There is nothing worse than grabbing a Cozy Mystery off of the library shelf for vacation just to find out that it is not worth the read.  That has happened to me, more than once! Whether you are at the beach, in the mountains or hibernating at home, all you want to do is immerse yourself in a good book. You have been looking forward to this moment and it is finally here, only to feel an incredible let down after attempting to get through the first chapter!!!

I love cozy mysteries. (That is not to say I don’t enjoy a good autobiography or romance. I can’t believe I put those two in the same sentence!) I have read, or listened to hundreds of cozy mysteries.  It is my favorite genre.  I love a good mystery which manages to combine love and lust in a clean way without profanity circulating through every few sentences.

When I sit down to read a book, I want to be entertained. I want to be able to step outside of my insane, exhausting life and become enveloped in someone else’s fascinating life for a short time.  I want to get to know the characters  and have a feeling that they could perhaps be in my circle of friends.  I want to be transformed to their location walking down their main street.  Being absorbed in an inspiring story is like having a cozy blanket wrapped around me as I lounge in front of a cozy fire with a good cup of tea coercing me to stay there forever.

I have stopped watching T.V. because I prefer reading.  I find I resort to audiobooks most of the time due to a long commute to work. When I listen to music, I am constantly changing the station because I don’t like the next song that comes on.  That is not the case with a good cozy mystery. Listening to a book, I pray I will get stuck in traffic so that I can listen a little longer.   It allows me to relax into the story before having to walk into an incredibly stressful work place, and I find myself counting down the time until I can run to my car and be absorbed into the plot once again.  I eventually get home, and listen to my audiobook while I work on a project: knitting, crocheting, weaving, spinning fiber or exploring my next travel destination.  Even when I cook or bake, my audiobook is playing in the background.

So, similar to many of you, my happy place is to travel, read, and perhaps work on on a project.  I am always looking for my next exciting place to travel to. You may find that many of my destinations are “active” vacations.  I have never been one to sit on a beach. I like excitement! Rafting, snorkeling, caving, hiking, exploring towns. I am not opposed to a day of beach in between the running, but, a vacation of beaching it, is not on my agenda.  I am reserving the beaches for when I am no longer able to “be on the move”.

Moving on…..please take my recommendations with a grain of salt. We all have our opinions.  If I do not like a book, it is due to a lack of plot, poorly thought out protagonist, under developed characters or location. It could also be that the writer is not taking the time to explore creative words for the mundane. Just because a book is a Cozy Mystery, does not mean it is not supposed to challenge the mind.  Cozy Mysteries should be just as intriguing as any mystery but without the gore, language and sex. (Hmmm, perhaps that is an oxymoron.). When a book gets too cutesy, it goes on my poor quality list.

I hope you will enjoy this blog.  I don’t hold back. Remember our opinions can be different, that’s how it should be.  I look forward to you expressing your opinions.

Of course we all have our favorite sub-genres. Cooking, traveling, yarn shops, cafes, bookstores, witchy books, antiquities, shopping and so forth.  I have read them all so this blog will not be focusing on just one topic.