Nothing beats cuddling up with a good book as the days become shorter, the temperature drops, and nature seems to enter a state of hibernation. Here are our top ten recommendations for winter reading.
It doesn’t matter if you’ll be relaxing on a retreat, enjoying the holidays with family and friends, or staying warm at home this winter. One of the best ways to take care of oneself in the winter is to read. The time of year is ideal for treating yourself to a few new books and taking pleasure in the process of slowly reading your way through them.
Grab the coziest blanket you can find, relax, make yourself a cup of steaming hot cocoa, light a couple of candles, and sit back. For the coldest months of the year, read to know about the best winter reads.
Good Books to Read in Winter
It’s time to stock up on tea, pull out the comforters, and deck the halls now that the colder days are here. Additionally, it is the ideal time of year to postpone activities and spend some quality time reading fantastic winter books. The best winter books are set in cold environments, ideally with a lot of snow. Some are humorous. Some are tragic or mysterious. Books set during the winter are frequently filled with mystery, regardless of the genre. Perhaps the shorter day length and the apparent dominance of darkness are to blame. Or maybe it is due to the strange silence brought on by snow.
Whatever your preferred genre, this collection has something for you. The best thrillers, fantasy, historical fiction, and romantic books to read this winter are listed here.
Read on to learn about the top 10 good books to read in winter:
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Richardson family is very similar to the precisely designed and picture-perfect Shaker Heights community. The four Richardson kids are charmed by Mia and Pearl when they move in as their new renters; intriguing, free-spirited artist Mia and her daughter Pearl. Concerns develop as the two mothers, Elena and Mia, find themselves on opposing sides of an adoption dispute as the families become more intertwined. Elena begins looking into Mia’s history because she believes she is not who she seems to be, upending the lives of Mia, Pearl, and her own kids in the process.
The characters in Little Fires Everywhere are examined in detail, including their flaws, histories, hopes, regrets, and anxieties, as well as how these factors affect their interactions with one another and what occurs next. Anyone looking for a seething, emotional book will find it to be well-written and ideal.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is undoubtedly C.S. Lewis’ most well-known book and the first of the seven Chronicles of Narnia books to be released. In fact, it is one of the novels that are most frequently found on library shelves around the world. The Narnia books were created as fantasy books for young readers, yet they are tremendously complex and appealing to readers of all ages.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, written by Geoffrey Bles in 1950, have all the wintertime charm you could want. The plot centers on the Pevensie siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, who are evacuated from London during the Blitz and forced to live in the country with Digory Kirke, a retired professor.
The magic wardrobe that serves as a bridge between their world and the country of Narnia is something that Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensie children, discovers as she investigates the old professor’s home. The kids discover their danger, magic, adventure, and fantastic destiny.
This is the ideal wintertime adventure thanks to Narnia’s icy vistas, the siblings’ togetherness, and the mysterious beings they encounter behind the wardrobe.
2 A.M at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
If you love the winter as much as I do, you undoubtedly love Christmas as well. And if that’s the case, you should read the following book in December. 2014 publication, 2 A.M. The Cat’s Pajamas, tells the tale of jazz singer-aspiring 9-year-old Madeleine Altimari, who recently lost her mother.
This endearing tale, told in a succession of short stories over the course of a single Christmas Eve, follows Madeleine as she tries to make her public singing debut at a failing jazz club called The Cat’s Pajamas through the cold streets of Philadelphia. Sarina Greene, Madeleine’s fifth-grade teacher, and Lorca, the failing club owner, round out the group of three lonely souls looking for love, music, and hope this Christmas.
The kind of feel-good book we could all use as the year comes to a close is one like this one, which isn’t overly dense but is full of realistic details, a healthy dose of hope, and plenty of joy.
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
This book is for you if you’re seeking something more challenging to read. Italo Calvino’s masterpiece of post-modernism was released in English and Italian in 1981.
This piece uses a concept termed a “frame tale” to great effect. Although complex, Calvino’s story is an engaging read that delves into important issues like the subjectivity of meaning, the connection between reality and fiction, the qualities of the ideal reader and author, and what distinguishes original writing. The following chapters are divided into two distinct sections: the first is about you, the reader, and your attempt to read a book called If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller; the second is about the book itself. The chapters begin with a discussion of art and the nature of reading.
Many have praised Calvino’s work as one of the 100 books you should read in your lifetime. If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller will lead you on a quest to discover a true story and what it truly means to love reading, thanks to its unusual narrative style. It’s the ideal book to cuddle up with by the fire on a winter night without having to leave home.
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Snow Falling on Cedars is a debut novel by instructor David Guterson that was written over the span of ten years. After being released in 1994, it earned the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, which is given to the writers of the year’s top fiction written by American citizens still living.
