Winter is the season that was made for reading. First of all, some of the best books out there are the ones that give off cozy winter vibes. From romances to mysteries, so many books are ideal for winter reading. Second of all, there’s no better excuse to stay in and cozy up in your favorite plaid pajamas, a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of you. When the air smells of baking cookies and your favorite holiday candle, your warmest blanket is draped over you, and you’re reading a great book? That’s basically heaven.
Personally, the winter is my favorite time of year to read, and I mean any genre. When December hits, I’m in the mood for all the cozy winter books, and I don’t even care what genre they are. Personally, I reserve the holiday season for romances—but once the new year comes around, I’m all about thoughtful nonfiction (nerd alert!), existential literary fiction (Sally Rooney, ILY), and even historical fiction. Though it feels nearly impossible to pick a book when it’s cold outside, we’ve rounded up the best winter reads. From addictive murder mystery stories to snowy towns, here are all the cozy winter books you need to curl up with this season:
Ann Napolitano
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable. But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, and the result is a catastrophic family rift. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together?
V. E. Schwab
In 1714, Addie LaRue makes a Faustian bargain to live forever, only to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Addie’s life is filled with struggle, secrecy, and a desperate search for love and influence. That is, until nearly 300 years later, when she meets a man who remembers her name.
Fredrik Backman
The residents of Beartown couldn’t be happier that their junior ice hockey team has a chance of winning the national semi-finals. But when the match becomes the catalyst for a violent act that leaves a young girl traumatized, the town will have to decide what’s more important: their humanity or the game.
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
When holiday-loving Lily leaves a red notebook full of challenges in her favorite bookstore, holiday-hating Dash is the one who finds it. As they pass the notebook back and forth, completing dares that take them all over New York City, Dash and Lily learn to love each other for who they truly are. But will their relationship survive when they finally meet in person?
Katherine May
It’s no secret that life is hard and that, sometimes, life is harder than ever. Illness, a breakup, death, or the loss of a job can derail our lives. In Wintering, Katherine May shares her own experience of difficult times and how literature, mythology, and nature helped her find rest and retreat.
Gayle Forman
Aaron used to think that books were miracles. But with his mother and brother gone and his father refusing to accept just how much financial trouble they’re in, Aaron feels like the only way out is to sell the used bookstore his family has run for years. What he doesn’t anticipate is that a cast of characters will attempt to save the store right after he’s jumped on an opportunity to sell it.
Heather Fawcett
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending her academic rival Wendell Bambleby—until she realizes he might hold secrets she needs to uncover.
Eowyn Ivey
Jack and Mabel are struggling to homestead in Alaska in 1920. During the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. Slowly, they come to love her as their own—even if they don’t know everything about her past.
Susanna Clarke
Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees-and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods. One snowy afternoon, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst-and the path of her life is changed forever.
Ally Carter
When two writers who absolutely hate each other both accept an invitation to attend a Christmas party, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world. When they wake up, she has vanished. As the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other.
Becca Freeman
Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah’s parents died, and Finn’s disowned him when he came out. When Finn announces a move to L.A., this Christmas may be their last. Hannah is terrified of losing the family she’s built for herself. Does growing up mean growing apart?
Elin Hilderbrand
Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket’s Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. But when Kelley walks in on his second wife kissing Santa Claus right before everyone comes home for the holidays, chaos descends. This is a novel about coming home for the holidays—and all the good and bad it brings.
Claire Keegan
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces his busiest season. Early one morning, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Amy Pershing
Professional foodie Samantha Barnes has a simple Christmas list: a quiet holiday at home with her dog and a certain handsome harbor master. Unfortunately for Sam, she’s just stumbled upon the dead body of the town’s Santa Claus. She needs to find out who slayed this Santa—but can she pull off a perfect feast and nab a killer?
Helen Oyeyemi
In this retelling of Snow White, Boy Novak arrives in a small town in Massachusetts looking, she believes, for beauty. She marries Arturo Whitman and becomes a stepmother to his daughter, Snow. When the birth of Boy’s daughter, Bird, who is dark-skinned, exposes the Whitmans as light-skinned African-Americans passing for white, Boy, Snow, and Bird become increasingly divided—and curious.
