Cozy stories have always appealed to me: Mitford, Agatha Christie, The Wind in the Willows. Basically, if it has a slice of pie, a cup of tea, a cute animal, or a small town vista on the cover: yes, please.
Lately I’ve been thinking about nonfiction books that make me feel those same vibes. I stumbled across Emma Tobias on TikTok recommending 84 Charing Cross Road as “cozy nonfiction” and I immediately thought, “I want more like this!” But I could not find such a list anywhere, so I started brainstorming my own.
My own idea of cozy nonfiction might not be everyone’s, but the essence for me is often about the setting: warm and welcoming, maybe at a home, maybe at some travel destination, but also with lots of sensory details like meals and books and gardens and pottery. Hard things can happen (in fact, they often do!), but I want the people on the page to have a rich inner life.
I’d love to add to this list, so do share your favorite cozy nonfiction books with me in the comments, won’t you?
15 cozy nonfiction books centered around heart and home
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84, Charing Cross Road
Dear reader, if you haven’t met Helene and her correspondent and friend, Frank Doel, I think you might want to. Their epistolary friendship crosses years… and an ocean after Helene first writes to Frank, a bookseller in London, hoping he can track down a hard-to-find title for her. While she waits for him to track a copy down, they continue to exchange letters back and forth, and his little book enterprise at 84 Charing Cross Road expands out into a bookish community of fellow readers in Helene’s life. Intrigued by her spirited and singular voice, Frank’s wife and coworkers eventually begin writing as well and they exchange letters that contain all the joys and trials of a readers’ life. And, for that matter, all of life. More info →
Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris
This is the book I recommend for anyone who has ever endured a long-distance relationship. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, and home is where the heart is, what does one do when a piece of your heart is never at home? Ann Mah’s husband is a diplomat, which means that they move frequently, but also that he travels for work. She’s both constantly moving to a new city for the sake of love, yet then left to discover that new city on her own. It’s all made a little easier when she lands in France and, as a food lover, decides to find herself and establish her life there through the meals that make the various regions of the country special. More info →
Hill House Living: The Art of Creating a Joyful Life
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve given this as a gift: Paula Sutton’s old-world British style is completely charming. The thick glossy pages filled with colorful yet sophisticated rooms transport you to the English countryside and inspire you to create a little of that wherever home finds you. My own copy is flagged on so many pages, including her checklist for creating the perfect “Quiet Nook” and her best practical tips for searching out pretty decor in secondhand shops. More info →
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden
You’ll excuse me if I include one title from this list that’s still on my own TBR, but I couldn't leave off any book whose subtitle is “The Story of a Black Mothers’s Garden.” If there’s anything cozier than actual gardening, it might just be armchair gardening. Camille Dungy writes about her project to diversify the plants in her garden—branching out in the vegetables, herbs, and flowers she grows in a quest to protect biodiversity on her planet, but also as an image of what diversity can do in a community. Readers say to pick this up if you loved The Serviceberry or The Comfort of Crows. More info →
The Light of the World: A Memoir
While you should know this memoir centers around the grief of author Elizabeth Alexander losing her husband, the memories of their life together on the page are pure delight: colorful, multicultural, warm, tasty, academic, artistic, full of life including the couple’s young children and extended family, biological and chosen. I wished so many times I had been invited to a dinner party with their circle of friends and colleagues. Alexander is a poet and that comes through strongly in her prose: her writing is precise and vibrant. More info →
My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South
Slow down, pour a big glass of sweet tea, and dip into one of Rick Bragg’s short essays. The world moves a little slower and feels a little saner when he’s talking about oysters, football, or his mama (and her iron skillet). Rick Bragg’s narration is the only time I’ve ever listened to an audiobook on 1x speed. I didn’t want one second of his southern lilt to go any faster. More info →
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home
Part love story, part travelogue, Tembi Locke's zest for life after the death of her Sicilian husband is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. There is such a strong sense of love, family, and place here, even through the tensions of losing those things. Listen to this one on audio if you can, both for the author’s narration and to hear her pronunciations for all the food and locations. More info →
Summer at Tiffany: A Memoir
