I don’t normally plan out my reading, except to frantically catch up on reading challenges, but this Winter I’m in the mood to do some comfort reading. So I’ve decided to just choose a couple of themes this snowy season:
- Cozy Mysteries
I’ve never read mysteries much before, just one novel with Jane Austen as the detective, but since I started watching the Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series starring Jeremy Brett, I’ve become obsessed and will now fill that gap in my reading history. This Winter I plan to read the Sherlock Holmes stories. I also have a copy of Alone, #2 in the Valentino Mysteries (featuring film archivist detective, Valentino) that I’m going to try out, and Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers has been sitting on my bookshelf forever, waiting to introduce me to her detective, Lord Peter Wimsey. Also, if I can get a copy, I’d like to read Death at Wentwater Court, volume 1 in the Daisy Dalrymple series by Carola Dunn, since I unwittingly bought volume 17 (Black Ship, because of the cover, of course) in the series a while back. - Patricia A. McKillip
Yes, I read her a lot so this is really nothing new. But I’m hoping to finish her Riddle-Master trilogy before the end of the year, and hopefully The Tower at Stony Wood. It really all depends on how much time I have. I’m reading Riddle-Master of Hed right now and it’s classic high fantasy, with all the usual tropes, including the farm-boy (or more accurately, farmer-prince) who discovers he’s more than he seems, but McKillip’s writing is so much better than most others who’ve attempted this plot that it makes the classic motifs feel brand-new. If you miss this kind of story and want to read an excellent example, try Riddle-Master.
I think more than that would probably be overdoing it. At my usual reading rate, this certainly is overdoing it, but if I just use it as a general guideline, no harm done, right?
