I shall move north. I shall move into a long blackness.

winter book recommendations - by women writers ❄️

Dec 13, 2024

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Winter hasn't officially started yet, but it's coming.

After binge-watching Game of Thrones for three months and hearing "Winter is coming" more times than I can count, I was starting to feel like I might actually get frostbite—even if I still couldn't see a single snowflake.

Since I've been in the mood for winter reading for a while, I gathered some book recommendations for you.

You can find a variety of genres, including classics, romantic tales, thrillers, and poetry, all set in a winter ambiance perfect for cozy reading in bed with a warm drink.

Enjoy!

FICTION

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.

This is the heartwarming and enduring tale of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—navigating the challenges of growing up, family bonds, and their dreams during the American Civil War.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

“Jane, be still; don't struggle so like a wild, frantic bird, that is rending its own plumage in its desperation."
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.”

It is a gothic novel that follows the life of the orphaned and mistreated Jane Eyre. She becomes a governess at the mysterious Thornfield Hall and uncovers dark secrets, including her employer’s hidden past, all while navigating love, independence, and personal growth.

*I’m in the mood for a re-read!

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.

A haunting tale of passion, vengeance, and the destructive force of love, set on the windswept Yorkshire moors, where the lives of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are forever entangled in obsession and heartbreak.

*It's been years since I read this classic, and I think it's time for a revisit.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

One does not sleep well, sometimes, when one is twenty-nine on the morrow, and unmarried, in a community and connection where the unmarried are simply those who have failed to get a man.

It is a charming and unconventional romance about Valancy Stirling, a sheltered woman who, upon believing she has a terminal illness, decides to defy societal expectations and live life on her own terms, finding love and freedom in the process.

*currently reading: I love immersing myself in Valancy's thoughts and her way of seeing the world. I totally understand the search for an escape, taking refuge in her thoughts, dreaming, and using her imagination to create a better world than the one around her. It reminds me of the song “I Hate It Here” by Taylor Swift.

I hate it here so I will go to
secret gardens in my mind
People need a key to get to
The only one is mine
I read about it in a book when I was a precocious child
No mid-sized city hopes and small town fears
I'm there most of the year
Cause I hate it here
I hate it here.
I'm lonely but I'm good
I'm bitter but I swear I'm fine
I'll save all my romanticism for my inner life and I'll get lost on
purpose
This place made me feel worthless
Lucid dreams like electricity, the current flies through me,
and in my fantasies I rise above it
And way up there, I actually love it.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

But I know human nature, my friend, and I tell you that, suddenly confronted with the possibility of being tried for murder, the most innocent person will lose his head and do the most absurd things.

Detective Hercule Poirot must unravel a web of lies among passengers on a snowbound luxury train to solve the shocking murder of a wealthy American.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers in kemmer,
like hands joined together,
like the end and the way.

This is a groundbreaking exploration of gender and human connection set on the icy planet of Gethen, where a human envoy navigates political intrigue and cultural differences in a society where people are ambisexual and shift genders.

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

Your thin white face, chérie; he said, as if he saw it for the first time. Your thin white face, with its promise of debauchery only a connoisseur could detect.

A collection of feminist retellings of classic fairy tales, blending sensuality, gothic atmosphere, and biting commentary on gender and power dynamics.

*currently reading: it’s so good, highly recommend!

Winter by Ali Smith

That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.

A lyrical, unconventional exploration of relationships, memory, and truth set during the holiday season, where a fragmented family comes together in a Cornwall home, revealing the cracks and connections in their lives amidst the backdrop of a modern, politically charged world.

The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg

Even if people change on the path from childhood to adulthood, there is still a core of personality that remains intact.

This is a Nordic noir novel in which a writer returns to her hometown and becomes entangled in the mystery of her childhood friend's death, uncovering long-buried secrets in a chilly, atmospheric Swedish coastal town.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

“I gave everything for you, Vasilisa Petrovna.”
“Not everything,” said Vasya. “Since clearly your pride is intact, as well as your illusions.”

A richly atmospheric fairy tale set in medieval Russia, where a young woman defies tradition and embraces ancient magic to protect her family from supernatural forces threatening their winter-bound village.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

You know what, sometimes it seems to me we're living in a world that we fabricate for ourselves. We decide what's good and what isn't, we draw maps of meanings for ourselves...And then we spend our whole lives struggling with what we have invented for ourselves. The problem is that each of us has our own version of it, so people find it hard to understand each other.

It is a thought-provoking mystery that follows an eccentric animal rights enthusiast in rural Poland, whose astrology-based insights weave through the investigation of a series of bizarre deaths in her small community.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

It was easy to understand why women feared men with their physical strength and lust and social powers, but women, with their canny intuitions, were so much deeper: they could predict what was to come long before it came, dream it overnight, and read your mind.

This novella set in 1980s Ireland tells the story of a humble coal merchant who grapples with moral challenges after discovering a dark secret while making deliveries to a convent. It explores themes of guilt, duty, and the nuances of small acts of kindness.

POETRY

Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück

I think here I will leave you. It has come to seem
there is no perfect ending.
Indeed, there are infinite endings.
Or perhaps, once one begins,
there are only endings.

This collection of poems explores themes of grief, memory, and the passage of time. Glück's signature sparse language and introspective tone blend personal reflection with broader existential questions.

*currently reading: and I'm loving it. I think I've found a new favorite poet!

Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems by Mary Oliver

I am a performing artist; I perform admiration.
“Come with me”, I want my poems to say. “And do the same”

A collection of Mary Oliver's reflections on nature, life, and loss, with a quiet, meditative tone that invites readers into an intimate conversation about the changing seasons, the passage of time, and the beauty found in small moments.

Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath

I shall move north. I shall move into a long blackness.
I see myself as a shadow, neither man nor woman,
Neither woman, happy to be like a man, nor a man
Blunt and flat enough to feel no lack. I feel a lack.
I hold my fingers up, ten white pickets.
See, the darkness is leaking from the cracks.
I cannot contain it. I cannot contain my life.

This posthumously published poetry collection explores themes of nature, loss, and transformation, showcasing Plath's distinctive voice in poems that are at once lyrical and starkly introspective.