Who hasn’t had that one perfect summer coloring the memory of what the season should be for the rest of your life? For Marjorie Hart that summer was 1945 in New York City, surrounded by girlfriends, lunches at the Automat, handsome sailors… and Tiffany & Co jewelry. She and her best friend miraculously land coveted jobs at the famous jewelry store, and become the envy of all of their pals, having the summer of their lives. Marjorie and Marty prove that diamonds aren’t really a girl’s best friend, best friends are. Fizzy and friendly. More info →
In Other Words
Beautiful in every way—the writing (of course, because it’s Lahiri), the language, the layout (two languages side by side), even the cover. This distinctive memoir of a life lived, and written, in two languages is one that only Lahiri could have written. She falls in love with Italian after a trip during her college days, and it sets her on a course to learn the language, and make the move to Rome to immerse herself in her newfound voice this way. Language and self are so intertwined; we see how Lahiri learns more about herself and where she truly belongs in the pages of this revealing journal. More info →
A Thousand Feasts
The book that sent me reading everything Nigel Slater has ever written. He writes about food, home, and pottery (so much pottery!) in a way that compels me to slow down and notice the small moments in my own life. Some of his essays are so short they’re merely one perfect sentence, but each is like a gauzy, misty, moody, lovely painting. The physical copy itself is so gorgeous and cozy, though I also recommend him reading it on audio. More info →
The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom
This spiritual memoir is told through a life in trees. Singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson starts with his front yard as a child—that giant maple at the parson’s house—and continues on until he’s planting his own saplings at the Chapter House, his home near Nashville, Tennessee. This is the book that made me a tree lover and a card-carrying member of the Arbor Day Foundation. I’ve spent many happy days under the branches of beloved shrubs and towering oaks, listening to the rustling of leaves and contemplating for myself how trees change not just the world, but our lives. More info →
Heart: A Personal Journey Through Its Myths and Meanings
I adored this literary tour through the symbolism of the heart—including its place in various cultures and religions, famous letters, and fields of study like medicine and history. What a delightful compendium. I can barely sum it up better than this passage where she describes how an editor pitched the idea to her: "a lush, intimate book with a narrative arc. It should have world history and religion and psychology and the arts in it, but it shouldn't be a plodding survey... like a long conversation with that writer over drinks or tea, about books and lovers and mystics and animals and gardens — all sorts of weird and curious stories about the heart." She brings together a rich collection of prophets, poets, playwrights, and painters that I'll revisit again and again. More info →
The Country Commonplace Book
I’m a big fan of Miranda Mills on YouTube. Her videos are full of the English countryside, recipes for sweet treats, cups and cups of tea (usually in her collection of Emma Bridgewater mugs), and her own mother-daughter book club. When she put together a commonplace book, a dear friend you might happen to know (wink, hi Donna!) sent it my way. I’ve had the most delightful time slowly perusing her selections of recipes, poetry, and seasonal quotes. More info →
Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box
I’m on record as only making pleasurable New Year’s resolutions. Throughout the years, I’ve made it my goal to wear real pajamas, drink only out of my finest tea cups all year long, and watch all the rom-coms I’ve missed. But this year, I decided to finally put to good use all the brooches I’ve been collecting since childhood. And I’ve turned to the late diplomat Madeleine Albright’s memoir-in-pins for inspiration. She talks about politics, of course, but through the lens of when she decided to wear a snake brooch to a particular meeting, or a piece of turquoise to honor her guests at another assembly. I’m starting to see the way you can say so much without having to move your mouth. Instead, read my pins. More info →
Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes
I reread this almost every year as a reminder that life is best lived around the table. Niequist has a way of writing that welcomes you into her life and kitchen, and makes me think I could do the same. The gentle essays are interspersed with accessible recipes. The page with her recipe for Gaia cookies is comically stained, bent, and warped now from hours opened in the kitchen. I’ve made them more times than I can count. More info →
What are your favorite cozy nonfiction books? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 7 cozy fantasy novels for when you need a comforting escape, A baker’s dozen of cozy mysteries, and How to create a cozy reading area.
About the author
Ginger Horton is our Book Club Community Manager here at MMD. Her go-to genres are literary fiction and classics. You can find Ginger on Instagram at @gthorton or the MMD Book Club account @MMDBookClub.
82 comments
Thank you I needed this today.
i loved mastering the art of french eating, and there is a great crepe recipe in the book! i have been wondering for years about Ann Mah, i haven’t seen any updates from her or social activity. her books are wonderful, does anyone know more about this lovely author?
