Top Ten Tuesday: Snowy Reads to Enjoy by the Fire

• Siobhan O'Brien Holmes
• 9 comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is actually ‘new authors you discovered in 2024’ but I feel like I’ve talked about my 2024 reads to death already, so I went back a few weeks and grabbed a different prompt. This is such a fun one, particularly as I’m off to Arctic Norway next month to have fun in the snow (and extreme cold) so I figured these books would make perfect reading on the trip. I’d love to hear your choices for this challenge!

1. The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett | This is a gorgeous YA fantasy I reviewed for the British Fantasy Society a few years ago. Ekata, the duke’s daughter, is the only survivor of a magical curse that sends her entire family – including 12 siblings – into a deep sleep, leaving her to rule the ice kingdom from her castle on a frozen lake (which is also filled with mermaids!). This whole book made me shiver.

2. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn | I haven’t actually read this Christmassy YA romance but I loved the Dash & Lily Netflix series!

3. The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club by Alex Bell | This middle grade fantasy series is one of my favourites! I fell in love with Alex Bell years ago after reading the Frozen Charlotte books and then discovered this gorgeous, magical, snowy story that follows Stella trekking across the Icelands on a wintery adventure.

4. The Mezzotint by M.R. James | And all other the stories that Mark Gatiss has adapted into the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas! I’m a huge Gatiss fan and love pretty much everything he touches, so I love sitting down at Christmas and watching his latest cosy ghost story.

5. The Snowman by R.L. Stine | You know I can’t pass up an opportunity to talk about Point Horror and Stine! It’s years since I read this one so I can’t claim it’s withstood the test of time but it felt like an obvious snowy choice here!

6. The Jolly Postman at Christmas by the Ahlbergs | You can’t tell me this isn’t the greatest Christmas book of all time! I’ve been utterly obsessed with it since I was a child and now I count down the days until Christmas Eve when my son and I read this together at bedtime (we save it for Christmas Eve because it’s our favourite!). I will say that I recently discovered Paddington’s Christmas Post which has very similar vibes and it’s super charming, so I really recommend checking that out if you like the postman!

7. The Shining by Stephen King | This is one of my favourite King novels and weather plays a really pivotal role in the story since Jack, Wendy and Danny are acting as winter caretakers for the Overlook Hotel during offseason and end up getting snowed in.

8. Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin | This is a gorgeous, wintery middle grade illustrated reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red that I read a couple of years ago.

9. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe | Okay, this is a poem rather than a book and there’s no snow… but it’s one of my all-time favourites and I think it’s the perfect thing to sit down and read when it’s snowing outside and you’re wrapped up warm and cosy at home! I mean, it is set on a dreary midnight as the narrator reminisces about a bleak December night in front of the fire. I think it definitely counts.

10. Through the Woods by E.M. Carroll | I’ve always loved this collection of spooky, gothic short stories. The first tale, featured on the book’s cover, sees Beth walking through the pure white snow dressed in a red cloak as she hunts down the man in the wide brimmed hat.