What is Cozy Fiction?

"Cozy" has been an adjective associated with mysteries for decades. I believe, however, that the term "cozy" can be just as appropriately applied to other, non-genre fiction.

I love how Karin Gillespie defines cozy/gentle novels on her blog: 

Novels with no cussing, no killing, no fornicating. (Well, some fornicating but usually “off stage.”)

That's not exactly the definition I'm using to determine which books/authors are featured in the Cozy Library. You might ask: Do characters in cozy fiction enjoy sex? Yes, they do, but the author doesn't spell it out too graphically. Is there violence in cozy fiction? Yes, but again, it's not too graphic. Can there be coarse language in cozy fiction? Yes, characters in cozy fiction occasionally use profanity, but cozy authors don't use profanity simply for the sake of using it -- and it's not excessive.

I'd appreciate hearing from you with the names of any authors you would like to see featured here. Please write me at cozy.library@sbcglobal.net