The air is crisp, the candles are lit, and I think it’s safe to say that my favourite reading mug has achieved a permanent position in my hand. It is, undeniably, peak reading season.

There is a quiet, unique magic to a good winter read. The right book provides the perfect transportive moment—perhaps to a snowy landscape, or maybe to the warmth of a festive drawing-room.

This year, I’ve put together a list that focuses on comfort and atmosphere. It includes the reliable classics, a few seasonally appropriate mysteries, and some more ambitious reads for the longer, quieter nights ahead.

These titles, I hope, will offer you the perfect literary comfort—a list designed to wrap you up like your favourite soft blanket all the way through the new year.

Here are my top ten picks for cosy Christmas and winter reads.

1. Nancy Mitford – Christmas Pudding

If your holidays are best served with a side of hilarious chaos, this is your book. Set in a snowy, aristocratic country house in the Cotswolds, this farcical novel throws an eccentric cast of characters—including a famous novelist and an unexpected French guest—into a house party over Christmas. Expect witty dialogue, romantic mishaps, and a charming portrait of upper-class British life that’s perfectly light and festive.

2. Bridget Jones’ Diary

A modern classic that captures the feeling of the season beautifully. Follow Bridget Jones through one turbulent year as she navigates New Year’s resolutions, a complicated love life involving the charming Daniel Cleaver and the more reserved Mark Darcy. The book is framed by the festive season, kicking off with the infamous New Year’s Day Turkey Curry Buffet—it’s funny, heart-warming, and entirely relatable.

3. Katherine Arden – The Winter of the Witch

For those who prefer their cosiness with a sharp edge of epic magic, this is the perfect atmospheric read. The final instalment in the Winternight Trilogy returns to the snowy expanses of Medieval Russia. Heroine Vasya, who possesses a rare gift for magic, must take flight and work with the mythological creatures of the Russian North, including the frost demon Morozko, to confront the political and demonic threats looming over her world. It’s a compelling, atmospheric, and beautifully crafted tale.

4. Agatha Christie – Midwinter Murder

The quintessential fireside read. This collection gathers twelve of the Queen of Crime’s best short stories that are all linked by a theme of winter and the holidays. Featuring classic cases solved by beloved detectives like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, these mysteries—full of snowdrifts, secluded manor houses, and the dark underbelly of Christmas cheer—are best devoured with a cup of hot tea and the door locked.

5. James Lovegrove – Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon

What’s cosier than the familiar surroundings of 221B Baker Street? Set in 1890 just before Christmas, this mystery finds Holmes and Watson traveling to a grand, isolated estate in Yorkshire. Their client, Eve Allerthorpe, is convinced she is being tormented by the Black Thurrick, a terrifying Christmas demon inspired by the Krampus legend. It’s a wonderfully festive take on a classic sleuth, complete with plenty of Victorian Yuletide atmosphere.

6. Jeanette Winterson – Christmas Days

This is a collection that is pure holiday spirit, packaged beautifully. Winterson offers 12 highly imaginative, contemporary seasonal stories—ranging from witty fables to traditional ghost stories—interspersed with 12 delicious festive recipes and autobiographical essays about her own complex, but ultimately loving, relationship with Christmas. It’s designed to be savoured slowly, chapter by chapter, throughout the 12 Days of Christmas.

7. Alexandre Dumas – The Story of a Nutcracker

An enchanting classic, offering more detail than the ballet. This is Alexandre Dumas’s retelling of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original tale. On Christmas Eve, young Marie’s cherished Nutcracker doll comes to life and leads a band of toy soldiers into a dazzling, epic battle against the villainous Mouse King, sweeping Marie away to a magical kingdom built of sugar and imagination. It is pure, unadulterated holiday fantasy.

8. Charles Dickens – Dickens at Christmas

You can’t have a holiday list without the master. This collection is, of course, anchored by A Christmas Carol, the definitive story of redemption and cheer. Follow Ebenezer Scrooge as he is haunted by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, learning lessons in compassion and generosity that redefined the holiday itself. It’s a timeless, powerful tale that reminds us of the true meaning of the season.

9. Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina

While a significant commitment, for a long winter break, there is no more rewarding or beautifully atmospheric “snowy read.” The story follows the parallel lives of the passionate, tragic Anna Karenina, who risks everything for love, and the introspective landowner Konstantin Levin, who searches for meaning in rural life. Its numerous scenes of ice skating, vast snowscapes, and carriage rides through the freezing landscape make it the ultimate (and most accomplished) “long-haul” cosy read.

10. Robert Dinsdale – The Toy Makers

Get ready to believe in magic again. Set against the backdrop of the First World War in London, this novel centres on Papa Jack’s Emporium, a legendary toy shop that opens only with the first frost of winter. When runaway Cathy Wray is taken in by the family, she discovers that the Emporium’s marvels—patchwork dogs that breathe and tin soldiers that march—are powered by real, complicated magic. It is a stunning, enchanting story about creativity, sibling rivalry, and the cost of keeping wonder alive.

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Happy reading, everyone! For more bookish things and moody poems, let’s catch up on Instagram!

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