The Expanse books are excellent! rollicking wild science-full science fiction. They're pretty different from the TV series in terms how the plot gets where it's going, but very similar in most other ways. Definitely read them in order.

"heckin' chonker" is so much cuter than "doorstop", it's true! one of my actual cats is a chonker, so I pictured the books looking like Tybalt.

I bet that tea has catnip in it. catnip is a mild sedative and anxiolytic for humans.