Five Books To Read This Winter

Welcome to the bleakest part of winter! It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dreary. The holidays are over yet we have another 3 months of cold to weather. I’ve put together a list of cozy (and not so cozy) reads to help soothe your winter blues.

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

The Bear and the Nightingale is the first in The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. We follow heroine Vasilisa and her entanglement with the winter demon, her family obligations, and Russian politics. This fantasy will have you longing for some hot soup and a crackling fire. I devoured all three books.

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

While not necessarily set in a winter backdrop, I Let You Go is a fast paced, backlist thriller that will entertain you during an indoor snow day. I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray’s journey after a devastating accident that will alter the course of her life. To give any more details would simply spoil the story! This book had my mind racing to keep up with the heart wrenching twists and turns of the page. Good luck putting this one down!

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

Simons writes a romantic, angsty, and (quite frankly) dramatic epic depicting the love story between Tatiana and Alexander against the backdrop of World War II Russia. In the spirit of full disclosure, this novel did not work for me and it was almost a DNF. With that being said, I think if you’re looking for a romance novel to entertain you and keep you warm on a winter night and go in with the expectation that this is precisely what it will do - this may be the book for you.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is an emotional novel about a child’s life in 1939 Nazi Germany. This book examines the love and importance of literature and writing under an oppressive government. The Book Thief will have your heart warm and your eyes wet and will beg you to keep turning the pages. This novel is widely viewed as YA (even though it was not originally published as such) and is perfect for young teens to adults. Pair this with the movie adaptation to complete your bookish snow day.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Honestly, you already know. If you’ve been living under a rock with no internet and no access to life on this earth, let me introduce you to the masterpiece that is the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. We follow Feyre and her journey into Fae land after killing the wrong wolf on a wintry day. While the first book is not the strongest, the series as a whole packs a punch of adventure, politics, and toe curling romance. The relationships in these books among friends, lovers, and found family is sure to leave you with one massive book hangover.