Book Club Fiction, Cozy Mysteries & Summer Rom-Coms With Bookish AF

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.* If you're the kind of reader who wants heartfelt book recs *and* a peek behind the curtain of building a reading life worth writing about, this one's for you. Audry Fryer of the *Bookish AF* Substack joins us to talk about the books she can't stop recommending — from Fredrik Backman's quietly devastating *My Friends* to the winter read she's still thinking about, *The Frozen River*. We also get into the joys of audiobooks as genuine self-care, how to ease into romantasy without the overwhelm, and why "millennial mysteries" might be exactly the cozy-but-not-too-cozy genre you've been looking for. ### **📚 Books Mentioned** **My Friends** by Fredrik Backman — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction / Contemporary | Audio ✅ **Beartown** by Fredrik Backman — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction / Sports | Audio ✅ **A Man Called Ove** by Fredrik Backman — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction | Audio ✅ **The Frozen River** by Ariel Lawhon — Buy on Amazon | Historical Fiction | Audio ✅ **Broken Country** by Clare Leslie Hall — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction **The God of the Woods** by Liz Moore— Buy on Amazon | Literary Thriller / Mystery | Audio ✅ **Evvie Drake Starts Over** by Linda Holmes — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance / Women's Fiction | Audio ✅ **Great Big Beautiful Life** by Emily Henry — Buy on Amazon | Women's Fiction / Romance | Audio ✅ **It's a Love Story** by Annabel Monaghan — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance / Rom-Com | Audio ✅ **Nora Goes Off Script** by Annabel Monaghan — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance / Women's Fiction | Audio ✅ **The Guncle** by Steven Rowley — Buy on Amazon | Commercial Fiction / LGBTQ+ | Audio ✅ (author narrates) **Rachel West and the Fallen Starlet** by Emma Mills — Buy on Amazon | Cozy Mystery ### **⏱️ Timestamps** \[00:00:00] Welcome & introducing Audry Fryer of *Bookish AF* \[00:01:00] Audry's background: teaching, twins, and how she started writing \[00:03:00] Writing *Until Next Sunday* — historical fiction from real family letters \[00:04:00] Substack, blogging nostalgia & bringing back the personal touch \[00:08:00] Audry's reading tastes: contemporary fiction, character arcs & book club picks \[00:10:00] Audiobook debate: are some books better on audio? \[00:11:00] Graphic audio & how to ease into romantasy \[00:13:00] Audiobooks as self-care & the "bookending" reading habit \[00:15:00] Book recommendations begin! \[00:16:00] *My Friends* by Fredrik Backman & the joy of translated fiction \[00:17:00] *The Frozen River* — a historical fiction winter read \[00:18:00] *Broken Country* & *The God of the Woods* \[00:19:00] *Evvie Drake Starts Over* — lightening things up \[00:20:00] Morally gray romance tangent & captive romance confessions \[00:21:00] *Great Big Beautiful Life* & *It's a Love Story* — laughing out loud \[00:22:00] *Nora Goes Off Script* rec from Laura \[00:23:00] Library tips: Libby app & sharing a Kindle account with mom \[00:24:00] Mother-daughter book club: *Golden Girls Cozy Mystery* & the follow-up \[00:25:00] *The Guncle* by Steven Rowley — a Palm Springs rec \[00:27:00] Millennial mysteries vs. cozy mysteries — what's the difference? \[00:27:00] *Rachel West and the Fallen Starlet* — Hollywood murder mystery rec \[00:29:00] What to expect from *Bookish AF* on Substack \[00:31:00] Wrap-up & thank yous ### Join the Conversation Subscribe to our Substack for exclusive recommendations. (wtrnblog.substack.com) Follow & Subscribe: What to Read Next Blog | YouTube: What to Read Next Subscribe & leave a review!