I’m trying to get back into reading, and for a few weeks have been reading a chapter (or half) of the Hobbit before bed.
Does anyone have recommendations for similar books? I’m not up to reading LOTR yet.
What I’m looking for are relatively chill books that don’t stress you out before bed, something that I can just let my imagination run with abd has a cozy feel, if that makes any sense at all.
Don’t care too much about genre, but I do like fantasy.
Edit: I should add I don’t like books like Candide or Hitchhikers Guide, HG was fun, but I can’t do “and stuff just keeps happening to the main character” types. And I know Candide is purposefully frustrating, bit it was too effective.
I think the “Monk and Robot” series by Becky Chambers would be right up your alley. Cozy sci-fi with a very Hobbit-y feel.
Also, a step up in length and maybe stress but still solidly cozy sci-fi, but “Of Monsters and Mainframes” by Barbara Truelove.
If you liked the Avatar cartoon series you might like the Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas. It’s about a fantasy universe wherein young demigods compete in a sporting event to win honor and carry out a ritual to renew the sun’s protection against the forces of darkness.
I don’t love the Bobiverse books by Dennis Taylor, but the first one was mostly a series of funny little happenings to a nice man who takes everything in stride and makes lots of nerd jokes, and I’m led to believe the rest of the series is much the same. He travels around space just kind of getting up to this and that. I think the fact that it bored me makes it a good recommendation for you because I mostly like intense stuff rather than pleasantness.
Books I remember loving as a kid but can only recommend tentatively because I can’t remember them well:
- Alanna and Wild Magic series by Tamora Pierce
- Witch Week and other Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones
- Dragon’s Milk by Susan Fletcher
- Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams
- The Wild Road by Gabriel King
- Kingdoms of Light by Alan Dean Foster
Have you read Terry Pratchett? I’ve always found his writing relaxing and fun. The Color of Magic is always the best place to start reading Pratchett, but Small Gods, Going Postal, or Mort would have to be my favourites.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (RIP)
What about “The Dark Tower” series by Stephen King?
There’s a ton of stressing stuff in there.
I should start by saying I’m a huge Tolkien fan. LOTR is less daunting than it might seem. A friend of mine is going through it at only a chapter or two a night himself.
I’ll list my recommendations first and then explain below.
- His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman.
- Redwall series by Brian Jacques
- Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
- Legends and Lattes
- The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Howl’s Moving Castle (book came first) by Dianna Jones
- Ludd in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees
- Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandemeer
- The Expanse series by James Corey
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is more of the vibes; cozy, hero’s quest, adventure. It just feels like a cozy evening read book. Yes there’s a lot of them but they’re all their own little story so you can pick up any and end whenever. Less fantasy but still relaxing read.
The Discworld books are also great. There’s a lot again but there’s sets, you can look up which ones are actually direct sequels or a reading order and many can be read standalone. His first few are much more “and stuff just keeps happening” but it felt like after the first few he started to plan and give characters drive (despite his protestations otherwise). These books are peak “imagination run crazy” for me. You should also know Pratchett’s books don’t have chapter numbers. I personally loved that, the story feels like it is one continuous story to me but I’ve known people who accidentally read a book in one sitting because they were waiting for a chapter break to put it down.
The Cozy Fantasy genre itself might be what you’re looking for too. A lot of my friends lump The Hobbit into cozy fantasy. One of the recent runaway hits was Legends and Lattes. My wife and I read it together (she goes for cozy murder mystery and I go for weird books usually) and we both enjoyed it. It has a sequel we haven’t read yet. Terry Pratchett’s “Witches Abroad” is often recommended in this genre and also part of Discworld.
His Dark Materials I’ve only seen the show on BBC but I often hear it discussed in the same breath as Hobbit. Good story, fun adventure, some neat ideas.
I haven’t read Ludd, Howl’s or Earthsea myself either but they’re all well respected authors and those books almost always come up while discussing Tolkien so worth looking into. Earthsea or some other Le Guin book is next on my reading list personally.
And now for the two oddball recommendations, Southern Reach and Expanse. For me, I loved Annihilation. It’s one of two books that got me back into reading as an adult after not having done so since college (in my Tolkien seminar my final semester actually). I immediately remembered why I love reading and how words could take me places and make me feel things. It’s weird and trying to obsesses over the story is the wrong approach. You can absolutely read it at only a chapter or two a night and just wonder what the hell is going on.
