Off the Shelf: Take Advantage of Each Season to Read
By Sharon Saye on September 30, 2020 from Off the Shelf
I have been seeing loads of recommendations for cozy fall reading on Booktube. Apparently curling up with a book, a blanket, and a cup of something hot is very Fall-like, and really motivates people to recommend books. That seems pretty obvious, but it is the recommendations that seem a little out of kilter with the word “cozy.”
Thrillers and horror books are two of the genres most mentioned. The problem is how are thrillers with loads of action and violence, and horror novels with blood, gore, and frights, “cozy.”
This also brings up the name “cozy mysteries,” a very popular genre of mystery novels usually set in small towns with amateur detectives trying to figure out why the town’s least liked citizen has been murdered. Once again, how is murder “cozy?” The atmosphere is cozy, libraries, craft shops, restaurants; the detectives usually female and accompanied by a pet are light and fun, but murder shouldn’t be described as “cozy.”
So, apparently to some, reading is seasonal. Big, bulky books are summer “beach” books. Halloween sparks interest in horror novels for fall. So, winter reads encompass what? Perhaps, romance. Or spring? (Action novels.) Who makes up these rules?
Reading to me seems to be reading. Curling up with a book does not seem to be linked to the seasons although bad weather does make it easier, but then, sitting on the porch with a mystery and lemonade works out fine for summer.
So, my advice to you readers is to take advantage of every season to read and read what you want. Books set in the summer at Nantucket seem like a good way to ignore the snow and freezing temperatures of winter. Big books are just as great in the winter and horror books are just as scary in March. Just enjoy your reading and relax about all these so-called seasonal rules.
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