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Have you learned something from a cozy? Information on a topic or craft that interested you? Practical advice about life? What to do, or not to do, in crazy, frustrating, or dangerous situations? Tell us about it here!

What I love about the cozies set between the wars is the change and the transition in the social system. The war completely altered the severe system of upstairs/downstairs when it was over. Women were working and so many men were injured but needed ways to care and support themselves. The "upper crust" had lost their retainers and had to realize their time was fading. It's all very interesting.

I love the cozies about crafting and cooking because I love to read a new recipe or learn about the process of a craft I most probably would do miserably at myself. :P

I've gotten a couple of excellent recipes from some older cozies I've read. And just recently I learned a bit more about the condition called synesthesia from .

I learned about engravings and antique prints from the "Shadows" series by Lea Wait. I learned about candle making from Tim Myers, and I learned all about vineyards and winemaking from Ellen Crosby. I learned that it is possible to get by on 3 hours of sleep every night as long as you drink Swedish plasma from Joanne Fluke.

Kate Carlisle's A Bibliophile Mystery Series has gotten me totally hooked on book restoration and I've just started the classes to get into this field last month. :)

�� Jennifer wrote: "Kate Carlisle's A Bibliophile Mystery Series has gotten me totally hooked on book restoration and I've just started the classes to get into this field last month. :)"

How interesting! Love it!

Learned a lot about Egyptian history in the late 1800's and early 1900's from Elizabeth Peters series with Amelia Peabody.

☯E�������� wrote: "Learned a lot about Egyptian history in the late 1800's and early 1900's from Elizabeth Peters series with Amelia Peabody."
So did I. I was so bummed out to hear that she passed away recently! I will miss her writing tremendously but at least I still have a few I haven't read yet.

�� Jennifer wrote: "Kate Carlisle's A Bibliophile Mystery Series has gotten me totally hooked on book restoration and I've just started the classes to get into this field last month. :)"

Wow, that's great! I hope you enjoy it.

jaxnsmom wrote: "�� Jennifer wrote: "Kate Carlisle's A Bibliophile Mystery Series has gotten me totally hooked on book restoration and I've just started the classes to get into this field last month. :)"

Wow, tha..."

I am having so much fun! Seriously I'm finding it all more interesting than just about anything else I've ever done.

They aren't always cozies, but I love mysteries with a strong connection to place, and have developed interests in all sorts of places and bits of history from reading them. Even ones as disconnected from reality as Charlotte MacLeod made it more interesting when I finally visited Boston (however briefly) a few years ago!

I the last cozy I read Leann Sweeney's The Cat, the Mill, and the Murder I learned a lot about mills, textiles and mill villages. In all cozies, I learn the importance of good friends.

I enlarged my vocabulary immensely by reading Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries -- Wolfe never uses a short word if a longer one is available.

Rebecca, I want to go to Boston and it is all Robert B. Parker's fault. I feel like when I do go, I will see it through his and Spenser's eyes!
I have learned an awful lot about fiber arts and baking. I love getting recipes with my mysteries! It makes me feel as if I've gotten a great big bonus! Also, because of Betty Hechtman's character who kept a small amount of string for crocheting when she was stressed, I decided to try for the millionth time to crochet, and this time it stuck! Now I have started to knit like Betsy Devonshire...one slow messy stitch at a time! Maybe I'll soon be as good as she turned out to be. The coffeehouse mysteries always have a lot of good coffee trivia. My husband and I are coffee fanatics, so it is always nice to have cool coffee info to share! As a former reading teacher I will say, we learn something new with everything we read, vocabulary, history, facts---books even teach us the kind of person we want to be...and don't want to be! I love being in a group of people who love books as much as I do!

Cynthia wrote: "I enlarged my vocabulary immensely by reading Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries -- Wolfe never uses a short word if a longer one is available."

:D

You know, I have to credit Charlotte Macleod with increasing my vocab, as well, and having a good laugh while she did it.

Heather, I agree that we learn something from everything we read, and a lot of it is about ourselves.

Good luck on your crocheting!