I don’t often see references to Miss Read books. She’s one of my favourite cosy, feel good authors. I reread her books whenever I need some comfort. I think she’s so underrated.
I like your enthusiasm about English authors. You are the first book tuber, that I am aware, mentioning this type of books. I live in England and discover myself some books showed in this video. They are authors that are been a bit forgotten. Recently, I had finish "Quartet in Autumn" by Barbara Pym and totally enjoyed. My I mention few writers that you may are going to be interested: Dorothy Whipple, Elizabeth Jenkins, Ursula Orange, Elizabeth Jane Howard and R. C. Sherriff. They are all British and lived at the beginning of the last century.
Thanks so much for the recommendations! I’ve never hear of Elizabeth Jenkins Brodie so I’ll definitely check her out. I love all the others. Greengates was one of my favorite reads of 2021!
Miss Read is my favorite author of all time followed closely by Agatha Christie! Oddly enough the first Miss Read books I ever read was Gossip from Thrush Green! I lived in a rural mountain town that did not have a book store or a library. The bookmobile didn’t come to where I lived so loaning one another books was often our only way of getting something new to read. I borrowed her one Miss Read so often, she eventually gave it to me! 😂 when I married my husband and moved to Indiana one of the first places he took me was to the library. When, I saw rage shelf full of Miss Read books, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven! I’m trying to collect all of her books.
Miss Read is a delightful author for country social history of a time gone by. The other author who is my favourite is Jane Duncan who wrotes the 'My Friend...' series. Part biographical.. also a social history... but many old fashioned truths. Rosamund Pilcher is also my favourite. D E Stevenson is a delight as well. Thank you from Cape Town.
Vittoria Cottage by D. E. Stevenson got me back into reading. ☺️ Also, my first Rosamunde Pilcher was The Day of the Storm And I loved it. I have read The Shell Seekers since and it's definitely very different. But, I loved both. 🙌
Omgsh thank you for this video and your tips on which books to start with first. I neeeeeeed more cozy in my life. I haven't ever read any of these authors other than Agatha Christie so you are totally introducing me to a new world! Winter Solstice is absolutely on my December tbr now and Im writing out all of these authors to find at the library! Loved when you read from the books. You should narrate cozy books❤
Another set of cosy books you might love are EF Benson's Mapp and Lucia series - which are absolutely hilarious. Also, the US author, Jan Karon's Mitford Series.
OMG!!! I know this video is some months old but I just discovered your channel and I absolutely love all of your content.. So I’m binge watching the older videos and I’m also a Rosemunde Pilcher fan thanks to Miranda Mills and I’ve read almost all of her novels and have most of her books in various editions…I love cozy reading it has really gotten me through this pandemic, so Thank you for such wonderful Content… Rosemunde Pilcher’s books are the only books I have ever re read.. oh sorry and “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I'm so glad that you are here, it is wonderful to meet you. Your comment really made my day. When I started this channel I thought no one else would be interested in my cozy books, so it's been so great to meet other people who love them too!
This is exactly what I was looking for! I have been planning to read Miss Read for a long time now and I precisely wanted to read her books because I got a feeling that they'd be cozy. I wish these books were translated to Spanish (my native language) but I think a very few are. But I won't let that stop me from reading them haha I'll take this opportunity to improve my English. By the way those editions are beautiful 😍 these covers immediately make me want to read them.
HI! Thanks so much for the nice comment. Miss Read is definitely cozy. I love her so much! Her writing style is pretty simplistic so it may be a perfect way to practice your English - I love that idea.
Miss Read and Thrush Green I go back to time and again. I put myself there and visit with them all. Agatha Christie is so wonderful too. Thanks for the video. Gonna try Rosemonde Pilcher next.
Just finished two Miss Read books and am currently enjoying Excellent Women by Pym❤️. All of these were selected based on this video. I am so happy to have found you!
Thank you for making this video! (I was the commenter requesting it) I'm definitely going to try Miss Read Thrush Green and some Agatha Christie to start with. Really excited for snuggling up on the couch with a tea, candle and blanket 🤗
I am new to your channel, but am loving the content. I don't know if you have mentioned EF Benson's Mapp and Lucia books before. Definitely comfort reads.
I have Miss Read's Fairacre series and Thrush Green series. I find them very calming and people behave like you WISHED people would behave. I also enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's Number One Ladies Detective Agent series. Again, they are big on ethics and personal values without being preachy. Just the world that you wished to be living in. I also enjoy Lilian Beckwith's series about the Hebridean Islands (The Hills is Lonely). I read these series repeatedly interspersed with other books. I always go back to them.
BEST VIDEO EVER!! I 100% agree with you on these authors, Gina! And on Rosamunde Pilcher books. Winter Solstice is my all time favorite. I love reading and listening to it every winter. My favorite AC book is Sleeping Murder, but I love them all. Miss Marple is my favorite character of all time. I haven't read all of Barbara Pym's books, so I'm very excited to keep going with those. I would also add Frances Hodgson Burnett, Elizabeth Goudge and Dorothy Whipple (maybe L.M. Montgomery, too) to my cozy book author list. Thank you so much for sharing this video! Soo perfect! Many hugs! xoxo :D
@@GinaStanyerBooks Oh, they're so good! I also loved They Were Sisters and They Knew Mr. Knight (I think that's the title.) I still have a stack of hers to read. If only I had two heads so I could read more! lol
Barbara Pym is such a treasure! I just finished A Glass of Blessings this morning and it was fun to see you mention her. Patricia Rutledge (Keeping up Appearances!) actress starred in a wonderful documentary on her which is on RUclips. You would enjoy. Cheers
I think you would enjoy the Jan Karon "Father tim/Mitford" series. Warm story about an elderly Episcopal priest It runs to 14 books following the adventures of Father Tim and the people in small town North Carolina. It has religious overtones, but is not preachy. I think you'll love it!
