Let all bookworms rejoice, Christmas break is coming! Well, if you have Christmas break that is… I hope you do.
Anyway. In preparation for the holiday break, or long evenings, I am writing a list of winter books to read. In case you aren’t cold enough already. I was looking at my shelves, and I realized I don’t have too many winter/cold books on my shelves. Probably because reading them makes me cold, and I don’t like being cold.
But I have actually read some winter books, and here are a few I would recommend.
‘Small Things Like These’ by Claire Keegan
There is a movie coming out about this book, so apparently other people also love this book. I read this book back in the summertime, and it is a very, very Christmas book. The entire book is the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas. There are many Christmas events and traditions in the novel which interweave with the main characters inner life.
This is a very slow novel, and much of the conflict is all within the main characters mind. He is faced with a problem within his community, and while he is getting Christmas presents and planning parties, he is trying to figure out what to do with the problem he is presented with.
I reviewed this book on my blog a while ago, and you can find it here.
‘The Snow Queen’ by Hans Christian Anderson
I think wintertime is a great time for reading fairy tales, or twists of fairy tales, or retellings of fairy tales. Something about them is so cozy and comforting.
I read this one a long time ago, soon after I learned that the Disney movies ‘Frozen’ was loosely based on the story. Emphasis on loosely.
I like this fairy tale very much. It is about a sister who sets out to rescue her brother from the Snow Queen. From what I remember, she encounters various creatures and fairies who help her on the way. I loved the themes of sibling love, and how the love of family can overcome evil.
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I have only read the first book. But Christmas is such a big deal in the books, anytime I think of winter books, I think of Harry Potter. The magic of first book also reminds me of the magic and wonder of Christmas. Everything is new, exciting, and Harry is in awe so much of the time, which reminds me of children at Christmas time. Also, there are many, many scenes in the snow. But maybe that is just the movies.
‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy
This book was my first idea when I was thinking about this blog post. Something about Russian novels just screams winter. Probably because Russia has a winter that lasts for a long time, and Russia is cold. Very, very cold. Or so I have been told.
‘War and Peace’ spans a long period of time, so all of the seasons are represented in this book. But many of the important scenes are during winter, when the snow is falling and the soldiers are shivering.
Don’t be intimidated by the size, most of the book is like reading a soap opera. You follow a cast of characters with all of their loves and losses, drama and happiness. Mostly, we are following Pierre, Natasha, and Andrew as they come of age in Russia during the Napoleonic wars. They grow up during a tumultuous time in Russia, and we see a changing world through the eyes of young people who are changing right along with it.
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If you pick up one of these books, I hope you enjoy it with a hot drink of some kind on a long winters evening.
What books would you add to this list?
Shaina Merrick
The Beauty of a Story 