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Cozy Winter Reads
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items The cold of the winter months tend to make reading a good book (possibly with a blanket or hot drink) all the more inviting. These are my recommendations for books to read when the weather turns cold and you want to travel somewhere warm in your mind...
Sections
5
Classics
Small Towns
Cozy Fantasy
Wintery Settings
Cozy Mysteries
Classics
Some classics have a certain coziness to them. They're not dark and depressing but offer a break from reality and nostalgic comfort.
This is a classic novel that follows the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—as they come of age during the Civil War, navigating family struggles, personal ambitions, and the longing to find their place in the world. Through love, loss, and gr...
I actually read this book as a kid (or rather an abridged and illustrated version). It's a great read and a well-loved classic for a reason.
I actually read this book as a kid (or rather an abridged and illustrated version). It's a great read and a well-loved classic for a reason.
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Confession: I didn't actually read the entire Narnia series until 2025 and I really regret not reading it sooner. Sure I'd seen the movie and knew the plot, it is Narnia afterall, but it wasn't until reading the wonderful series that I realized why i...
This is a great series to get swept away in and the definition of a series that can be enjoyed by young and old. It follows (primarily) four siblings and their journeys through the mysterious land of Narnia.
This is a great series to get swept away in and the definition of a series that can be enjoyed by young and old. It follows (primarily) four siblings and their journeys through the mysterious land of Narnia.
The Chronicles of Narnia (series) - C.S. Lewis
This is the story that the Disney movie Frozen is based off. It does differ quite a bit from the movie so keep that in mind before giving it a go.
The Snow Queen tells the story of two close friends, Gerda and Kai, whose bond is shattered when Kai is struck by shards of a magical mirror that distort his heart and vision. Ensnared by the Snow Queen’s cold enchantment, Kai is taken to her icy pal...
The Snow Queen tells the story of two close friends, Gerda and Kai, whose bond is shattered when Kai is struck by shards of a magical mirror that distort his heart and vision. Ensnared by the Snow Queen’s cold enchantment, Kai is taken to her icy pal...
The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Anderson
The Wind in the Willows follows the adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and the irrepressible Mr. Toad as they explore the English countryside and support one another through mischief and mishap. When Toad’s reckless obsession with motorcars leads to di...
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Anne of Green Gables tells the story of Anne Shirley, an imaginative and spirited orphan who is mistakenly sent to live with the Cuthberts—an aging brother and sister who expected a boy to help on their farm in Avonlea. Despite the mix-up, Anne quick...
Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Growing up I read a lot of the Little House on the Prairie books (as well as some of the spin-off series). The books follow the real-life adventures of the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose family moved to the midwest when she was little to start a...
Little House on the Prairie- Laura Ingalls Wilder
Small Towns
There's something very cozy feeling about a small town (and I can safely say that's true having grown up in one!) These are books that embody that cozy small town feeling.
Beartown centers on a small, hockey-obsessed town whose hopes rest on its junior team, until a violent incident involving the star player shatters the community’s unity. As loyalties fracture and long-buried tensions emerge, the town’s residents must...
Beartown - Fredrik Backman
Small Things Like These is set in a small Irish town in 1985 and follows Bill Furlong, a coal-merchant and family man, as he makes his Christmas deliveries. During one delivery to a local convent, he uncovers a dark secret about the institution. It's...
Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
This is a series that started in the 90s and takes place in a small town in North Carolina. I remember my grandmother reading these when I was younger. They're cozy books and a heart-felt series with several books taking place in the colder months.
At Home in Mitford introduces Father Tim Kavanagh, the kindhearted Episcopal rector of the small town of Mitford, whose quiet routines are disrupted by unexpected changes in his parish and personal life. As he navigates church politics, takes in a tr...
At Home in Mitford introduces Father Tim Kavanagh, the kindhearted Episcopal rector of the small town of Mitford, whose quiet routines are disrupted by unexpected changes in his parish and personal life. As he navigates church politics, takes in a tr...
At Home in Mitford (Mitford Series #1) - Jan Karon
This book follows a Parisian bookseller who runs a floating literary apothecary on the Seine, prescribing novels to heal his customers’ emotional wounds while avoiding his own heartbreak from a lost love. When he finally reads his lost loves long-uno...
The Little Paris Bookshop - Nina George
I had to throw in at least one Christmas themed book in the mix. This book was rich in terms of coziness, storytelling and capturing the joy that can come from a small town. I loved this so much that I bought a physical copy after reading the kindle ...
The Christmas Inn - Pamela Kelly
Cozy Fantasy
There has been a notable rise in the number of cozy fantasy books in recent years, and some are quite good! These books are a few of the many I've read and enjoyed.
This is the first book in a series of three books. It's a cozy fantasy read that's perfect for the cold weather months.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett follows Emily Wilde, a brilliant but socially awkward Cambridge scholar intent on writing the world’s first encyclopedia of faerie lore. When she travels to the remote northern village of Hraf...
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett follows Emily Wilde, a brilliant but socially awkward Cambridge scholar intent on writing the world’s first encyclopedia of faerie lore. When she travels to the remote northern village of Hraf...
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett
This is the first book in a trilogy of the cozy Winterknight trilogy and follows Vasilisa “Vasya” Petrovna, a young girl living in medieval Russia. She has the unique ability to communicate with household spirits and other supernatural beings that ot...
This a really good fantasy series and one that's perfect to read during the cold months of winter.
This a really good fantasy series and one that's perfect to read during the cold months of winter.