Thanks Courtney, I agree, she really is good. I’ve decided I’m doubling down on reading cozies this fall - just need to get out of my pandemic anxiety brain…
Loved this video, Gina! Yay for cozy reads and yay for British cozy authors! 🤣 My aunt loves Miss Read, but I have never tried her, so I must prioritise it after having heard you talk about it. I love Rosamunde Pilcher but haven’t read any of her works for years; however Shelly and I are buddy reading Winter Solstice later in the year, which is really exciting! 😊📚
Miss Buncle's book was the first DE Stevenson I read. Except for Pym this is a list of my favorite authors, adding Elizabeth Cadell. I remember being so delighted when Shell Seekers came out and it was long!
Miss Buncle's book sounds so cozy! And also Winter solstice :D Miss Read sounded good as well. I added them to my wishlist ☺ I have 1 Agathe Christie book, but still need to read it :)
Gina, you are a woman after my own heart. I love these authors, although I'm just now reading my first Barbara Pym. One correction, I think the Hercules Poirot book you mention is "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" rather than "The Murderous . . . ."
I watched this last night and immediate picked up a sample of Miss Buncle’s Book. A few chapters in and I’m loving it! Just what I needed as I’m also reading a World War II book!! Thanks, Gina!
Thanks for the recommendations, Gina. I'll check out your suggestions - especially interested in Barbara Pym. Rosamunde Pilcher is among my all-time favourite authors. Have you read her book of short stories, The Blue Bedroom? It is one of her best. :)
Thanks so much, Gina! I have really taken a shine to Pilcher’s writing and have enjoyed her books. I am currently reading September. I have not read any of the other authors but will look them up. 🌸
I'm so glad to hear that! I'll be doing a re-read of Winter Solstice sometime next month (hopefully!) It's one of my favorites to read around the holidays.
Ive enjoyed this vid a Lot! Just subscribed! 😊 I'm fond of Rosamund Pilcher, I'm trying to get her latest book Winter Solsctice 🍀 one of My favs is "Snow in April"...it's definetely about the cozy feeling for sure 🩷🩷🩷🍵
Thank you so much, Gina. I am basically new to "cozy reading" but it seems perfect for both the season and my current life. I've had Pilcher on my radar for ages, but I recently started Winter Solstice and am really loving it. (I'm listening to the audio while I knit, which is an excellent fit.) Watching this video made me realize that I needed to qualify the line I thought was true--that I was new to cozy--because I have loved Christie and Pym for many years. Looking forward to more for the rest of December!
Oh how I enjoyed this video! Looking forward to checking out some of the authors that are new to me. My favorite is Rosamunde Pilcher. I just love her writing. I am working my way through her book "September" for this month.
I never thought of What a Christie as a cozy...? I started reading Miss Read many, many yrs. ago and for some reason stopped, can't remember why. Wasn't cause I didn't like them, cause I did.🙂 I have seen them at my library and said to myself;" I have to start reading them again". Enjoy your channel. Am a fairly new subscriber, maybe 2 wks.?
Thanks so much for subscribing! I am so glad you are here. I wouldn't categorize Christie as a cozy in the sense of 'cozy mystery' (ie those 'library cat solves the crime' books) but to me she has so many cozy elements - English village, tea, old ladies :)
I don't know how I got so lucky as to stumble across you here on RUclips, but here we are, and you had me at the thumbnail with all the Miss Reads and Rosamunde Pilchers behind you on the shelf! Winter Solstice is a must-read for me every Christmas season, and I delve into Coming Home about once every two years or so. Even her older books are good, as you mentioned. I call them her 'practice' books for the big ones!😆 As for Miss Read...well, words often fail me when I try to talk about her books. Very cosy, yes, but there's also a very slight bit of acerbic wit running through her prose here and there to counteract the sweetness of the stories. It hits unexpectedly, making one laugh out loud (which can be embarrassing when reading her at the doctor's office! LOL). And yes, she definitely lost track of how she aged people, mostly the children. Joseph Coggs was a little boy for decades!🤣 But somehow that just doesn't matter. To me, her books are perfection, so much so that I've spent 30 years or more collecting them all. I THINK I have all of them now, at least all the Fairacre and Thrush Green stories, plus her autobiographical A Fortunate Grandchild and one or two others. She wrote a couple of children's stories which I do not have, and probably won't try to find. It's characters like Mrs Pringle and Dotty Harmer and the Misses Lovelock that I want to read about, over and over again! ❤
I like to call Miss Read (and Barbara Pym and a few others) cozy with a bite. They have a bit of an edge that makes them so much more interesting that a pure cozy. Even though I love the cozies too! I am still working on my Miss Read collection, and am missing quite a few - I think I own around 30. But the funny thing is I still read most of them on my Kindle! Thank you so so much for the nice comment and for being here. When I started my channel, I really thought that no one would be interested in these authors, and it has been so great to find so many kindred spirits here.