She is lovely! We spoke with her in Book Club a few years ago, and I immediately bought another of her titles—Jacqueline in Paris, but I haven’t read it yet. Looks delightful though. https://amzn.to/46U6QPS
Unfortunately, the most recent thing I’ve heard was that she had fallen suddenly and seriously ill right during the release of her latest book, Jacqueline in Paris. Her husband made a post that he was doing book release things for her, and there have not really been updates since then. It’s truly heartbreaking and I hope for the best for her. I loved her book (that Ginger posted above) as well as The Lost Vintage. Just a lovely writer!
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
Oooh, thanks! I don’t know this one.
This one is so beautiful!
I really enjoyed this story. Great suggestion!
Thank you. I have heard about this book but haven’t read it.
While I’ve never heard the term cozy non-fiction, I think Madeleine L’Engle’s Crosswicks Journals would fit this list. A Circle of Quiet (1972), The Summer of the Great-Grandmother (1974) about her mother’s death, The Irrational Season (1977), and Two-Part Invention (1988).
How have I not yet read these?? Her fiction is some of my favorite. Great suggestion!
Ooh! Also Peter Mayle’s Provence series – A Year in Provence (1989), Toujours Provence (1991), Encore Provence (1999), and My Twenty-Five Years in Provence (2018)and Frances Mayes’ Tuscany series – Under the Tuscan Sun (1997), Bella Tuscany (1999). And I had to look up who wrote which because their last names are so similar!
Two of my all time favorites. Though my heart goes out to Under the Tuscan Sun because of where I was when I first read it… Newlywed commuting to work with her in my head.
Just remember, the movie tells a different story than the book. Both are great in their own stories.
I have a different personal association with Under the Tuscan Sun. I was pregnant with my second child when I read it. It was SOOOOOO hard to read all the wine, and to a lesser extent, food descriptions!
Oh truly Peter Mayle is SUCH a great addition to this list.
I was going to say his books!! SO GOOD
I’m reading “On Looking” by Alexandra Horowitz right now and I find myself referencing it to everyone. It’s cozy in that she has framed the book around taking “typical” walks in her NYC neighborhood with different types of experts who teach her to notice the things she formerly walked right past. It’s all about the art of observation, and it’s already changing the way I see things.
That sounds RIGHT up my alley—noticing, walking, and NYC.
I’ve added this to my TBR list. I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘just being’ in the world: observing, feeling, absorbing the world around us. This will be a great addition to my ‘thinking’ list.
Some of your titles remind me of FRENCH BY HEART by Rebecca Ramsey. Subtitle: An American Family’s Adventures in LaBelle France. Here’s part of the description: “A charming tale with world-class characters, French By Heart reads like letters from your funniest friend. More than just a slice of life in France, it’s a heartwarming account of a family coming of age and learning what “home sweet home” really means.” Making me realize I’d like to read it again!
I listened to Jhumpa Lahiri’s “In Other Words” on a solo road trip and enjoyed it very much.
That sounds like that belongs right on this list. Thank you, Seerenity!
Oops! Doubled that “e” in my typing eenthusiasm! Thank you, Serenity!
Ginger, I want to read or reread every book you mentioned! What a great list. Thank you.
Hello, I have a couple that I’d like to suggest. The first is EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE by Kathryn Faulke. This is a book that I bought from Blackwell’s in the UK. This book is wildly popular there. It is a memoir of a caregiver-someone who goes into people’s homes and assists with activities of daily living (bathing, cleaning, cooking, etc.) Usually low paid and thought of as menial labor. The author pushes back and talks about how her life was transformed doing this work plus all the amazing folx and their stories that she got to take care of. Just the beauty of people being kind. And my other suggestion is THE ART OF BINDING by Paolo Milone. The memoir of an Italian psychiatrist who worked for 40 years in psych wards and emergency rooms. It is told in vignettes that is really beautiful on the page because it is written like couplets.
Love Miranda Mills as well!! She and her mum share delightful content.
I would add Christie Purifoy’s recent release, A House to Call Home. I have one more essay left to read in this memoir centered around what makes a house a home and have found it to be warm, honest, and encouraging. It is a thoughtful, beautiful book filled with lyrical prose and lovely photographs of the author’s beloved farmhouse in Pennsylvania.
This one is on my list as well, I love her writing, try Roots and Sky and Placemaker by Christie Purify if you haven’t already!
One more vote for Christie Purifoy, any book by her belongs to this list. She was the first author I thought of when I read the description. I’m so glad others have mentioned her already.