The second oddball, Expanse, is one of the few series my buddy picked up and enjoyed after reading The Hobbit (same guy working through LOTR now). It’s relatively light easy reading sci-fi. We’d chew through a couple chapters together and theorize what was gonna happen. In many ways it’s not The Hobbit but I dunno, it clicked for him right after for some reason so maybe same for you.
Hopefully one of those works, happy reading.
Tehanu (one of the Earthsea books) is absolutely NOT cozy. It focuses heavily on abuse, rape, and misogyny in general, and really ought to have trigger warnings especially since it’s in the children’s section. It’s a fantastic series, but one of Le Guin’s main strengths as a writer is in portraying injustice and bigotry and inspiring alternative ways to be.
Geebus. That’s the first time I’ve heard that in all the times the books been suggested to me. It won’t put me off but I’ll start pointing that out as I recommend it. Thanks
She’s a wonderful author and handles the material in a very appropriate way. It’s just that Tehanu has intense subject matter that’s easily triggering for many people. I think kids probably ought to have an adult read it first and then with them so that it’s a proper learning experience.
The deal with the series is that Le Guin did an internalized misogyny in the first one, so the rest is written with more feminist intentionality on top of the cool magic world-building adventure stuff.
If you get editions of her fiction books with any notes in the beginning, I recommend saving them for after you’ve read the book.
So cozy fantasy sounds like what I want and didn’t know existed.
I read the first Earthsea book, it was good, dragged a bit, but had good world building and I did find myself enjoying how the magic works a lot. It is absolutely nothing like the Ghibli movie, I would be upset if I’d read the books then watched that movie. Of you’ve seen the movie and try reading them just know it’s different.
Also enjoyed the His Dark Materials show, but I never finished the last season as it came out and I never got to rewrching the earlier seasons.
I’ll look through your other recommendations, something I can read aloud while my partner falls asleep is good.
I’ve been listening to LOTR on audio book, and mostly it isn’t too bad. We just finished Helms Deep and things got pretty busy so I’d need to pick it back up.
The HDM series is pretty good, but it still doesn’t compare to the books. When they found Billy at the end of Northern Lights, that genuinely broke me. In the series it’s more scary research center, action scene, we’re making a rift now. It doesn’t make you feel the horror that Lyra feels when she finds out what they’re actually doing, what even trusted adults are okay with.
OP: looking for chill books
Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandemeer
Oh man, I loved Annihilation (the first book in the series) too but that is the opposite of a chill book. Is not gory or violent but it was gripping AF. Kept me up some nights.
I did say it’s an oddball and was just chill for me specifically lol.
I enjoyed the Belgariad by David Eddings. I don’t see it around anymore though.
I enjoyed this series as a teen, many years ago. Wasn’t until a few years ago that I found out the author and his wife were scumbags of the highest order.
I did not know that. Why can’t people just be nice.
Most books by Brandon Sanderson, though there are stressful parts like in the Hobbit, in general you can put your trust in the story and have it pay off.
Half of the Realm of the Elderlings. The other half, however, will ruin every night.
I was thinking of suggesting Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. It’s a very chill book mostly about two people from very different worlds forced to explore the others’ world and try to understand them. It’s so chill that
Spoiler
the monster hunters (Midnight Painters) are more similar to postal workers than Warriors. They’re important, but work a safe job that pays poorly.
It was inspired by Final Fantasy X and the movie Your Name.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is one of my favorites. It’s a beautiful story. And yes, pretty chill.
I wouldn’t recommend Mistborn or Stormlight for a chill read (I’ll recommend them all day otherwise).
I just finished Isles of the Emberdark and absolutely loved it. I’m now reading Project Hail Mary based on recommendations and didn’t know what I was getting into. The basic premise being exactly the same:
spoiler
man goes on suicide mission to try and save his home planet
It’s kinda hilarious to me. But Project Hail Mary doesn’t let questions linger which is very different from Brandon Sanderson’s writing. Every scientific question that comes up is pretty much solved on the next page.
Comet in Moominland, Moominsummer Madness. CS Lewis’ Narnia books. Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising book series. Good luck!
Never heard of Moomin, I’ll look it up
I mentioned those two Moomin books because they are also about peaceful and gentle beings who need to go on adventures and dangerous journeys. Very cozy feel.
I loved reading Narnia as a young teenager.
