Bride by R.L. Medina
• The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai
• The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

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Join us again on Tuesday, December 17th it’s time for our “best books of the year” episode!

Then, on Tuesday, January 7th we’ll be discussing the genre of Cultural Studies!