When a Cozy Reader Picks Up 1984

On Humanity, Typos, and the Quiet Horror of a Few Clicks

I picked up 1984 by George Orwell for the first time in my entire life.

I know. I know. “That’s high school reading, Courtny.” I can hear you. But listen. Where I’m from, Tulsa, Oklahoma, we didn’t read it. Not once. I’ve always known the idea of it. Big Brother is watching. Creepy government vibes. Dystopia, blah blah blah.

Also, full transparency, when I hear “Big Brother,” my brain immediately goes to the reality TV show. Thanks to my husband for that one. Not the same vibes. We agree.

One of my all-time favorite books is Fahrenheit 451. I’ve read it probably a dozen times. It wrecks me every time in the best way. But somehow 1984 and Brave New World never made it onto my shelves. They just… didn’t cross my path.

Until this past week.

I genuinely could not tell you what made me download 1984 on my Kindle. This is not my usual reading lane. It hits a lot of my hard-no topics. Children dying. Sexual assault. Censorship. Big, heavy, ominous dread. And I’m only about 15% in.

But as I started learning what Winston does for a living, I felt that slow, creeping conspiracy feeling crawl up my spine and clamp onto my shoulders.

Here’s the thing.

I was reading 1984 on my Kindle Oasis. And as an author, do you know how easy it is for me to access my own published books on Amazon and edit them?

A few clicks.

Last month, we read Deadly Drafts for The Cozy Escape Book Club. It was the first time I’d read it since publishing, and guess what I found? Typos. Plural. After reading it a dozen times. After paying an editor. After reading it again.

I had the very real thought, “I could just fix this. Update the ebook. Update the physical copies.”

And then I didn’t.

Those typos prove I’m human. I’m not perfect. My editor is not perfect. She’s human too. And I want that humanity to stay in my work.

And that’s when my brain went right back to 1984, sitting quietly on my Kindle.

Because that book could change, too. With a few clicks.

So I bought a physical copy. And while I was at it, I grabbed Brave New World as well.

These are not the books I love to love. They’re not cozy. They’re not comforting. They don’t feel safe. But they feel necessary. They feel like the books I need to be reading in the world we’re currently living in.

So now I’m asking you.

What other books belong in my arsenal cough cough library?

XOXO,
Courtny 💛📚