@@GinaStanyerBooks I used to think I was the only one on earth who still read Miss Read, and then I too discovered a lot of kindred spirits on the internet!😄"Cozy with a bite" is a great way to describe her books. Now I need to check out Barbara Pym's work; I've heard of her, but just haven't come across any of her books. If you have about 30 of Miss Read's books, you've only got about a dozen or so left to find, if that many, of the Fairacre/Thrush Green sets. Most of mine came from used book sales at my library years ago, or from thrift stores, and I've filled in with a few titles from Thriftbooks or Amazon. Makes me sad that my library no longer has any of them for circulation; whole generations are coming and going now without ever discovering her!😥
Love this 💕 If you see gaps in the stats, that is me pausing to put things on my shopping wishlist 😂 Winter solstice was a great escape last winter. The only thing I didn’t like was the theme of ‘the love of my life is already married’, that got a bit repetitive, but she is such a vivid story teller that I literally felt like I could step into another world at night, even thinking about it puts me back in a lovely snowy Scottish village ☺️
I read September a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it! Winter solstice was also good. I love Maeve Binchy who is Irish I believe. All her stories evolve around families, a village, the kids… Very cozy! 🤓
I borrowed “Miss Buncle’s Book” by D.E. Stevenson from the library and I was just going to read the first two chapters before I went to bed and ended up reading 55 pages, and had to force myself to put it down. Thank you for super suggestion, so far I love her..
@@GinaStanyerBooks I bought all three books in a physical copy and I love all three Miss Buncle books, what a super series! Thank you so much for recommending it to me. I read the first The Four Graces by her, from the library, I really loved it but before I go on, I wanted to know if you read it and how you feel about it? Thanks, Sherri
I love this. I have been on the hunt for Winter Solstice. I have never read anything by Rosamunde Pilcher, but figured that would be a perfect December read :). I range from appreciating "Gothic" to "cozy" in choosing books, and your selection sounds perfect. I, too, love, love British humor, sweet narratives/morals, and detailed meals, daily life, and quaint villages. Thank you for the review :)!
If you like this sort of novel, then I recommend reading the Angela Thirkell novels - Set in a single English county, it details the loves of the inhabitants there.
I *adore* Agatha Christie - Jane Marple is my spirit animal! 😆 I have exactly 1 book by Barbara Pym, Excellent Women and I haven't read it yet. 🙄 This was *so* fun, thank you for sharing! I purchased _Thrush Green_ for my Kindle as you were talking about it - it's currently $1.99! 📚
Oh yay! That is a great deal on the Kindle version - they are usually very expensive!!! I'm going to pop that in the notes so that other people are aware.
THANK YOU RUclips for showing me this beautiful channel...! I just discovered your super inspiring and cosy videos and I am smiling....... Love your refreshing style and enthousiasm! Spring greetings from Belgium! Maggie (Magali) 🌷🌺🌷
I adore Miss Read, have read almost of her books, she is fantastic. She really makes me feel happy and we need to be happy these Times. I never read Rosamunde Pilcher because I thought she was too romantic, but I will read the book you recommended. And I will read also D.E. Stevenson that I never hear about her. Thank you so much for this video.
I'd say stick with the bigger Pilcher books if you do decide to read one, the skinny ones are pretty typical romances and some of them are actually not very good (but I still love them ALL!)
I really relate to your choices, especially what you shared about R. Pilcher. I also love books about older women as it feels like there is a lack in popular literature about our segment of the population!
You are 5 for 5 on my own favorite cozy authors. How does that happen? 😊 Now I'm going to pull Winter Solstice from the shelf and re-read it. My own favorite of hers is Coming Home. I think that's because I really like WWI or WWII stories as well as the period between the wars. Of Pym I love Some Tame Gazelle. It was my first of hers. I recommended it to someone and they thought I was completely weird, or daft, as the British might say. They said" "but nothing happens, and these women are old spinsters and such. You're a modern career woman, how can you enjoy these?" It made me realize, these reads are not for everyone but only the select few. Seeing as we are soul mates, I'd like to recommend two more books, if you don't already know them: Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart and The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge. I like several others by those authors, but those are my favorite. Goudge can be a bit too esoteric and overtly religious for my taste, but not this one.
Thanks so much for the recommendations. I agree it is wonderful to find people who love these same types of books. That has been the joy of starting this channel! I will check out these two books for sure. Goudge has been spotty for me due to the religious overtones in some of here work, but I did really love A City of Bells. I own a couple Mary Stewart’s but have not yet read them.
@@GinaStanyerBooks Yes, I frequently feel that way about Goudge books, in particular the Pilgrim Inn series (though it's not called that) as well as several others. However, I also love "City of Bells" and "Sister of the Angels" (Christmas reads for me) as well as her children's books, "The Little White Horse" and "Linnets and Valarians." Certain authors of Gothics are my totally guilty reads (though I think I may be "going off them,"), so Mary Stewart is among those. However, Rose Cottage always struck me as a little different. It's full of domestic details, decorating a cottage, village life etc.
After your video, I think I understand why I really liked Coming Home but did not like another book from Rosemund Pilcher 🤔 Thanks for the knowledge 🙋🏻♀️
Adding Winter Solstice to my Winter TBR, that sounds exactly like the type of cozy book I’ve been looking to read. Thanks for the cozy reading recommendations!
What a fab video!I am so much into cozy little old lady books. They are so comforting. I just started the thrush green series and I think it’s the first one. I finished all of the fair acre series and loved it. I’m finding that the books I’m buying and not borrowing from the library are cozies. Agatha Christie, Barbara Pym and Miss Read. Now to buy the books That you talked about Starting with DE Stevenson. More tea please? Aloha
This was such a great video, Gina! As you can tell, I am still catching up on your channel and loving it! I have taken notes of all of these authors. I know I read The Shell Seekers years ago and loved it. I have taken down all of the authors and the books you mentioned for my next "Thrift" Book Outing! They all sounds amazing !!! Thank You So Much !!!
I love Miss Read and have read almost all of her books many times. Have you come across Lillian Beckwith? Sadly no longer with us but she wrote about 5/6 novels mainly set on a remote Hebridean Island. Wonderful cosy books!
I’ve had this on my watch later list for so long and really appreciate these recommendations. I really want to get into Barbara Pym so will look for Jane and Prudence. Had never heard of DE Stevenson before! The Rosamunde Pilcher book sounds glorious and is on a kindle deal so just bought it. Ms Read also sounds wonderful. Great video!