The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) - Katherine Arden
The Night Circus follows two young magicians, Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair, who are bound from childhood to a mysterious competition in which only one can survive. Their battleground is a dazzling, otherworldly circus that appears without warning a...
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
As a kid in the 90s, I distinctly remember hearing a lot of (as I learned, well deserved) praise about this. I even remember seeing special displays at our local library about it and years later, a couple friends named dI have fond memories of this d...
Redwall follows the peaceful inhabitants of Redwall Abbey, a community of gentle woodland creatures, whose tranquil life is shattered when the fearsome rat Cluny the Scourge and his horde threaten to conquer their home. A young novice mouse named Mat...
Redwall follows the peaceful inhabitants of Redwall Abbey, a community of gentle woodland creatures, whose tranquil life is shattered when the fearsome rat Cluny the Scourge and his horde threaten to conquer their home. A young novice mouse named Mat...
Redwall (Redwall Series #1) - Brian Jacques
I first learned about Howl's Moving Castle from the well-known studio Ghibli movie (which I loved). The book its based on is also very good, although quite different than the movie. It follows the story of Sophie, who is transformed into an old lady ...
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
This is a great cozy fantasy book that is one of the many “shop” themed fantasy books to come out in recent years.
After political unrest devastates the capital’s magical library, shy librarian Kiela escapes with a cache of spellbooks and returns to her quiet island home, hoping to live unnoticed. But as she begins using magic to help the struggling townsfolk, Ki...
After political unrest devastates the capital’s magical library, shy librarian Kiela escapes with a cache of spellbooks and returns to her quiet island home, hoping to live unnoticed. But as she begins using magic to help the struggling townsfolk, Ki...
The Spellshop - Sarah Beth Durst
Wintery Settings
Sometimes cozy reads come with a wintery, or snowy setting. These are some books that feature snow and cold as an important component of the plot.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey tells the story of a childless couple, Jack and Mabel, who move to 1920s Alaska hoping for a fresh start — and in a playful moment during the season’s first snowfall, build a child out of snow. The next morning, the snow-...
The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
When Marguerite is discovered having an affair with her guardian’s secretary, the guardian’s rage leads to her and her lover being brutally punished and marooned on a remote, ice-bitten island off the coast of what is now Canada — a frozen wilderness...
Isola - Allegra Goodman
This is a thriller I only learned about recently and can recommend for a good, slow and cozy burn thriller.
Burial Rites recounts the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, condemned for the murder of two men and sent to live on a remote farm in northern 19th-century Iceland while awaiting execution. As she works alongside the farm family and confides in the young p...
Burial Rites recounts the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, condemned for the murder of two men and sent to live on a remote farm in northern 19th-century Iceland while awaiting execution. As she works alongside the farm family and confides in the young p...
Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
The Great Alone follows the Allbright family as they relocate from Washington state to the remote Alaskan wilderness in hopes of a fresh start, but the brutal isolation and unforgiving landscape test their limits. As winter’s long darkness sets in, p...
The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah
This is a great, heart-warming book. It follows Chicky Starr, who has returned to her small Irish coastal town of Stoneybridge. There she renovates a crumbling cliffside mansion and turns it into a cozy guesthouse called Stone House, ready to welcome...
A Week in Winter - Maeve Binchy
Cozy Mysteries
Winter is one of the best times of year for a good mystery. These lack the darkness of some thrillers and mysteries and instead are more light-hearted.
This is the first book in the “Cat Who…” series follows journalist Jim Qwilleran, who finds himself repeatedly entangled in low-key mysteries after moving to a small town, aided by his intuitive Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Set in cozy, close-knit...
In the first book, Jim is investigating a murder in the art world after taking a reporting job. His newly acquired cat, Koko, displays strange habits that help lead him toward the truth.
In the first book, Jim is investigating a murder in the art world after taking a reporting job. His newly acquired cat, Koko, displays strange habits that help lead him toward the truth.
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (The Cat Who... Series #1) - Lilian Jackson Braun
The Thursday Mystery Club series has gained quite a bit of popularity in recent years and for good reason.
In this first book, four unlikely friends who live in a peaceful retirement village meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes. When a local developer is found dead with a photograph left next to their body, the Thursday Murder Club se...
In this first book, four unlikely friends who live in a peaceful retirement village meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes. When a local developer is found dead with a photograph left next to their body, the Thursday Murder Club se...
The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club Series #1) - Richard Osman
The long running cupcake mystery series infuses baking and mystery. In the first book, Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura have finally fulfilled their dreams of being bakery owners. Unfortunately, their first client at Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery is a n...
Sprinkle with Murder (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #1) - Jenn Mckinlay
Judith is a 77 year old woman who loves drinking whiskey and is a crossword puzzle author who is living in a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of Marlow. Marlow is a quiet town where nothing every happens until it does. One evening Judith hears he...
The Marlow Murder Club - Robert Thorogood
Harriet the Spy is a young-adult series that I first read this series in middle school. Years later I still remember it and even talking to my middle school principal about it (family friend for the record!)
Harriet the Spy follows eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch, an aspiring writer and self-proclaimed spy who meticulously records the thoughts and secrets of everyone around her in a private notebook. When her notebook is discovered, Harriet must confro...
Harriet the Spy follows eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch, an aspiring writer and self-proclaimed spy who meticulously records the thoughts and secrets of everyone around her in a private notebook. When her notebook is discovered, Harriet must confro...
Harriet the Spy - Louise Fitzhugh