7 Books to Read next Winter

With the sun going down before dinner every night, winter can feel endless and bleak. Of course, there’s always something to binge-watch on Netflix or Hulu, but winter is the perfect time to read all those books you never have time to at other times of the year. Between beaches, concerts, and festivals, there’s always so much going on during the other seasons. But winter gives you an excuse to stay in with nothing to do except curl up in your favorite blanket next to the fireplace. What goes better with that than a mug of hot cocoa and a good book?
There’s really no better time to catch up on all those titles. So if you’re looking for a few more good ones, here’s a list of seven must-reads next winter.

1-The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

This Pulitzer-winning novel tells the story of Theo, whose mother dies in an accident at the beginning of the book, while Theo miraculously survives. It’s a poignant coming-of-age story that covers loss, love, friendship, and secrets, with so many beautiful quotes. This is a long one, but sometimes getting lost in such a rich, detailed world is just what you need to escape the winter doldrums.

2-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Le Cirque des Reves is a mysterious black-and-white circus that only appears in the middle of the night. It features jaw-dropping performances, acrobatics, and most importantly, magic. The center of the circus is the beautiful rivalry between two magicians, Celia and Marco. But when they begin to fall in love, the future of the circus is put in jeopardy.

3-The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

With the Hulu series sweeping the Emmys earlier this year, this one’s probably been on your radar for a while. It was written in the 1980s but set in some undetermined dystopian future, in a place that was once the United States but is now called Gilead. In the wake of widespread infertility, the totalitarian government regime treats women as property of the state. Called handmaids, women who are known to be fertile are placed in the households of powerful government officials as stand-in wombs for the officials’ sterile wives. The story is told from the point of view of a handmaid named Offred. Chilling, bleak, and eerily relevant, you won’t be able to put it down.

4-I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (with Christina Lamb)

Read the inspiring story of the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala is a young Pakistani girl who was shot in the face when she was 15 years old, for standing up for girls’ education. Learn about how she not only survived, but how she went on to inspire people everywhere, become a public advocate for education for girls, and ultimately change the world.

5-Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

From the author of the bestseller Gone Girl, this is the story of investigative journalist Camille Preaker, who returns to her hometown after two young girls are kidnapped and killed. Doing so thrusts her back into her own traumatic past, forcing her to relive demons of her own as she struggles to make sense of the present-day murders. If you thought Gone Girl had twists and turns, stick around until the end of this one.

6-More Than This by Patrick Ness

A boy named Seth drowns and dies alone. Then he wakes up. It looks just like the world he left, but it’s deserted. Struggle to understand what is happening right alongside him. Is he alive, or is this where we go when we die? From the award-winning author of the Chaos Walking Trilogy and A Monster Calls.

7-The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This coming-of-age story follows Charlie, an awkward teenage boy. It has much of the typical coming-of-age fare – first dates, stilted conversation, family drama. But with the beautiful prose and deeper themes, the book holds more weight for the adult reader and has a profoundness and poignance that is rare in stories of the same ilk.
A good book not only is fun to read, it can help you succeed in college and in life.

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