Books I Want to Read this Winter (Based on Vibes)

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

Happy Yule, everybody! Aside from Samhain, Yule is my favorite sabbath. It's a time to cherish family and loved ones, a time for warmth and festivity. It celebrates the darkest day of the year and the slow process of days becoming longer. And since it's the first day of Winter, I thought I would go through my shelves and talk about the books that feel the most wintery to me, and what I want to prioritize for the next three months. 

I've also done this for Summer and Autumn, so if you want more seasonal recs then check those out! And yes, I will be doing another post for the upcoming Spring. 

Without any further ado, let's get into my potential Winter TBR!

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Dead Souls by Nikolay Gogol

Starting out strong with some Russian Literature. I'm actually reading this right now, and I can confirm this is the exact vibe I wanted. Something slightly mysterious, slightly satirical. It doesn't take place in Winter per say, but I'm still feeling that slight chill whenever I pick it up. For some reason, Russian Literature always feels like Winter to me, even if the book takes place in the summertime. I just want to cozy up and take my time with it, and really get a sense of the atmosphere. 

The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

This is probably the most wintery book on this list, since it is, quite literally, all about ice (not to mention it's Norwegian literature. Just sign me up, right now). The Ice Palace refers to a frozen waterfall. The force of the waterfall, as it freezes, throws up plumes of water that freeze as they fall, so you end up with this gorgeous, hollow structure made of glittering ice. However, The Ice Palace is much more than a frozen waterfall. This story is supposed to be heartbreaking and tragic, with some of the most beautiful descriptions of ice that you could ever read. 

The Encyclopedia of the Dead by Danilo Kis

This is a short-story collection of 9 stories, including my most anticipated short-story by this author, Legend of the Sleepers. The reason I included it on this list is because Danilo Kis is Yugoslav-Serbian, and honestly the whole Balkan region just feels very wintery to me. The Republic of Serbia is surrounded by Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Encyclopedia of the Dead is one of Kis's most famous works, and is considered a masterpiece of Slavic literature.

Kallocain by Karin Boye

We've got some dystopian! Dystopian science-fiction always feels like Winter to me, maybe because it's almost always set in some desolate ruin of a town or city. Bonus Winter points since this is a piece of Swedish literature, and we all know how I feel about Scandinavia. This is also a piece of political fiction, as it's about a scientist who creates a truth serum and the breakdown of individuality as a concept. Karin Boye was inspired by the techniques of Soviet Russia's secret police, as well as Nazi Germany. I'm expecting this to be very dark and dreary, and honestly that's exactly what I want in the colder months. This seems like a perfect January read. 

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

More dystopian, except this time from the dear old US of A. The Road is probably one of the most famous works of dystopian fiction in the current zeitgeist, right up there with The Hunger Games and Parable of the Sower. I know that I've always seen in floating around in the same circles, at least. The Road is, similarly, a post-apocalyptic novel following a father and son as they trek across a desolate America following an unspecified cataclysmic event. While being extremely dark and suspenseful, it's also a novel about hope and the greatest of humanity, which I think is nice. 

The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky

You know I had to put a Dostoevsky on this list! Nothing says Winter to me like some classic Russian literature. I picked this one specifically, out of all of the Dostoevsky on my TBR, because this is a semi-autobiographical novel about Dostoevsky's time in a Siberian prison camp. He took his years there and formed them into The House of the Dead, which follows a man who is sent to the camps for murder. Dostoevsky was there for four years (for his political activities, not murder), and he took those four years worth of experiences and details a shocking account of prison conditions, forced labor, and the degradation of the convicts. Siberia boasts of some of the coldest Winters world-wide, so I'm certain this is the best time of year for this novel. 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

We're ending on a reread. The reason I have The Shadow of the Wind on this list is simply because I first read it in the Winter. It was my last book of 2019 (I can't believe it's been six years, holy cow!) and then I never continued on in the series. Well, I own all four books now, so I need to read the series soon. But a reread of book one is definitely required before I continue on, because honestly I don't remember much from the story. I probably won't be reading it this year, but maybe it'll be my first read of 2026? Who knows?

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And that's it for my Winter TBR! A lot of classics, a lot of Russian...but you know what? I'm not even mad about it. My love for Russian Literature has really bloomed over the past couple of years, and I'm very excited to read more (at this point, Dostoevsky is probably my favorite classic author, so naturally I want to read everything he ever wrote). 

What books are on your Winter TBR? Do we have any in common? Leave a comment below, or DM me on Instagram (link in sidebar under the heading "More Media").

Until next time, friends!