Rick Bragg’s Speckled Beauty has to be my most re-listened audiobook because his narration is PERFECT for trying to get back to sleep in the middle of the night and I mean that in the best way possible. Definitely at 1x!!
I have that one checked out from the library right now!
I’ve added In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri to my TBR. I’ve known about this book for years, and meant to pick it up, but it just slipped away. Thanks for reminding me.
I had a good look through my NF reading list for the last few years to see if I could contribute anything, but it turns out my NF reading is pretty dark, intense, unsettling, etc.
The one suggestion I can make is Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding Ways to Make Nature More Visible by Simon Barnes. I really enjoyed the audiobook.
I recently read Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. It’s a memoir in which the author recounts her retreat to the English countryside during the pandemic. She rescues a leveret (infant hare) and this act helps to pull focus on the natural world around her. It’s a tender story, with some lightly informative passages, that feels cozy and gentle. As a lover of (and companion to) a rabbit (the distinctions between them became increasingly clear) I enjoyed this very much.
Thank you. This is a really interesting topic. I’ve read 84, Charing Cross Road – Helen Hanff and Read My Pins – Madeline Albright I read a lot of non-fiction, but many are not the cozy kind. Still, it’s hard for me to only pick a few and to sum them up quicklyI’ve read 84, Charing Cross Road – Helen Hanff and Read My Pins – Madeline Albright
Loved both of these and look forward to reading some of the others that you posted.
My comments are taken from my original thoughts
I Feel Bad About My Neck – Nora Ephron
This book sat on my shelf for years. Did I really want to read this book?
Well, why not? After all Ephron was quite a writer.
Heartburn, published in 1983 was my first encounter with Nora Ephron. I remember this as a funny, romantic read. Though humor is subjective Ephron’s sense of mirth is fine with me. Never having read any of her other books I certainly am familiar with her films,When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle,, and You’ve Got Mail. There are many others.
Though I don’t feel bad about my neck anymore many other things have taken its place. Who knew I should worry about the purse I carry, varicose veins, coloring my hair, manicures, pedicures, the food I serve, my skin, and the dreaded post-menopausal hair, especially the bounty of this growing above my lips.
This was the perfect book for a dreary, rainy day. I Feel Bad About My Neck lightened my mood and reminded me how great it is to be a woman, turtleneck and all.
A special voice is gone as Nora Ephron passed away in 2012 but her talent lives on. Treat yourself to one of her books or a movie for which she was the screenwriter, producer or director. Have a good laugh in honor of one classy woman.
The Hummingbird’s Gift: Wonder, Beauty and the Renewal of Wings -Sy Montgomery
If you have ever been mesmerized by the behavior of this jewel of a bird this is a story not to be missed. I thought I knew a lot about hummers but I learned so much in this less than 100 page gem. From its dedication “To mothers everywhere, who understand” to its last page it was not only delightful but also an insightful read as told by Sy Montgomery.
The Taste of Country Cooking – Edna Lewis, Alice Waters (Contributor), Judith Jones (Contributor)
Reissued with a foreword by Alice Waters, it is a gem.
My husband walked by the other night and asked what I was reading. “Oh, just a cookbook” I answered. “What for?” he said with raised eyebrows and added, “When was the last time you cooked something from a cookbook?” He had a point. “Well, this one’s really interesting. I’ve always wanted to know how to butcher a hog”. That sent him on his way shaking his head.
To tell the truth, my husband was right. I read lots of cooking magazines and cookbooks and yet make very little beyond the usual meals I’ve cooked all the years we’ve been married. What he doesn’t realize is, cookbooks are read for more than the recipes. They are oral histories of lives lived, our connection to family through food and celebration and storytelling at their finest.
Edna Lewis was born in 1916, the year my own dear father entered this world. This is probably where their commonality ended though their Christmas stockings held similar treats. The foreword penned by Alice Waters begins
Enslaved by Ducks – Bob Tartae
Delightful book but couldn’t imagine living with all these animals. Bob and his wife Linda bring new meaning to pet owners. Rabbits, ducks, geese, parrots, doves, turkeys; a whole gaggle of all god’s creatures share a home with this couple. Great book to savor on one’s own, not certain how it will fare for book discussion.
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) – Sue Macy
I was absolutely delighted by this book. Of course there are other books that outline the history of the bicycle but the unique quality of Macy’s is her look at how it changed and shaped the woman’s world in the 1800’s wheeling us right into the present day.
