Cozy Up with the Ultimate Winter Reading List — 20 Classics
I have received many requests to recommend some of the wintry holiday books. In response, I’m pleased to offer my expert recommendations in this article.
So, when I suggest these books, it’s because I’ve read a lot and want to share the best ones with you. I’m all about making your reading experience awesome. Trust in a guide deeply immersed in the literary books and stories. I love books just like you do!
I will recommend the best winter holiday books in this post, which is based on my in-depth study and extensive research in this field. Some notable recommendations include here: Frostheart, The Bear and the Nightingale, Even the Darkest Stars, A Shiver of Snow and Sky, and The Snow Child.
These aren’t the only books on this topic. Below, you’ll find 20 books with detailed descriptions of each of these outstanding resources, helping you make well-informed decisions in your winter holiday book journey.
1. A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
then, of course, we have a classic and this one is a Christmas carol with an average rating of 4.06 this is a classic story about Scrooge, a very bitter miserable man who is visited by a ghost of his ex-partner in business and then three more ghosts of Christmas to be shown the errors of his way.
2. Winterwood
another way fantasy is Winter Wood this one has a 3.81 rating and seems to be about women who live by these words and are kind of whispered to be witches um however a boy goes missing and reappears in the woods um when really he should have not survived the storms and the winter that is in the woods so obviously everyone is a little bit suspicious at the start but our main character grows to really care for this boy but she cares about him deeply.
however, things in the woods seem to have very weird energy since his arrival she cannot ignore it any longer so she has to go and inspect what sort of trickery he’s up to how he survived and what is he even doing here um so this this this is a YA fantasy with a little bit of sprinkle of mystery so if you’re into something like that and something a bit shorter this could be a good shot.
3. The Afterlife of Holly Chase
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
the next one is a paranormal YA retelling of the um Christmas carol and that is the afterlife of Holly Chase with a rating of 3.99, so carol like Scrooge was visited by the three ghosts however she did not change her ways and now she is dead.
she’s also now stuck working for the secret company project Scrooge as the latest ghost of Christmas Past and I’m sure there are some sort of lessons to be learned there too I think this was very very popular I think last year or the year before I’m not quite sure.
4. The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club by Alex Bell
another middle grade for you guys is called the Polar Bear Explorers Club with a very high rating of 4.18 it says to join Stella Starflake Pearl and her three follower fellow explorers as they trek across the snowy Icelands and come face to face with frost fairy snow queens outlaw hideouts unicorns pygmy dinosaurs and carnivorous cabbages moving on to something entirely different from from the explorers club.
5. The Terror: A Novel
The Terror: A Novel by Dan Simmons
it’s The Terror this one has a 4.04 average reading is actually a horror book that is set in the Arctic Circle it’s following a scientific expedition that is projected to be extremely successful and mind-blowing and all those things so everyone is kind of confident there however after a while they become a little bit stranded there and they can release.
and they start fighting over food and resources but the thing that scares them the most is that it is constantly dark and they have a horrible feeling that someone or something is there in the dark and that monstrous terror is constantly clawing to get in so it sounds pretty spook.
6. The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
the next one is, of course, The Golden Compass it is at 3.99 I actually never read this one so I’m gonna read a little bit about that here Lyra is rushed to the cold far north where witch clans and armored bears rule north where the gobblers take the children they steal including her friend roger north where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world can one girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors either Lyra.
and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Israel could want but what Lyra doesn’t know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other in an already very popular series and probably even more so now that the TV adaptation started rolling out so a good time as I need to jump on that.
7. The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge
The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke
the next one is The Revenant with an average rating of 3.94 this is actually marked as historical fiction but we’re following Hugh Glass who is an explorer exploring the wilderness with a team of fellow explorers.
however, they encounter an extremely vicious bear, and after he gets attacked and mauled by it um the team decides that he is so badly injured that is very unlikely to recover or live so they leave him behind and that action is actually something that probably motivated Hugh to actually stay alive and then this is a story about him surviving in the wild.
and so it actually says their betrayal is the only thing that kept Hugh alive overcome by desire and drive to seek revenge he must survive and The Revenant is a remarkable tale of obsession and the lengths that one man will go to for retribution and there’s obviously, of course, a movie for this an adaptation with Leonardo Dicaprio.
8. The Night Before Christmas
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
if you’re looking for a different classic there’s also one called The Night Before Christmas the average rating for this one is 3.86 this one is a dark classic from Russia it is a fairy tale and it is written in 1831 and it follows a blacksmith who is fighting a devil who has stolen the moon and also is like the kind of wreaking havoc over this village only just to woo the prettiest girl in the said village.
9. Blood Heir
another why Fantasy Blood Air is currently ranked at 3.87 stars and yet another one is set with a Russian vibe but this one is set in a world where some people have special abilities and Anna our main character who is the daughter of the emperor is one of those people however her ability is a little bit frowned upon.
so it is not actually common knowledge amongst the public and that is that she can control blood a little bit like blood bending from Avatar is what I imagine unfortunately her father the emperor gets assassinated or killed and a lot of people that were close to him are now suspecting that it was anna’s fault she has to find someone to help her in a quest of figuring out what happened to her father and also proving that it wasn’t due to her.
10. One Day in December: A Novel
One Day in December: A Novel by Josie Silver
another romance contemporary one is called One Day in December the average rating is 3.94 our main character Lori does not believe in love at first sight however she does see someone that whom she feels an instant connection and she only gets a glimpse while she’s driving in a bus and then kind of casually for the rest of the year keeps trying to check out the bus stops.
In case she will spot the person again only to be reunited with the person at her friend’s party and it says what follows for Laurie Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship heartbreak missed opportunities roads not taken and destinies reconsidered.
11. Beartown: A Novel
Beartown: A Novel by Fredrik Backman
The next one is all about small communities bear town with a whopping rating of 4.25 high bear Town seems to be a story of a small town a small community that really relies on one another it’s about a small town that is not really well-known it’s kind of dying off.
however, they do have this ice rink and a hockey team that could possibly bring some traction to the town the hockey team now what was it all the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys exploring the hopes and spirit of small communities so if you’re looking for something that involves sport and is overall I think possibly very very wholesome bear town could be the way to go and could be wrong though.
12. In a Holidaze
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
and then the last one is one that I’m actually really excited to read because it has one of the tropes or one of the plot devices that I am a sucker for and that is groundhog day this one is called in the Holiday Current Rating is 3.86 which is like a middle road I guess this is another romance contemporary and it’s about Marilyn jones who is not a very happy person currently in the state that she is.
and one day when she’s driving away from this cabin that she absolutely loves spending Christmas at however this is the last Christmas she will be able to do so she casually throws into the universe saying please show me what would make me happy and then I think it has alluded that we are in a car accident with her and she wakes up on a plane on the way to the cabin
and then kind of in like a red Russian doll tv show manner she lives through the day and then something happens and she wakes up again in a plane again and again and again and obviously, this is a romance so some type of romance obviously also happens but I’m just it just sounds like it could be wholesome it could be funny it could be lighthearted and the groundhog day I’m just a sucker for that.
