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

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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

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