Hi Gina! Thank you for these Cozy Author recommendations! I whole heartedly concur with your choices of Miss Read and Rosamunde Pilcher! I have yet to read anything by Barbara Pym or D.E. Stevenson. I look forward to doing so! I have a recommendation for a cozy read! There is a book by Rosie Blake named "Hygge Holiday" that is very cozy and wonderful during the Christmas season! I think you will love it! I got caught up in the idea of hygge and I am never looking back!
Cozy books are the best! Agatha Christie is also the best, lol! I haven't read The Murder at the Vicarage though, even if I love Miss Marple books. I read both Poirot and Miss Marple completely out of order, whoops.
Yeh, ultimately I don't think the order in which you read them matters that much (except for _Curtains_ the last Poirot). They really do all stand alone just fine. Isn't Agatha Christie just the best... Looking through my shelf I realize there are still quite a few of her books that I own but haven't read (yahoo something to look forward to!)
Oh my goodness! I found a Barbara Pym book at a library sale a few years ago - I don't know why I even bought it because the cover was awful and I buy books for the cover 😂 but it was Quartet in Autumn and at first, I didn't think I liked it.(long story on the reason why) Soon though, I found myself thinking about this book more than anything else. So I recently saw another Barbara Pym at a thrift store and look forward to reading more.She has such a talent for expressing things I find hard to articulate.
I love library book sales, can't wait til ours comes back! Have you read any other Barbara Pym books? She's definitely got a bit more cynicism than Miss Read...
Random question. I think you have mentioned a book about a cat whose owner dies and the daughter and son-in-law move in. Such a sweet cozy read and I can’t think of the name of the book. Help?
Great video. I’m not familiar with Pym , Stevenson , or the Miss Read books. I’ve heard of them, but never tried any. I’ll check them out now. I agree with the Christie and Pilcher recommendations. Have you also read Binchy ? Her books remind me a bit of Pilcher’s . Happy Reading
I so enjoyed your definitive example of cosy reading at 15 minutes in, the ritual of afternoon tea. It's great sensory writing - it takes you there. My cozy recommends would be P. G. Wodehouse, and - discovered at Christmas - the Mapp and Lucia series by E. F. Benson. These 6 books either have Mapp or Lucia in the title and are all about the petty struggles for prestige on the English village council etc. No one is harmed, and the little pretentions, affectations and power plays are hilarious to observe.
One of my favorite scenes in a book is the one in the first book where Lucia was at the dinner party trying to speak Italian. I was laughing so much! They are so funny!
Good choice all with exceptions of 2 I havent read miss pyms and the other one miss bungle never heard if her. I love miss marple weary of poirot hes pompous overbearing. He and his grey cells. My favourite favourite Miss Read absoluteley adore her I have all her books a lot of them duplicated.
I don’t often see references to Miss Read books. She’s one of my favourite cosy, feel good authors. I reread her books whenever I need some comfort. I think she’s so underrated.
Me too. I love to read her cuddled up in bed 😍
I like your enthusiasm about English authors. You are the first book tuber, that I am aware, mentioning this type of books. I live in England and discover myself some books showed in this video. They are authors that are been a bit forgotten. Recently, I had finish "Quartet in Autumn" by Barbara Pym and totally enjoyed. My I mention few writers that you may are going to be interested: Dorothy Whipple, Elizabeth Jenkins, Ursula Orange, Elizabeth Jane Howard and R. C. Sherriff. They are all British and lived at the beginning of the last century.
Thanks so much for the recommendations! I’ve never hear of Elizabeth Jenkins Brodie so I’ll definitely check her out. I love all the others. Greengates was one of my favorite reads of 2021!
I LOVE Winter Solstice. It's my favorite of all her books. I have read it many times. Thank you for the suggestions.
Miss Read is my favorite author of all time followed closely by Agatha Christie! Oddly enough the first Miss Read books I ever read was Gossip from Thrush Green! I lived in a rural mountain town that did not have a book store or a library. The bookmobile didn’t come to where I lived so loaning one another books was often our only way of getting something new to read. I borrowed her one Miss Read so often, she eventually gave it to me! 😂 when I married my husband and moved to Indiana one of the first places he took me was to the library. When, I saw rage shelf full of Miss Read books, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven! I’m trying to collect all of her books.
What a fun story! My first Miss Read was News at Thrush Green.
Miss Read is a delightful author for country social history of a time gone by. The other author who is my favourite is Jane Duncan who wrotes the 'My Friend...' series. Part biographical.. also a social history... but many old fashioned truths. Rosamund Pilcher is also my favourite. D E Stevenson is a delight as well. Thank you from Cape Town.
I haven't heard of Jane Duncan. I'll check her out!
Vittoria Cottage by D. E. Stevenson got me back into reading. ☺️ Also, my first Rosamunde Pilcher was The Day of the Storm And I loved it. I have read The Shell Seekers since and it's definitely very different. But, I loved both. 🙌
Omgsh thank you for this video and your tips on which books to start with first. I neeeeeeed more cozy in my life.
I haven't ever read any of these authors other than Agatha Christie so you are totally introducing me to a new world!
Winter Solstice is absolutely on my December tbr now and Im writing out all of these authors to find at the library! Loved when you read from the books. You should narrate cozy books❤
for Agatha Christi I remember reading The Mirror Crack'd - it was such an interesting plot!
Watching your videos make me feel super cozy ❤
Another set of cosy books you might love are EF Benson's Mapp and Lucia series - which are absolutely hilarious. Also, the US author, Jan Karon's Mitford Series.