I got so sad when some of the books ended and the world changed. I don’t know if I could read them again, they were magical to me.
I imagine it would be like when I was a kid I read Bridge to Terabithia. I loved it so much, then it made me so sad. I tried rereading the start to go back to that feeling and it just made me more sad knowing the inevitable end.
I know exactly what you mean, it feels almost impossible to go back to some books even if I loved them (or because of that perhaps).
I was gonna also say Narnia, but the Moomin books are a great recommendation!
Thanks! I just now remembered that Tove Jansson, the Moomin author, actually illustrated an edition of The Hobbit: https://lithub.com/take-a-look-at-tove-janssons-illustrations-for-a-swedish-edition-of-the-hobbit/
Regarding The poorly named H2G2 trilogy, Douglas Adams could write a fantastic scene but putting it into a cohesive narrative and book length plot was not his strength. Approaching his books from that perspective helps you enjoy them better.
Also I was going to be a smartass and recommend LOTR but you beat me to it. Smartass.
I’ve been really enjoying Jasper Fforde lately. Light, entertaining reads. Lots of good, silly puns. His Thursday Next series is delightful. His Shades of Grey (no not that one) series is one of my favorite things ever written. It’s out a world where everyone is colorblind and can only see one color. The color you can see (and how well you can see it) determines your social standing. And there are man eating trees. And man eating roads. And man eating, I don’t know, stadiums and quarries.
Oh I thought of one - the Cemeteries of Amalo series by Sarah Monette. The premise is there’s a guy that can kind of commune to the dead and he travels around this sort of magical steampunk-era city solving mysteries. It is occasionally spooky and intense but the overall vibe is very cozy.
Apart from that, definitely Chronicles of Narnia as some people suggested. Although I thought they had a very bittersweet feeling to them. My favorite one for coziness would probably be A Horse and his Boy.
That sounds fun, like a steampunk Pushing Daisies.
Narnia was bittersweet for me too. I don’t think I can go back, but they were lovely books and I was so enthralled in them.
He also has a sci-fi trilogy that I really enjoyed. A lot of people ignore it in favor of the more-famous Narnia books. Which I also adore.
Piers anthony stuff is light but its risqueso not exactly like the hobbit but should not stress you out. The more I think about it the more his stuff is a lot like anime with panty glimpses and stuff thrown around. Its far more fanciful as well. Try the first xanth book and see what you think. Word of warning its a trilogy that turned into a trilogy of trilogies and then became the series that never ends. His incarnations of immortality series is a bit more serious without being stressful serious and that starts with on a pale horse. Xanth is about a magical land where everyone gets a magic talent. In some ways its like a fantasy version of my hero academia and the incarnations series is in a modern world where magic is around and used as much as technology and the main thing is around these mystical kind of offices that keep the world in order.
I would love a modern day xanth with all the puns and none of the sexism
The Player of Games by Iain M Banks
It’s about a guy who plays board games in space
The Martian by Andy Weir
It’s about a guy who solves engineering problems in space
I would not call Player of Games “cozy”, þough… would you? Iain M. Banks may be my favorite auþor, but his novels get pretty intense in a way Tolkein’s don’t.
In the same way the Hobbit is, I think the Culture is pretty cozy.
Science Fiction rather than Fantasy, but I can’t say enough good things about the original three “Little Fuzzy” books by H. Beam Piper.
Bonus: The first book is public domain:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18137
I re-read it often. Light, breezy, you can blow through it in a couple of hours.
Yeah, great suggestion! Definitely light reading wiþout being YA. From an earlier, more optimistic time, when few characters were truly irredeemably evil.
Þe Piper sequel was pretty good, too: more of þe same.
There were TWO Piper sequels. The 2nd one was published when he was alive, then they found a 3rd one in his papers and published it in the early 80s.
- Little Fuzzy
- Fuzzy Sapiens
2a) Books 1and 2 published as “The Fuzzy Papers” - Fuzzies and Other People
3a) Books 1, 2, and 3 published as “The Complete Fuzzy”.
Closest for me were the harry potter books or the Miss Peregrin’s books from Ranson Riggs. But i’m not an avid reader and I’m hesitant mentioning the hp books due to the author being what she is.
I think the mention is fine, my partner has copies from before Twitter was a thing and Rowling hasn’t decided she wanted to spend all her free time making struggling kids lives worse.
