This chapter centers on Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bone Dust as an entry point into cozy fantasy. The conversation moves from small business storytelling to the realities of self publishing and traditional shelves. From orc run coffee shops to struggling bookshops, the genre keeps its focus on work, community, and quiet stakes. It also returns to independent bookstores and the publishing choices that shape both fiction and the shelves we stand behind.

If any of these books caught your ear, you can get your copy through Middle Ground Books, wherever you are. Print books and ebooks are available worldwide through the shop’s Bookshop page, and audiobooks are available through the store as well.

Support Middle Ground Books wherever you are.

📖 Physical books and ebooks through the shop’s Bookshop page

https://bookshop.org/shop/middlegroundbooks

Audiobooks

https://libro.fm/middlegroundbooks

If you’re near Emporia, Kansas, visit Middle Ground Books and Gifts at 606 Commercial Street, Emporia, KS to browse in person, meet the team, and find your next great read.

You can also explore upcoming events, book clubs, and everything happening at the shop at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com.

Follow and subscribe to @middlegroundbooks on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to stay connected with the shop and the reading community.

📖 The Covered Pages

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher

A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang by Lee Onhwa

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite

The Everything Store by Brad Stone

Operation: Bounce House by Matt Dinniman

Pity the Reader by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Middle Ground Books After Hours is produced and audio engineered by Cosmic Atom Sound Studios. If you’re working on a podcast, business media, or creative project and need audio, video, or media assets, learn more at https://www.cosmicatomsounds.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This interlude steps away from a single theme and introduces unrestrained conversations between Megan, Deborah, and Lance about what has been taking up their headspace lately.

The conversation moves through author habits, hobbies, and the dynamics between each member.

From sea creatures to the kinds of museums that make you wonder who decided they should exist in the first place, the range is wide.

It offers a clear sense of the voices behind Middle Ground Books.

If any of these books caught your ear, you can get your copy through Middle Ground Books, wherever you are. Print books and ebooks are available worldwide through the shop’s Bookshop page, and audiobooks are available through the store as well.

Support Middle Ground Books wherever you are.

📖 Physical books and ebooks through the shop’s Bookshop page

https://bookshop.org/shop/middlegroundbooks

Audiobooks

https://libro.fm/middlegroundbooks

If you’re near Emporia, Kansas, visit Middle Ground Books and Gifts at 606 Commercial Street, Emporia, KS to browse in person, meet the team, and find your next great read.

You can also explore upcoming events, book clubs, and everything happening at the shop at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com.

Follow and subscribe to @middlegroundbooks on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to stay connected with the shop and the reading community.

📖 The Covered Pages

The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Amy Engel

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Believe in Yourself by Rosemary Wells

Middle Ground Books After Hours is produced and audio engineered by Cosmic Atom Sound Studios. If you’re working on a podcast, business media, or creative project and need audio, video, or media assets, learn more at https://www.cosmicatomsounds.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lance, Megan, and Deborah reflect on Black History Month, sharing personal experiences, reading insights, and the authors and stories that have shaped how they think about the month. The conversation moves between books, culture, and lived experience, creating space for thoughtful discussion rather than tidy conclusions.

If any of these books caught your ear, you can get your copy through Middle Ground Books, wherever you are. Print books and ebooks are available worldwide through the shop’s Bookshop page, and audiobooks are available through the store as well.

Support Middle Ground Books wherever you are.

📖 Physical books and ebooks through the shop’s Bookshop page

https://bookshop.org/shop/middlegroundbooks

Audiobooks

https://libro.fm/middlegroundbooks

If you’re near Emporia, Kansas, visit Middle Ground Books and Gifts at 606 Commercial Street, Emporia, KS to browse in person, meet the team, and find your next great read.

You can also explore upcoming events, book clubs, and everything happening at the shop at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com.

Follow and subscribe to @middlegroundbooks on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to stay connected with the shop and the reading community.

📖 The Covered Pages

American Nations by Colin Woodard

Personal Everest by Renée Watson

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

A Sword and a Sea by Vanessa Riley

The Second Daughters of DePree by Nekesha Williams

Evicted by Matthew Desmond

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

Will’s Race for Home by Jules Parker

(Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner)

Erasure by Percival Everett

Middle Ground Books After Hours is produced and audio engineered by Cosmic Atom Sound Studios. If you’re working on a podcast, business media, or creative project and need audio, video, or media assets, learn more at https://www.cosmicatomsounds.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.