OMG!!! I know this video is some months old but I just discovered your channel and I absolutely love all of your content.. So I’m binge watching the older videos and I’m also a Rosemunde Pilcher fan thanks to Miranda Mills and I’ve read almost all of her novels and have most of her books in various editions…I love cozy reading it has really gotten me through this pandemic, so Thank you for such wonderful Content… Rosemunde Pilcher’s books are the only books I have ever re read.. oh sorry and “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I'm so glad that you are here, it is wonderful to meet you. Your comment really made my day. When I started this channel I thought no one else would be interested in my cozy books, so it's been so great to meet other people who love them too!
This is exactly what I was looking for! I have been planning to read Miss Read for a long time now and I precisely wanted to read her books because I got a feeling that they'd be cozy. I wish these books were translated to Spanish (my native language) but I think a very few are. But I won't let that stop me from reading them haha I'll take this opportunity to improve my English.
By the way those editions are beautiful 😍 these covers immediately make me want to read them.
HI! Thanks so much for the nice comment. Miss Read is definitely cozy. I love her so much! Her writing style is pretty simplistic so it may be a perfect way to practice your English - I love that idea.
Miss Read and Thrush Green I go back to time and again. I put myself there and visit with them all. Agatha Christie is so wonderful too. Thanks for the video. Gonna try Rosemonde Pilcher next.
Just finished two Miss Read books and am currently enjoying Excellent Women by Pym❤️. All of these were selected based on this video. I am so happy to have found you!
What a nice comment! Thank you so much.
Thank you for making this video! (I was the commenter requesting it) I'm definitely going to try Miss Read Thrush Green and some Agatha Christie to start with. Really excited for snuggling up on the couch with a tea, candle and blanket 🤗
Thanks for the suggestion! People really liked it 🥰
I think we can all use some more cozy in our lives, especially these days.
I am new to your channel, but am loving the content. I don't know if you have mentioned EF Benson's Mapp and Lucia books before. Definitely comfort reads.
Hi! Thanks for being here! I have indeed read (and enjoyed) the first of the Mapp and Lucia books!
Re- listening, binging you channel. Miss you, understand why. Recommended you to a book-tuber today.
Thanks Eileen! 💕❤️
I think you would love Angela Thirkell!
I do!!!! I need to do a part 2 of this video. There are so many more authors I love.
These are great recommendations! I’m adding these to my TBR because I could use some cozy reads this time of year!
I think we can all use a little extra cozy right now!
I have Miss Read's Fairacre series and Thrush Green series. I find them very calming and people behave like you WISHED people would behave. I also enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's Number One Ladies Detective Agent series. Again, they are big on ethics and personal values without being preachy. Just the world that you wished to be living in. I also enjoy Lilian Beckwith's series about the Hebridean Islands (The Hills is Lonely). I read these series repeatedly interspersed with other books. I always go back to them.
I totally agree! I’ll have to keep my eye open for The Hills is Lonely, it sounds wonderful!
@@GinaStanyerBooks It is part of a series of about 8 books.
BEST VIDEO EVER!! I 100% agree with you on these authors, Gina! And on Rosamunde Pilcher books. Winter Solstice is my all time favorite. I love reading and listening to it every winter. My favorite AC book is Sleeping Murder, but I love them all. Miss Marple is my favorite character of all time. I haven't read all of Barbara Pym's books, so I'm very excited to keep going with those. I would also add Frances Hodgson Burnett, Elizabeth Goudge and Dorothy Whipple (maybe L.M. Montgomery, too) to my cozy book author list. Thank you so much for sharing this video! Soo perfect! Many hugs! xoxo :D
Thanks Gina 2 :)
I just pulled _The Priory_ off my shelf to bump it up on my TBR. I've never actually read any Dorothy Whipple!
@@GinaStanyerBooks Oh, they're so good! I also loved They Were Sisters and They Knew Mr. Knight (I think that's the title.) I still have a stack of hers to read. If only I had two heads so I could read more! lol
Barbara Pym is such a treasure! I just finished A Glass of Blessings this morning and it was fun to see you mention her. Patricia Rutledge (Keeping up Appearances!) actress starred in a wonderful documentary on her which is on RUclips. You would enjoy. Cheers
I’ve watched Miss Pym’s Day Out several times! It’s so wonderful. I’m a big fan of Patricia Routledge too.
I think you would enjoy the Jan Karon "Father tim/Mitford" series. Warm story about an elderly Episcopal priest It runs to 14 books following the adventures of Father Tim and the people in small town North Carolina. It has religious overtones, but is not preachy. I think you'll love it!
Thank you for the recommendation!
Great video! Agatha Christie is my idea of the ultimate cozy author. 🙂
Thanks Courtney, I agree, she really is good. I’ve decided I’m doubling down on reading cozies this fall - just need to get out of my pandemic anxiety brain…
Loved this video, Gina! Yay for cozy reads and yay for British cozy authors! 🤣 My aunt loves Miss Read, but I have never tried her, so I must prioritise it after having heard you talk about it. I love Rosamunde Pilcher but haven’t read any of her works for years; however Shelly and I are buddy reading Winter Solstice later in the year, which is really exciting! 😊📚
Oh how fun!
Miss Buncle's book was the first DE Stevenson I read. Except for Pym this is a list of my favorite authors, adding Elizabeth Cadell. I remember being so delighted when Shell Seekers came out and it was long!
Miss Buncle's book sounds so cozy! And also Winter solstice :D Miss Read sounded good as well.
I added them to my wishlist ☺
I have 1 Agathe Christie book, but still need to read it :)
Miss Buncle is very cozy. DE Stevenson is one of my favorites!
I love your recommendations, because some of these authors/books are new to me. It's always nice to find new things to read!
