The holidays demand specific reading. You want books that feel right for the season—whether that means literal snow and Christmas trees, or just the emotional texture of reflection, family, and new beginnings.

Here’s what we’re recommending this year, sorted by mood and occasion.

For Actual Holiday Spirit

“The Christmas Appeal” by Janice Hallett brings back Hallett’s signature email-and-document format for a murder mystery set during a village Christmas pageant. It’s clever, funny, and surprisingly moving. Perfect for reading between family obligations.

“Let It Snow” by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Green gets re-recommended every year because it works every year. Three interconnected YA romance stories set during a Christmas Eve snowstorm. Comfort food in book form.

For something more literary, “Winter Solstice” by Rosamunde Pilcher remains the gold standard. Yes, it’s from 2000, but new readers discover it every December. A found family gathers in Scotland for the holidays, and Pilcher makes you believe in second chances.

Family Drama (Because Holidays = Family)

“The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett isn’t a holiday book, but it’s about family, inheritance, and the homes we can’t let go of. Many readers save it for year-end reflection time. The sibling relationship at the center is complicated and real.

“The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen is the literary family-gathering-goes-wrong novel. It’s long (569 pages), perfect for a week off work, and funnier than its serious reputation suggests. If your family holidays involve tension and unspoken resentments, this one hits different.

For Australian families, “The Natural Way of Things” by Charlotte Wood is absolutely not a holiday book and please don’t gift it to your conservative relatives. But for readers looking for something fierce and unforgettable, Wood’s dystopian feminist novel remains essential.

Cozy Mysteries for Cozy Season

Mystery readers already know “The Thursday Murder Club” series by Richard Osman, but book four (“The Last Devil to Die”) came out this year and it’s the strongest yet. Four retirees solving murders, lots of heart, genuinely clever plotting.

“The Appeal” (also Janice Hallett, different from the Christmas one) pioneered the document-format mystery. If you missed it, catch up now—it’s a community theater production where nothing is as it seems.

For something darker, “The Retreat” by Sarah Pearse gives you an isolated wellness center in Iceland, a murder, and atmospheric dread. The kind of book you read under a blanket with tea.

Books About Winter (Actual Winter)

“The Bear and the Nightingale” by Katherine Arden is fantasy set in medieval Russia, full of snow and frost demons and Orthodox Christianity mixed with old folklore. The whole Winternight trilogy works, but book one captures winter magic perfectly.

“Smilla’s Sense of Snow” by Peter Høeg is a thriller about a woman investigating a child’s death in Copenhagen. Smilla is half-Inuit, and her understanding of snow and ice drives the mystery. Dense, moody, brilliant.

For nonfiction readers, “The Stranger in the Woods” by Michael Finkel tells the true story of a man who lived alone in the Maine woods for 27 years. It’s about solitude, survival, and what we need from other people. Haunting.

Light and Funny (Because Sometimes You Need That)

“Beach Read” by Emily Henry isn’t holiday-themed, but romance readers swear by saving it for vacation reading. Two writers with opposite genres switch styles for the summer. Witty, emotional, genuinely romantic.

“Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman is about a failed bank robbery and a hostage situation at an apartment viewing. Backman makes it funny and heartbreaking, often in the same paragraph. His best work.

For pure escapism, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers Hollywood glamour, bisexual icon energy, and a frame narrative that really works. It’s a page-turner that doesn’t insult your intelligence.

For Quiet Reflection

“Wintering” by Katherine May is an essay collection about getting through dark times—literal winter and metaphorical winters. May writes about depression, illness, and seasonal change with grace and honesty. Many readers found it helpful during various 2025 challenges.

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“The Lonely City” by Olivia Laing explores loneliness through art and artists in New York. It’s melancholy without being depressing, intellectual without being pretentious. Perfect for those reflective holiday moments.

Picture Books for All Ages

“The Wild Robot” series by Peter Brown concluded this year with book three. If you know kids aged 7-12, this is the gift. But adults read them too—they’re about belonging, nature, and what makes someone a person.

“They Both Die at the End” by Adam Silvera is YA but crosses over to adult readers. On a day when two boys receive their death notifications, they find each other and try to really live their last 24 hours. Emotional and life-affirming.

What to Avoid

Holiday reading should feel good, whatever “good” means for you. Skip books you’re reading out of obligation. That 800-page literary tome everyone says you should read? It’ll still be there in January.

Avoid gift guides that push “important” books unless important is your vibe right now. Some years you want Zadie Smith, some years you want a rom-com. Both are valid.

The Real Recommendation

Read what sounds good to you. The holidays are stressful enough without adding reading guilt. If you want to re-read Harry Potter for the tenth time, do that. If you want to finally try Proust, great. If you want to read nothing and watch TV, also fine.

The best holiday reading is whatever helps you get through the season in one piece, preferably while enjoying yourself.

Books are here to serve us, not the other way around.