History and stories of women and their boneshakers, velocipedes, sidesaddles, tricycles, and tandems are just part of the story. Bicycle fashion, bicycle races, bicycle advertising, women inventors, this book covers it all. There are quotes, tales of prominent women who loved their cycles, and those who thought women would surely go to the devil if they rode. Bicycle songs, bicycle lore, cycling slang, and bicycling magazines fill in, not leaving many gaps. Oh, and did I say the illustrations are great!
Sue Macy’s portrait of cycling history, as both sport and means of transportation, moving women forward and enacting change, is not to be missed.
Last but not least:
I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life – Anne Bogel
One of my favorite parts of Anne’s book memories was her time spent living next door to the library. Imagine what this means to a book lover. Any time the library is open you can just swing on by.
Her love of reading began at an early age. Her mother grew up visiting the library, her father grew up visiting the bookstore. Her mother took her to the library and set her free, letting her choose to her heart’s content. Her father took her to the bookstore where he let her wander and browse. Bogel does not wander far from the tree. Nature or nurture, she had it made.
She is one of us, a bibliophile with heart. And she makes darn good recommendations. What’s not to like?
Nora Ephron’s Heartburn is read by Meryl Streep and is truly delightful on audio.
Two titles that come to mind are The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life by Helen Whybrow and Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, as someone else already mentioned.
For me, these books would fit in this category:
“Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day By Day” (Clemency Burton Hill)
“The Under Story” (Lore Ferguson Wilbert)
“Try Softer” Aundi Kolber
“Cozy Minimalist Home” (Myquillyn Smith)
“Tattoos on the Heart” and its follow-ups (Gregory Boyle)
And for some old-school non-fiction memoirs, “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Belles on Their Toes” (Frank B Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) and “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” (Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough) are a joy-filled window into a different world.
I remember the tattered paperback copy of “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” which I owned and reread frequently.
Imagine my surprise when my SIL’s niece by marriage (who I see several times a year) posted on Facebook about how proud she was of her cousin. The cousin had just published a book. The book…Cozy Minimalist Home.
I keep thinking of more! Comfort of Crows A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl. Her writing is so lyrical.
Thank you so much for this list!! Such a great idea – cozy non-fiction.
One of my favourite books (both fiction and nonfiction) is Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in World of Grassland Birds by Trevor Herriot. This book started me on my birding hobby and also on only buying grass fed beef. It’s not all cozy since the decline in grassland birds is precipitous but his descriptions of the birds and the countryside and his life are terrific.
I love a “cozy” non-fiction, just never knew to call it that! What a great moniker! I would add Margaret Renkl’s books “Comfort of Crows” and “Late Migrations” to the list. They are such beautiful things of beauty; she writes deeply of the healing power of her garden and nature from a Southern perspecitve
Following the Wild Bees by Thomas D. Seeley is a very short and sweet book about the hobby of tracking bees back to their nests. It feels like a summer jaunt through a wildflower field, and the writer clearly loves the combination of relaxing nature hikes and problem solving this craft involves!
Ginger, I have read so many of these books! A few others I would recommend are any of Susan Branch’s beautiful, hand written and drawn memoirs, Placemaker by Christie Purifoy (how to cultivate places of beauty), and Beholding and Becoming by Ruth Chou Simons (a beautiful book with her original artwork about everyday worship).
Love Miranda Mills Youtube channel! A definite must watch for peak cosiness.
What a great list! I would also recommend three other of Helene Hanff’s books.
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, Q’s Legacy: A Delightful Account of a Lifelong Love Affair with Books, and Apple of My Eye.
Great list that surprised me! Thanks for sharing, y’all.
I will add Love By the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher. They were the authors of the WSJ’s Tastings column for years. Such a great memoir with yummy recipes.
Great list!
I would add Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May, and The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey.
I just finished Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan. I loved her drawings! Inspired me to pay more attention to the nature in my own back yard.
Love this list! “84 Charing Cross Road” and “Mastering the Art of French Eating” are two of my favourites.
I would add Samir Nosrat’s “Good Things”, mostly for the chapter about her regular dinner with friends.
So many great books and so many I want to read. I would add 2 by authors that are not favorites of mine but show a different side of themselves in these books. John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley” is a delight and a fascinating look at the United States in a very different yet very familiar time.