Thanks! I am always looking for cozy recommendations too, so I hope you find something here that you like.
I totally agree with rosamunde pilchere as a cozy writer, I just finished the shell seekers and looking foward to read her other novels
You are in for a treat! I wish I could read them for the first time 🙂
Gina, you are a woman after my own heart. I love these authors, although I'm just now reading my first Barbara Pym. One correction, I think the Hercules Poirot book you mention is "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" rather than "The Murderous . . . ."
Hi! Thanks for the comment.. I had a brain lapse LOL :)
I've read miss read for years..love it
I watched this last night and immediate picked up a sample of Miss Buncle’s Book. A few chapters in and I’m loving it! Just what I needed as I’m also reading a World War II book!! Thanks, Gina!
Oh how fun! Miss Buncle is such a funny character.
PSSSSS I loooooooove your haircut!
@@GinaStanyerBooks Thank you!!!!!
Thanks for the recommendations, Gina. I'll check out your suggestions - especially interested in Barbara Pym. Rosamunde Pilcher is among my all-time favourite authors. Have you read her book of short stories, The Blue Bedroom? It is one of her best. :)
Thanks so much, Gina! I have really taken a shine to Pilcher’s writing and have enjoyed her books. I am currently reading September. I have not read any of the other authors but will look them up. 🌸
I'm so glad to hear that! I'll be doing a re-read of Winter Solstice sometime next month (hopefully!) It's one of my favorites to read around the holidays.
Ive enjoyed this vid a Lot! Just subscribed! 😊 I'm fond of Rosamund Pilcher, I'm trying to get her latest book Winter Solsctice 🍀 one of My favs is "Snow in April"...it's definetely about the cozy feeling for sure 🩷🩷🩷🍵
Hi! Thanks for subscribing! I’m so glad you’re here. Us cozy readers have to stick together📚
Thank you so much, Gina. I am basically new to "cozy reading" but it seems perfect for both the season and my current life. I've had Pilcher on my radar for ages, but I recently started Winter Solstice and am really loving it. (I'm listening to the audio while I knit, which is an excellent fit.) Watching this video made me realize that I needed to qualify the line I thought was true--that I was new to cozy--because I have loved Christie and Pym for many years. Looking forward to more for the rest of December!
Thank you Hannah! I wish I could knit, that sounds wonderful.
Oh how I enjoyed this video! Looking forward to checking out some of the authors that are new to me. My favorite is Rosamunde Pilcher. I just love her writing. I am working my way through her book "September" for this month.
Oh how fun. Reading _September_ in September is so wonderful!
This video is so cozy! Thanks for the recommendations.
I never thought of What a Christie as a cozy...? I started reading Miss Read many, many yrs. ago and for some reason stopped, can't remember why. Wasn't cause I didn't like them, cause I did.🙂 I have seen them at my library and said to myself;" I have to start reading them again". Enjoy your channel. Am a fairly new subscriber, maybe 2 wks.?
Thanks so much for subscribing! I am so glad you are here. I wouldn't categorize Christie as a cozy in the sense of 'cozy mystery' (ie those 'library cat solves the crime' books) but to me she has so many cozy elements - English village, tea, old ladies :)
I don't know how I got so lucky as to stumble across you here on RUclips, but here we are, and you had me at the thumbnail with all the Miss Reads and Rosamunde Pilchers behind you on the shelf! Winter Solstice is a must-read for me every Christmas season, and I delve into Coming Home about once every two years or so. Even her older books are good, as you mentioned. I call them her 'practice' books for the big ones!😆 As for Miss Read...well, words often fail me when I try to talk about her books. Very cosy, yes, but there's also a very slight bit of acerbic wit running through her prose here and there to counteract the sweetness of the stories. It hits unexpectedly, making one laugh out loud (which can be embarrassing when reading her at the doctor's office! LOL). And yes, she definitely lost track of how she aged people, mostly the children. Joseph Coggs was a little boy for decades!🤣 But somehow that just doesn't matter. To me, her books are perfection, so much so that I've spent 30 years or more collecting them all. I THINK I have all of them now, at least all the Fairacre and Thrush Green stories, plus her autobiographical A Fortunate Grandchild and one or two others. She wrote a couple of children's stories which I do not have, and probably won't try to find. It's characters like Mrs Pringle and Dotty Harmer and the Misses Lovelock that I want to read about, over and over again! ❤
I like to call Miss Read (and Barbara Pym and a few others) cozy with a bite. They have a bit of an edge that makes them so much more interesting that a pure cozy. Even though I love the cozies too! I am still working on my Miss Read collection, and am missing quite a few - I think I own around 30. But the funny thing is I still read most of them on my Kindle!
Thank you so so much for the nice comment and for being here. When I started my channel, I really thought that no one would be interested in these authors, and it has been so great to find so many kindred spirits here.
@@GinaStanyerBooks I used to think I was the only one on earth who still read Miss Read, and then I too discovered a lot of kindred spirits on the internet!😄"Cozy with a bite" is a great way to describe her books. Now I need to check out Barbara Pym's work; I've heard of her, but just haven't come across any of her books.
If you have about 30 of Miss Read's books, you've only got about a dozen or so left to find, if that many, of the Fairacre/Thrush Green sets. Most of mine came from used book sales at my library years ago, or from thrift stores, and I've filled in with a few titles from Thriftbooks or Amazon. Makes me sad that my library no longer has any of them for circulation; whole generations are coming and going now without ever discovering her!😥
Love this 💕 If you see gaps in the stats, that is me pausing to put things on my shopping wishlist 😂
Winter solstice was a great escape last winter. The only thing I didn’t like was the theme of ‘the love of my life is already married’, that got a bit repetitive, but she is such a vivid story teller that I literally felt like I could step into another world at night, even thinking about it puts me back in a lovely snowy Scottish village ☺️
Hi Anneke, I hadn't really noticed that aspect of _Winter Solstice_ but now that you mention it, I totally see what you are saying.
