Please recommend wintry books to get me through the winter

December 12, 2023 3:58 PM

I am not one who thrives in the cold, but I am working hard to notice what is beautiful about this time, and they say we might even get some snow this year. I need snowy books to help.

Last winter I happened to read "Spinning Silver" by Naomi Novik and my goodness it was wonderful. I would have loved it in any season but it's frosty evocation of winter did really help me to enjoy the season.

That was a fairytale book and please do recommend your wintry fairytale books, but anything with a basically positive mood will be welcome... fantasy, historical, romance, even cozy novels where nothing much happens.

Thanks for your great wintry reads!

posted by Jenny'sCricket to Media & Arts (25 answers total)

Tenderness of Wolves by Steph Penney is beautiful
posted by supermedusa at 4:52 PM on December 12, 2023

If you're open to children's books, try Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson. The Moomin books are the kind of "children's books" that are perhaps even better appreciated by adults.
posted by Redstart at 5:13 PM on December 12, 2023

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. Yes, the main character turns 11 at the beginning of the book, but he's also part of the eternal war between The Light and The Dark, so ageless. And so cold and wintry.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:21 PM on December 12, 2023

"Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin

"Veronica" by Nicholas Christopher

Agree with the Moomintroll book recommendation above -- it is technically a children's book but it is whimsical and melancholy and the wintery atmosphere is beautifully captured.
posted by virve at 6:21 PM on December 12, 2023

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is a grown up fairytale. I read it on a winter vacation in Maine, and it remains one of my favorite seasonal reading experiences.
posted by Barnifer at 6:24 PM on December 12, 2023

Seconding Helprin's Winter's Tale. It wasn't until years later I learned about the author's conservative political leanings. It's a magical book with events and characters and passages that haunt me 40 years later.
posted by lhauser at 6:28 PM on December 12, 2023

It's 8 days until Dec 20 which means it's time to recommend the annual internet read-along to Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, hashtagged back in better Twitter days as #TheDarkIsReading. The story begins on Midwinter's Eve (Dec 20).
posted by deludingmyself at 6:40 PM on December 12, 2023

I really enjoyed Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett; there's quite a lot of winter and snow in it, and it has an optimistic ending.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:06 PM on December 12, 2023

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez is nonfiction, but beautiful and snowy.
posted by music for skeletons at 7:11 PM on December 12, 2023

The Tomten books by Astrid Lindgren.
posted by bricoleur at 7:28 PM on December 12, 2023

the true deciever by tove jansson
posted by maighdeann mhara at 8:24 PM on December 12, 2023

If you’re looking to notice “what is beautiful about this time” of year, classic Japanese haiku. For any season. No specific recommendations, but there’s seasonal collections out there. Appreciating the natural world/seasons/weather is kinda their bag. My family likes Issa best.
posted by ixipkcams at 8:27 PM on December 12, 2023

Children's alternative history novel The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken is 60 years old but still in print. Chilly but it all works out in the end.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:23 PM on December 12, 2023

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
posted by y2karl at 12:19 AM on December 13, 2023

Seconding Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale". You may have heard unsavory things about Helprin (he's a conservative-leaning journalist), and you may have heard about the movie adaptation that kinda stunk, but the BOOK is an absolutely captivating adult fairy tale fantasy about a sort of alternate New York City and New York State during an alternate early 20th Century.

Also seconding a collection of Japanese haiku dealing with the seasons.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:25 AM on December 13, 2023

The Long Winter - Laura Ingalls Wilder
posted by XtineHutch at 6:14 AM on December 13, 2023

You can listen to The Dark Is Rising on the BBC, recorded in binaural sound for extra immersive winter ambience.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 7:00 AM on December 13, 2023

Fourthing "Winter's Tale".

When I moved away from New England to California, I got really depressed when "real" winter didn't happen. This book really gave me a little window into winter that was truly magical.
Yes, Helprin seems to be a trash monster, and yes the movie was ATROCIOUS, but this remains one of my very favorite books about winter. (I think I have read it 12 times?)
posted by TheCoug at 7:58 AM on December 13, 2023

Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks has large parts set during winter both in the canyon city of Solotol, and during the pointless war on the great tabular bergs
posted by el_presidente at 8:26 AM on December 13, 2023

Another enthusiastic vote for The Dark is Rising! The BBC version is beautiful but heavily truncated. The book is well worth the read and is gorgeous and melancholy. The whole series is also very good but TDiR is excellent as a standalone volume.
posted by wicked_sassy at 8:40 AM on December 13, 2023

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis is what comes to mind. (Also the 2005 movie version is wonderfully wintry.)
posted by gudrun at 8:43 AM on December 13, 2023

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I get the shivers just thinking about it
posted by olopua at 10:43 AM on December 13, 2023

I loved reading Winterfrost by Michelle Houts last winter. It is set just after Christmas on a small island off the coast of Denmark. The young protagonist must rescue her little sister with some assistance from some friendly nisse and woodland creatures. Very snowy and atmospheric!
posted by bitbotbit at 2:15 PM on December 13, 2023

The is nonfiction but I recently read Wintering by Katherine May and loved it. It’s perfect for getting one to see the value in the season.
posted by peacheater at 4:44 PM on December 13, 2023

The Worst Journey in the World by Cherry Apsley-Gerrard
posted by el_presidente at 2:43 AM on December 14, 2023