One of my all-time favorite books is Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”. It’s memories of his life in Paris and is almost like a time machine. One of the few books I regularly reread.
I’m in the middle of Supper Of The Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon, and it fits this category perfectly. It’s sort of a cooking book, but also meditations on living an embodied life. He’s quite funny, but also has a lot to say about slowing down and noticing what it is that’s beautiful all around you, even in an onion or a glass of wine.
I’m enjoying this list. I never thought of this subgenre, but it makes perfect sense. I’d suggest Onward and Upward in the Garden, by Katharine White and E.B. White. The essays first appeared in the New Yorker, years ago, but remain very enjoyable.
Such a lovely book!
Also – any book by David Mas Masumoto…. Four Seasons in Five Senses, Letters from a Peach Farmer, Heirlooms…..
These are new to me and I am looking forward to reading them! Thank you!
When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler’s Journal of Staying Put by Vivian Swift. Handwritten and charmingly illustrated.
A Fine Romance by Susan Branch. She’s written others, but this is my favorite. Also handwritten with both photos and her illustrations.
Books to curl up with on a rainy day with a cut of hot chocolate…
The author of “Plain and Simple” recently died, and in reading her obituary I knew I had to read her book about living with an Amish family. It caused me to reevaluate my pace and attitude towards chores. Just a lovely, restful book.
So many thoughts! I second the inclusion of Peter Mayle, but what about James Herriot?? Can’t leave his wonderful books out!
I have read several on Ginger’s list, but am also interested in reader’s suggestions: “On Looking” and “French By Heart”. I’ve also had an audiobook of Rick Bragg’s for years, sitting in my closet, and honestly, I thought he was a country singer. I like country, but couldn’t quite place him, so I never got around to listening to it! Moved to the top of my audio list!
I have read “Raising Hare” and “I Feel Bad About My Neck” and I agree with those, too!
“Summer at Tiffany” has gone on my TBR. Looking for an inexpensive copy now! And Ann Mah has been on my TBR for several years, haven’t come across a copy yet.
And my suggestions:
“Green Thoughts, A Writer in the Garden”, by Eleanor Perenyi. I’m not even a gardener and yet I’ve read this at least twice! She writes well and interestingly. Lovely is the word.
“A Jane Austen Education: How 6 Novels Taught Me about Love, Friendship and The Things that Really Matter” by William Deresiewicz. This is not a fangirl book, this is by a man that by his own admission turned his nose up at Jane Austen, but THEN he discovered her!! It was so fun to read about. His summaries and then comments on each book are delightful and well done. I’ve read it twice as well. Time for a reread.
Less well known:
“Making the Rounds with Oscar” by David Dosa. Dr. Dosa is a doctor to a nursing home and the nursing home has a cat, the kind that sense when death is near. It’s really not about the cat, but about the nursing home and the different patients, I found it informative and comforting.
“Dinner with the Smileys” by Sarah Smiley. Sarah and her military husband and 3 young sons moved to Maine, and Sarah got a job with the paper writing a column on military families. But then her husband got deployed for a year, and instead of leaving his place at the table empty, she invited someone to fill it every week. She got senators, professional athletes, schoolteachers, people the boys were interested in, and so on, and we sit in and listen! I find all her writing to be comforting, funny, lovable and charming.
Gregory Boyle has a new book out now that’s on my TBR: Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times.
I enjoy Katherine May’s writings. I’ve read Wintering several times.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, & also Raising Hare. Wonderful books, enlightening & inspirational.
Seed to Dust by Marc Hamer is a really quiet, lovely book going through the seasons in a garden 🪴 The author had an unconventional life (was homeless, taught in prisons, at the time of the writing was employed as a gardener for a private home) and some of his reflections on that life come thru, though it’s not really intended as a memoir
This is a great genre to discover “cozy non-fiction”. I would like to add Ruskin Bond’s “A book of simple living” to the list. He is an Indian author born to a British father before India’s independence. He chose a small town in the foothills of Himalayas as his home and continues to write beautiful fiction and non-fiction about the dreamy little town. This book has small observations about day to day life, random things like the purpose of a cat sitting under the sun etc… very cozy read.
I’m currently enjoying The Book of Alchemy. 100 lovely guided prompts for journaling (or just meditation). All written by various writers. A wonderful look into their writing process while also encouraging mindfulness and introspection for the reader.
Seed to Dust is a beautiful book I keep on my coffee table and enjoy picking up in the mornings. Reflections on working in an English garden through one year.