I read September a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it! Winter solstice was also good. I love Maeve Binchy who is Irish I believe. All her stories evolve around families, a village, the kids… Very cozy! 🤓
I’m nit sure why I’ve never read any Maeve Binchy. I’ll have to check her out.
@@GinaStanyerBooks « Circle of friends » started the journey for me. 🙂
I borrowed “Miss Buncle’s Book” by D.E. Stevenson from the library and I was just going to read the first two chapters before I went to bed and ended up reading 55 pages, and had to force myself to put it down. Thank you for super suggestion, so far I love her..
Oh yay! I'm so glad you are enjoying it.
@@GinaStanyerBooks I just finished it, I couldn't put it down. 24 hrs. Love it!
@@GinaStanyerBooks I bought all three books in a physical copy and I love all three Miss Buncle books, what a super series! Thank you so much for recommending it to me. I read the first The Four Graces by her, from the library, I really loved it but before I go on, I wanted to know if you read it and how you feel about it? Thanks, Sherri
I love this. I have been on the hunt for Winter Solstice. I have never read anything by Rosamunde Pilcher, but figured that would be a perfect December read :). I range from appreciating "Gothic" to "cozy" in choosing books, and your selection sounds perfect. I, too, love, love British humor, sweet narratives/morals, and detailed meals, daily life, and quaint villages. Thank you for the review :)!
Winter Solstice is a really great December read!
If you like this sort of novel, then I recommend reading the Angela Thirkell novels - Set in a single English county, it details the loves of the inhabitants there.
I've read Thirkell! I have a few on my TBR shelf that I hope to get to soon. Thanks for reminding me about them.
@@GinaStanyerBooks I love Thirkell. I think her best is Northbridge Rectory. I even belong to the Angela Thirkell Society.
I *adore* Agatha Christie - Jane Marple is my spirit animal! 😆 I have exactly 1 book by Barbara Pym, Excellent Women and I haven't read it yet. 🙄 This was *so* fun, thank you for sharing! I purchased _Thrush Green_ for my Kindle as you were talking about it - it's currently $1.99! 📚
Oh yay! That is a great deal on the Kindle version - they are usually very expensive!!! I'm going to pop that in the notes so that other people are aware.
THANK YOU RUclips for showing me this beautiful channel...! I just discovered your super inspiring and cosy videos and I am smiling....... Love your refreshing style and enthousiasm! Spring greetings from Belgium! Maggie (Magali) 🌷🌺🌷
Thanks so much for the wonderful comment! You made my day, I'm so glad to meet you here.
I adore Miss Read, have read almost of her books, she is fantastic. She really makes me feel happy and we need to be happy these Times. I never read Rosamunde Pilcher because I thought she was too romantic, but I will read the book you recommended. And I will read also D.E. Stevenson that I never hear about her. Thank you so much for this video.
I'd say stick with the bigger Pilcher books if you do decide to read one, the skinny ones are pretty typical romances and some of them are actually not very good (but I still love them ALL!)
@@GinaStanyerBooks Thank you! I will follow your advice.
Barbara Pim is new to me, and what a lovely boxed set! 🤩
Thanks! I love these old paperbacks so much - it's a treat when I find them like this in such good shape.
Sounds like you need to go book shopping for some Agatha Christie! ☺️☺️☺️ I haven’t read Pym yet! I should pick some up. Love this list!
Right? I own like 50 of her books, I'm not sure HOW I don't own these 2!!
I really relate to your choices, especially what you shared about R. Pilcher. I also love books about older women as it feels like there is a lack in popular literature about our segment of the population!
I totally agree.
You are 5 for 5 on my own favorite cozy authors. How does that happen? 😊 Now I'm going to pull Winter Solstice from the shelf and re-read it. My own favorite of hers is Coming Home. I think that's because I really like WWI or WWII stories as well as the period between the wars. Of Pym I love Some Tame Gazelle. It was my first of hers. I recommended it to someone and they thought I was completely weird, or daft, as the British might say. They said" "but nothing happens, and these women are old spinsters and such. You're a modern career woman, how can you enjoy these?" It made me realize, these reads are not for everyone but only the select few. Seeing as we are soul mates, I'd like to recommend two more books, if you don't already know them: Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart and The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge. I like several others by those authors, but those are my favorite. Goudge can be a bit too esoteric and overtly religious for my taste, but not this one.
Thanks so much for the recommendations. I agree it is wonderful to find people who love these same types of books. That has been the joy of starting this channel!
I will check out these two books for sure. Goudge has been spotty for me due to the religious overtones in some of here work, but I did really love A City of Bells. I own a couple Mary Stewart’s but have not yet read them.
@@GinaStanyerBooks Yes, I frequently feel that way about Goudge books, in particular the Pilgrim Inn series (though it's not called that) as well as several others. However, I also love "City of Bells" and "Sister of the Angels" (Christmas reads for me) as well as her children's books, "The Little White Horse" and "Linnets and Valarians." Certain authors of Gothics are my totally guilty reads (though I think I may be "going off them,"), so Mary Stewart is among those. However, Rose Cottage always struck me as a little different. It's full of domestic details, decorating a cottage, village life etc.
After your video, I think I understand why I really liked Coming Home but did not like another book from Rosemund Pilcher 🤔 Thanks for the knowledge 🙋🏻♀️
Oh Berna, some of her smaller romance books are just awful!
Adding Winter Solstice to my Winter TBR, that sounds exactly like the type of cozy book I’ve been looking to read. Thanks for the cozy reading recommendations!