It is fictional and is based on a remote, snow-covered island off the coast of Washington State. It tells the tale of a Japanese guy who is accused of killing a local white fisherman and is on trial. Flashbacks are used extensively throughout the narrative to describe the interactions between the many individuals throughout the years preceding the trial. An unrequited love, the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the racial ghosts that still stalk the residents of San Piedro Island in 1954 are just a few of the memories that the trial unlocks as snow falls on the courthouse.
This is a beautifully written book with lyrical language and a tale that becomes clear as the layers are peeled back. Snow Falling on Cedars is the ideal book to curl up with and read this winter, whether or not it is snowing outside your window.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivy
The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivy’s first book, is set in Alaska and was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist. It centers on Jack and Mabel, an elderly couple without children who are navigating life on The Last Frontier in the 1920s.
They are drifting apart, and their marriage is failing as a result of their desire for a child. The first snowfall of the year prompts Jack and Mabel to create a snow child. The snow child is gone the next morning, but they see a young girl with the blonde hair running through the trees in its place. The young woman identifies herself as Faina and amazingly manages to stay alive by herself in the remote Alaskan tundra. Even though they immediately start to adore her as their own daughter, the couple finds it difficult to comprehend her as she hunts with a red fox at her side.
The Snow Child mixes the enchantment of a classic fairy tale with the reality of surviving in such a hostile environment. It will take you on a journey as the couple starts to learn the truth about Faina and her origins. It is full of lovely descriptions and enigmatic secrets. The ideal winter read will take you to the Alaskan wilderness as you enjoy hot cocoa by the fire.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express, arguably one of Agatha Christie’s most well-known books, follows Belgian investigator Hercule Poirot aboard the renowned luxury train from Istanbul to London. Christie’s detective novel, which was released in the UK on January 1 by the Collins Crime Club, was a huge hit with readers. And it’s hardly surprising either, given how suspenseful the Queen of Crime keeps things throughout.
When the Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by an avalanche, a passenger is found dead in his compartment. All 13 potential suspects, each with a seemingly solid alibi, are nicely imprisoned in a railway car with eccentric investigator Hercule Poirot because the criminal is unable to pull off a getaway.
Poirot must solve the murder case and determine who killed Samuel Ratchetts, an old American citizen, as the snow swirls outside the train. Whether or not you are familiar with the narrative, it is worth reading because no movie or television adaptation comes close to Christie’s writing.
Grab a cup of steaming coffee and something delicious, and get ready to read Murder on the Orient Express cover to cover. It’s the ideal winter book.
Winter by Ali Smith
You were exposed to the first book in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet through our list of fall-themed books, and now it’s time for Winter. This book, which came out at the beginning of 2018, was eagerly anticipated because it was the sequel to the wildly popular Autumn.
Ali Smith, a Scottish author, has a remarkable ability to lure you into her universe. She continues to investigate the modern British landscape in the post-Brexit era in Winter. Sophia Cleves, who is now old and depressed, made a fortune creating coats. Art, her blogger-son, will visit his mother for Christmas with his girlfriend, Charlotte. Art instead brings Lux, a Croatian aspirant professor, after she rejects him. The four gather for Christmas at a fifteen-bedroom home in Cornwall with Sophia’s sister Iris.
Smith continues to explore many of the topics she so intelligently outlined in Autumn, even though the characters are quite different: connections between young and elderly, challenges faced by female academics, the value of art, and the ways in which politics may separate us.
The exchanges between these four individuals have a certain amount of coldness, but Smith still manages to tell a delightful, witty, and wise tale. We can’t wait to follow the seasons with Ali Smith in this ideal winter book.
Final Words
Winter is a lazy season that most of us spend in our blankets while the roads are covered in snow. In this article, we have reviewed the top 10 good books to read in winter. You can pick any of these books or all of them to read this winter. You will surely have a great time reading these books and suggest them to your friends and family. Keep reading our blogs to know about the best book reading tips and reviews about the good books to read.
FAQ
What is Seasonal Reading?
The process of selecting your reading material to correspond with the emotions and seasons of the calendar is known as seasonal reading. This article explores this reading strategy and explains why every bookworm should give seasonal reading a shot.
Which Book Should I Read First?
At every pivotal moment, it forces you to ask yourself, “What would I do?” One of Coelho’s many books is The Alchemist, and all his writings are regarded as some of the best ones to start reading.
How Do You Know if a Book is Good?
Dialogue that is witty and memorable abounds in good books. Bestsellers have the conversation that advances the plot, reveals the characteristics of your characters, and gives your story’s universe more depth.
Why are Reading Books Healthy?
Why is reading beneficial to you? Reading helps you focus, remember things, show empathy, and communicate better. It can lessen stress, enhance mental health, and lengthen your life. You can discover new things by reading that will aid in your professional and interpersonal success.