For many of us, winter is a time of darkness, of quiet, of feeling peopled out(!). We live through winter every single year on earth, but often shun the dark, fearing it and avoiding it. Yet its a natural part of the cycle, as night is to day, the moon to the sun. What if instead of railing against it and pretending it’s not happening by contining to run at the same fast pace we do all year, but instead we embraced it as the season of cozy, of teolaí (Irish word for cozy) of hygge and wrapped ourselves in care and comfort with a good book or ten!

Kick off your muddy boots, pull on some cozy socks and your favourite old sweater, dim the lights, put a spark to the fire set in the grate, light a candle, fluff up a cushion, curl up under a soft woolen blanket and snuggle in with a new book from the list below.

I love to read by the fire when the rain is pelting down against the windows outside or even at the beach in the warm van, a mug of hot chocolate steaming up the corner of the windscreen as the sea crashes and pounds the shore with high winter swells. Or by candlelight in bed under white cotton sheets and a fluffy patch work blanket for extra warmth, I read a few pages every night to help me drift off to sleep. I listen to audio books whilst driving on road soaked roads and whilst making winter soups or baking a cupcake recipe I know so well, I no longer have to glance at a dog earred recipe book. I always have a few books on the go and winter is my favourite time of year to read.

So here are my top winter book recommendations for wintry nights, nowhere-else-to-be Sundays and to help you relax and melt away your cares to.

My top 10 winter reads:

1. Wintering by Katherine May (memoir)

2. I found my Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice (memoir)

3. Chasing the Sun by Linda Geddes (non-fiction)

4. Grown Ups by Marian Keyes (fiction, light, not about Winter but a great big winter read none the less!)

5. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (fiction - set in Ireland in Winter, not cozy, but an incredible book)

6. The Thursday Murder Club Series by Richard Osman (I’m obsessed, I devoured all 4 of them!)

7. Hermit by Jade Angeles Fitton (memoir - perfect for hibernation vibes)

8. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (fiction - like a modern day Little Women)

9. The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (nonfiction and noone does hygge like the Danes!)

10. Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior (fiction)

I’d love to hear your own recommendations, what should I add to my pile on the bedside table? Let me know in the comments below!