Thanks Kim. It's a great winter read. I think I'll do a reread too.
Great video. I need to try Rosamund Pilcher.
What a fab video!I am so much into cozy little old lady books. They are so comforting. I just started the thrush green series and I think it’s the first one. I finished all of the fair acre series and loved it.
I’m finding that the books I’m buying and not borrowing from the library are cozies.
Agatha Christie, Barbara Pym and Miss Read. Now to buy the books That you talked about Starting with DE Stevenson. More tea please? Aloha
I love the little old lady books so much too! If you have any recommendations other than Miss Read or Rosamunde Pilcher I'd love to hear them.
And some of Sante Montifiore and Katie Fforde books as well.
Thank you. Just what I needed.
So glad!
This was such a great video, Gina! As you can tell, I am still catching up on your channel and loving it! I have taken notes of all of these authors. I know I read The Shell Seekers years ago and loved it. I have taken down all of the authors and the books you mentioned for my next "Thrift" Book Outing! They all sounds amazing !!! Thank You So Much !!!
Thanks Kristine!
I love Miss Read and have read almost all of her books many times. Have you come across Lillian Beckwith? Sadly no longer with us but she wrote about 5/6 novels mainly set on a remote Hebridean Island. Wonderful cosy books!
I haven’t, I’ll check her out!
Yes! Her series shares the same bookshelf as my Thrush Green and Fairacre series. Love them all!
Wonderful choices! I plan on reading Winter Solstice, maybe Nov-Dec. Thanks for your recommendations.
That’s a perfect time to read it! It’s so Christmasy and cozy.
This is so nice ! Thanks for your recommendations and joy and enthusiasm !
Thank you for the nice comment! I’m so glad you are here.
I’ve had this on my watch later list for so long and really appreciate these recommendations. I really want to get into Barbara Pym so will look for Jane and Prudence. Had never heard of DE Stevenson before! The Rosamunde Pilcher book sounds glorious and is on a kindle deal so just bought it. Ms Read also sounds wonderful. Great video!
Thanks Jac! (do you use a "K" on your name spelling?)
@@GinaStanyerBooks I do use a k though probably shouldn’t!
Hi Gina! Thank you for these Cozy Author recommendations! I whole heartedly concur with your choices of Miss Read and Rosamunde Pilcher! I have yet to read anything by Barbara Pym or D.E. Stevenson. I look forward to doing so!
I have a recommendation for a cozy read! There is a book by Rosie Blake named
"Hygge Holiday" that is very cozy and wonderful during the Christmas season! I think you will love it! I got caught up in the idea of hygge and I am never looking back!
Hygge Holiday sounds really nice! I just ordered it :) Thanks for the recommendation.
@@GinaStanyerBooks You are very welcome! I hope you love it as much as I do! :D
Cozy books are the best! Agatha Christie is also the best, lol! I haven't read The Murder at the Vicarage though, even if I love Miss Marple books. I read both Poirot and Miss Marple completely out of order, whoops.
Yeh, ultimately I don't think the order in which you read them matters that much (except for _Curtains_ the last Poirot). They really do all stand alone just fine. Isn't Agatha Christie just the best... Looking through my shelf I realize there are still quite a few of her books that I own but haven't read (yahoo something to look forward to!)
Great video!
Oh my goodness! I found a Barbara Pym book at a library sale a few years ago - I don't know why I even bought it because the cover was awful and I buy books for the cover 😂 but it was Quartet in Autumn and at first, I didn't think I liked it.(long story on the reason why) Soon though, I found myself thinking about this book more than anything else. So I recently saw another Barbara Pym at a thrift store and look forward to reading more.She has such a talent for expressing things I find hard to articulate.
I love library book sales, can't wait til ours comes back! Have you read any other Barbara Pym books? She's definitely got a bit more cynicism than Miss Read...
@@GinaStanyerBooks No, but I picked up Excellent Women to try next- I love Miss Read, too ❤️
Ooo that’s a good one too.
Random question. I think you have mentioned a book about a cat whose owner dies and the daughter and son-in-law move in. Such a sweet cozy read and I can’t think of the name of the book. Help?
It is not coming to me...... darn it.
@@GinaStanyerBooks a FB friend found it. You’d like it. It’s called Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper.
My library has this on ebook so I just checked it out! Thanks for the rec. I’ll read this one in bed tonight.
Great video. I’m not familiar with Pym , Stevenson , or the Miss Read books. I’ve heard of them, but never tried any. I’ll check them out now.
I agree with the Christie and Pilcher recommendations.
Have you also read Binchy ? Her books remind me a bit of Pilcher’s .
Happy Reading
I haven't read any Binchy. I'll have to check her out! Thanks for the recommendation.
I so enjoyed your definitive example of cosy reading at 15 minutes in, the ritual of afternoon tea. It's great sensory writing - it takes you there. My cozy recommends would be P. G. Wodehouse, and - discovered at Christmas - the Mapp and Lucia series by E. F. Benson. These 6 books either have Mapp or Lucia in the title and are all about the petty struggles for prestige on the English village council etc. No one is harmed, and the little pretentions, affectations and power plays are hilarious to observe.
One of my favorite scenes in a book is the one in the first book where Lucia was at the dinner party trying to speak Italian. I was laughing so much! They are so funny!
@@GinaStanyerBooks Yes! I love the way she was panicked when a real Italian lady was coming to town.... Georgie and his little dramas are fun.
Good choice all with exceptions of 2 I havent read miss pyms and the other one miss bungle never heard if her. I love miss marple weary of poirot hes pompous overbearing. He and his grey cells. My favourite favourite Miss Read absoluteley adore her I have all her books a lot of them duplicated.
I’m so glad to find another Miss Read fan!