BJ Lillis > Status Update

Someone You Can Build a Nest In ticks all those boxes!

Ashley wrote: "Someone You Can Build a Nest In ticks all those boxes!"

Thank you Ashley! This is why I love goodreads - I would never have found my way to that book on my own, but it looks like so much fun!

It is wild, and so sweet, and so unhinged.

Ashley wrote: "It is wild, and so sweet, and so unhinged."

lol the word "unhinged" pretty much automatically bumps a book up a spot or two on the "what am I reading next" list. all the best books are!

Ooh, we're doing 'Someone you can build a nest in' for a November read over on 'Worlds beyond the margins', and I'm looking forward to it!

I don't know if it qualifies as "cozy", technically, but I really liked the relationship between the carnivorous mermaid and the NB plague doctor in 'The Salt Grows Heavy' as well. 'Where the Wild Ladies Are' is a collection of mostly pretty cozy feminist retellings of Japanese folktales, including one of a woman who fished up a ghost girlfriend. And I love the relationship, featuring a trans guy vampire archivist, in 'Dead collections'.

I would definitely call it cozy.

A Botanical Daughter might also work - not sure about the autumn vibes, but is a queer cozy horror with both mlm and wlw romance.

Jassmine wrote: "A Botanical Daughter might also work - not sure about the autumn vibes, but is a queer cozy horror with both mlm and wlw romance."

Something about Victorian gentleman living in a botanical garden conservatory does feel a little more December cozy mystery than October cozy mystery, it's true :) I am intrigued, though!

Emily wrote: "Ooh, we're doing 'Someone you can build a nest in' for a November read over on 'Worlds beyond the margins', and I'm looking forward to it!"

I will try to join in the discussion! I never do as many group reads as I want to, somehow, so that will be nice :) Thanks for the other recs! Adding "The Salt Grows Heavy." Which also doesn't feel super "autumn" from the description, I hate to say... but does look right up my alley!! Where the Wild Ladies Are looks fascinating, too.
I have a very mixed relationship with fairy and folktale retellings... but I'm enjoying the one's in Naomi Novik's new story collection a lot more than I thought I would, so I may be looking in that direction this fall as well!

On a different note: I can report back, now, that I do think this is a better way to ask for recommendations on this site than the buried "request recommendations" feature I've used in the past!

Thanks for asking! My TBR mountain just grew a little more!

@BJ: If I remember correctly Botanical Daughter is mostly set in summer, but I think it's mostly free of seasonal vibes. Could also work for spring with all the growth that is happening. Salt Grows Heavy is wintery book, I think. I remember a lot of snow and freezing on that front? I didn't love that one as much as I wanted to but it was definitely a good read.

Jassmine wrote: "@BJ: If I remember correctly Botanical Daughter is mostly set in summer, but I think it's mostly free of seasonal vibes. Could also work for spring with all the growth that is happening. Salt Grows..."

That is good to know about Salt Grows Heavy, I'll add it to my wintry shelf. I only have two shelves that I put to-read books on at all, actually, "wintry" and "autumn". There is a part of me that wants to read summery books in summer, but I try to resist that impulse and reserve the spring and summer months for books of all stripes! But there is something about fall and winter that just calls out for those seasonally inflected reads...