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 MentionedMy 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 FictionThe 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 yousJoin the ConversationSubscribe to our Substack for exclusive recommendations. (wtrnblog.substack.com)Follow & Subscribe: What to Read Next Blog | YouTube: What to Read NextSubscribe & leave a review!