Both books are favorites for quiet mornings with a cuppa. I find them best enjoyed by a fire or with a fuzzy friend curled up by your feet! 🙂
Twice old, but apparently once again in print by Rizzoli, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady was written and illustrated by Elizabeth Holden in 1906 and not published until 1977. My grandmother had a copy and I spent hours pouring over it. It’s a gorgeous book filled with her garden musings and poetry and beautiful illustrations. I think I need my own copy.
Ginger, I was so excited to see this post! I love these kinds of books! I’ve read several but will definitely be reading more of them! Thanks so much for sharing and to everyone in the comments for the recommendations!
Thank you for this list! I’ll be pursuing several of them.
I’ve written down most everything from Ginger’s list and from the Comments. Thanks, all! One of my reading goals for this year is to read more nonfiction, but this made me realize that it’s not simply nonfiction that I’m craving — it’s “cozy” nonfiction. Two of my favorite reads from last year were The Light of the World and Soil. I’m still thinking about both, so “cozy” nonfiction is what I want more of in my reading life. Ginger, thanks for starting this discussion!
Do you know how many books you all have just added to my stack?!! These books are why I read!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Thanks for the list….Summer at Tiffany’s is on my kindle. It just got moved up to my priority TBR list. Also I just finished The Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page… to me this is cozy fiction the kind of book that left like a warm hug.
Bread and Wine is a favorite for me too. Only our favorite recipe is her blueberry crisp. I have adapted it to other fruits too. It is so good and so easy.
Be sure to add Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller by Oliver Darkshire to the list. The author worked at Sotheran’s in London. Funny, sad, thought provoking.
My first thought was The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn. A lovely book about a recent CIA graduate transforming her own and others’ lives by teaching them basic healthy from scratch cooking skills. And musings on why so many young adults in the US don’t know how to cook.
I loved The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. A hopeful book about an awful situation. Another similar is Stir by Jessica Flector, a woman who used cooking to get herself through a major health situation.
Erica Bauermeister wrote House Lessons about remodeling a home and Michael Pollan wrote A Place of My Own about building a writing cottage from scratch. A lot about home and connection to it as well as challenging yourself in both.
I loved Mark Hamer’s trilogy, but would recommend stating with the first book, How to Catch a Mole. Very real dealing with nature, both as a mole catcher and as a homeless young man. Seed to Dust is a beautiful book on connection to a garden. The last book is the weakest but does feel like and ending.
From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden by Amy Stewart will amuse and remind gardeners as well as just being fun to read.
Anything by Caroline Knapp and Gail Caldwell, both together and separately. Even their books on difficult personal subjects are full of warmth and friendship, if not on every page. My favorite is Caldwell’s Let’s Take the Long Way Home.
Anna Quindlen’s nonfiction, especially her essays from her New York Times columns and Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.
Gardening essays used to be a fairly popular genre. Besides Katherine White and Eleanor Perenyi, I like Beth Chatto, Henry Mitchell, Allan Lacy, Elizabeth Lawrence and Christopher Lloyd. These latter wrote gardening essays, books about their gardens and classic gardening books. Most of their books are out of print.
Susan Branch’s memoirs are the definition of cozy nonfiction. memoirs. a Fine Romance, and Martha’s Vineyard, Island of Dreams.
So excited to see Shauna’s book on your list. As I was reading the premise of cozy nonfiction, that one came to mind immediately.
This is such a lovely list!
I would add ‘Ordinary Time’ by Annie B Jones and ‘A homemade life’ by Molly Wizenberg,to this list.
Advanced Love by Ari Seth Cohen always brings a smile to my face. I love that it focuses on senior couples, their fun fashion sense and the stories of how they met and fell in love. It’s uplifting. “To love, and to age, is a privilege, and the ability to love and find love is bound by the constraints of neither age nor time.”
I’d also recommend The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings, and Illustrations by Emily Zach. Soothing, nostalgic. Makes me want to move to a farm and pick up watercolor painting.
Wintering by Katherine May.
Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod
Devorgilla Days by Kathleen Hart. After an extended illness, the author bought a cottage in the Scottish booktown of Wigtown and reinvented her life with gardening and cold water swimming.
Such a great list!!! And great comments!!!
I have lots of “Saved Title Lists” at my library (31 to be exact), including one that I titled Recommended by Ginger 🙂
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