When it comes to the books I’m most fond of, some titles burn a little brighter, revealing themselves from behind the fog of memories. There’s the well-loved Boxcar Children my mother read to me as bedtime stories. In middle-grade fiction, The Doll People and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe grabbed my hand and ran away on an epic adventure. High School filled my TBR with educational required reading and guilty pleasure epistolary books. As a young adult, Divergent and I am Number Four introduced me to sci-fi worlds unlike any I had read before.
Sometimes, certain books receive a great deal of love and recognition. Other times — and most commonly, some of our favorites — they don’t. Here, we explore my personal favorites and some more obscure book recommendations that deserve a spot on your TBR.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
We’re starting this list off strong with one of my standing favorites. If Christopher Paolini has no fans, then I am dead. You’ve heard of The Inheritance Cycle – which I do love, don’t get me wrong – but Paolini’s lesser-known work, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, is phenomenal and deserves more love. Paolini’s first foray into sci-fi came to readers during the pandemic, and it was just what I needed from my comfort author.
Xenobiologist Kira performs a routine mission on an empty planet when she unexpectedly finds a relic. This alien artifact bonds with its new host, wreaking havoc on Kira’s mind and body, and sparking an interstellar war simultaneously. Fleeing the research base, Kira and the relic, the Soft Blade, are rescued by a civilian crew aboard the Wallfish. Under the assumption that the humans have activated the Soft Blade maliciously, the aliens will stop at nothing to get it back. Now it’s up to Kira to face her fears and save the planet.
It’s easy to see how the young adult high fantasy of the World of Eragon could overshadow what originally appeared as a standalone novel. However, Paolini’s prose improves with age, and his world-building is as vast as the reaches of the Fractalverse. The characters are lovable, with their banter and incredibly realistic reactions to the first encounter. I definitely didn’t want to put this one down and engage in regular life activities. For audiobook lovers, you are in for an extra special treat as Jennifer Hale narrates To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.
Two Parts Sugar, One Parts Murder by Valerie Burns
I’ll be the first to admit that I love a cozy mystery novel. If it happens to revolve around bakeries and baked goods, then you can catch me in my reading nook devouring every book in the series. I have read many, and while there are some books mentioned on TikTok that are worth the hype, there are plenty that don’t get mentioned, such as Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder and its subsequent Baker Street Mystery series, which deserve more recognition.
After accepting an inheritance from her great-aunt, Maddy Montgomery dives headfirst into change, moving to New Bison, Michigan, to run a bakery and care for an English mastiff named Baby while she lives in her great-aunt Octavia’s house for a year. Maddy doesn’t let the fact that she doesn’t bake get in her way. Then, New Bison’s unlikable mayor is murdered, and Maddy’s fingerprints are found on the weapon. Now it’s up to Maddy and the Baker Street Irregulars to find out who framed Maddy.
There are currently three books in the Baker Street Mystery series, and I eagerly await more. This is the first of the series, and I think they are worth reading. It’s got everything a girl could want: a conditional inheritance, a bakery, a 200-pound English mastiff, and murder. Jokes aside, I appreciate the camaraderie between Maddy and the Baker Street Irregulars as she finds her footing in this small town she now calls home.
Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien
Cozy mysteries have been a staple of literature for decades, with their popularity fluctuating over time. By light of a late-night menu board, I bring another cozy culinary mystery series for your TV dinner tray. The Noodle Shop Mystery series is exactly what it sounds like: 10 noodle-based cozy mystery books that deserve more hype. Death by Dumpling is the first of the series, and while each book is a stand-alone in the mystery department, it’s enjoyable to watch the main characters grow throughout the series.
Lana Lee is back home in her family’s restaurant after a breakup with her boyfriend and a dramatic leaving of her job. But soon, Lana’s mother’s obsession with her love life isn’t her only problem. The property manager, Mr. Feng, is found dead after eating shrimp dumplings that Lana delivered despite his severe, and well-known, allergy. With everyone on edge, and a police detective steaming things up, it’s up to Lana to find out who sabotaged the deadly delivery.
Despite having read many bakery-based mystery novels, this was my first foray into the savory side of culinary cozies. Vivien Chien did a wonderful job, both as a debut novel and the first in what would become a series with many more novels in the works, including one coming this December, Crime Rangoon. Before I forget to mention, there’s a black pug named Kikkoman, so really, we’ve hit all the marks for a winner in my book.
Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore
In an attempt to read outside my comfort zone, I perused the shelves of my local library without a plan and a complete disregard for my TBR list. When I say that I judged the books based on their covers, I mean it in the most endearing way possible. At the time, I needed something that didn’t have food on the cover (see previous recs) or a punny title. Then, this purple cover with a giant lizard in the passenger seat, smoking a cigarette, caught my eye. No food on the cover. No punny title. It was coming home with me.
Readers follow an unlikely pair: a 100-year-old who hasn’t aged a day past 20, Travis, and a demon from the underworld, Catch. Ever since he conjured the demon, Travis has been trying to get rid of him. In his search for the incantation to break the Seal of Solomon that binds them, the two end up in Pine Cove, CA, where Travis thinks the woman with the original spell lives. At the same time, Catch would love to ditch Travis for a master with plentiful enemies for him to eat. Little did they both know that their desires would cause everyone so much trouble.
Christopher Moore is an author with accolades of his own, such as the best-selling book Lamb, which I have since read and recommend you do, too. However, I don’t see him circulating on BookTok. In retrospect, this was his first book, originally published in 1992, which may have contributed to the reason. Practical Demonkeeping was exactly the kind of book that I needed at the time, and maybe that’s why it stands out to me in the years since I picked it up. Moore is witty and dark, and his storytelling is memorable, with quirky characters galore.
These book recs were made with obscurity in mind, because, despite the far reaches of the internet, some of the books that we come across aren’t because we found them on Bookstagram or through BookTok. Sometimes? The books we need the most fall into our laps unexpectedly. Share your obscure book recommendations with us on our social media!
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