As the sun goes down before dinner, and the pajamas are thrown on by 6 p.m., there’s no better time to grab a book, find a cozy spot on the couch and enjoy a new adventure. To kick off the comfy-cozy book-reading season, I have curated a list of books to read this winter. I tried to include a mix of genres I read, and some books friends have loved too! This year, make sure to explore more books to read this winter for the ultimate cozy experience.
WHAT BOOKS TO READ THIS WINTER
Fiction: The Beartown Series by Frederik Backman
I would say this is the ultimate series of books to read this winter. About 10 years ago, I came across a book that I thought would be a quick read, but really, it changed my life – I’m talking about A Man Called Ove. After reading that book, I have become a diehard Backman fan. Suppose you are looking for a series about complex relationships, mysterious circumstances, and small-town drama. I read each book in a day because the books were so good!
Mystery: The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
Dive into The Three Lives of Cate Kay, a fascinating, high-stakes mystery about a woman who built an empire on a secret identity while hiding from a tragic past. This story follows the woman’s struggle between an author’s glamorous success as Cate Kay and her life on the run. When she faces the shattering revelation that forces her home, it threatens to expose everything. It’s a compelling story of identity, escapism, and the enduring power of friendship, following one woman’s journey to confront the trauma that set her adrift and to piece together her fragmented self, finally becoming whole.
Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
Non-Fiction: Sisters In Science by Olivia Campbell
Sisters in Science tells the remarkable true story of four brilliant women physicists—Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, Hedwig Kohn, and Hildegard Stücklen—who, already battling intense sexism in early 20th-century academia, faced a life-or-death crisis with the rise of Nazi Germany. Forcing them to abandon their groundbreaking research in fields from nuclear physics to spectroscopy (the study of the interaction between light), the persecution initiated by the Nazi regime required them to undertake harrowing and high-stakes escapes to seek refuge.
This book chronicles their individual struggles for survival and their collective resilience as they successfully re-established their careers in the United States and Sweden, ultimately making revolutionary contributions—including Meitner’s discovery of nuclear fission—that profoundly shaped modern physics and cemented their legacy as scientific pioneers. Get it, girls!
Historical Fiction/Romance: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Suppose you like The Paper Palace or Where the Crawdads Sing, this is the book for you!
Follow Beth and her husband Frank, who have built a life on a foundation of utmost importance – the past must remain buried. However, their quiet stability shatters when Frank’s brother-in-law shoots a dog that was attacking their sheep. This single gunshot unknowingly summons the dog’s owner, Gabriel Wolfe, the man who broke Beth’s heart years ago.
With Gabriel’s re-entry and his son, Beth reflects on her own dark past and her deceased child. As sparks return and rumors begin to fly in her village, the small town is bustling with dark rumors and jealously.
When a local farmer is found dead, new suspicions swirl around the village, and Beth has to make a decision – choose to be the woman she’s become or the woman of her past.
Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle
Looking for other books to read this winter?
Not finding books to read this winter? Check out some fun holiday reads! If you are looking for new authors to try, check out my 2025 list of my favorite authors – they include Abby Jimenez, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Mariana Zapata and more.
Let me know if you have recommendations on books to read this winter!
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