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Ten Perfect Winter Reads – with Nordic favourites

Winter might not be the most scenic time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I do love snow clad mountain tops sparkling in the winter sunshine. Alas, that isn’t the kind of winter we get in London. Luckily, there are plenty of excellent novels, which offer vivid descriptions of cold, crisp winter landscapes, perfect to read at this time of year.

Below I’ve gathered some of my favourite winter reads. Quite a few of them are written by Nordic authors and writing this post was like a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

1. Snow Country [1948] by Yasunari Kawabata

Snow Country left me with a series of sense impressions. White frozen landscapes, suppressed feelings, hot burning fire, inner passion, red hot skin contrasting white geisha make up and an impossible love, which isn’t going anywhere. I can’t say, I understood this strange, Japanese classic. Being more knowledgable about Japanese culture would certainly have helped. But I still enjoyed it and found it a great winter read.

2. The Little Match Girl [1845] by Hans Christian Andersen

Danish children are force-fed the fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen from an early age. We had the full collection at home and The Little Match Girl has always been one of my favourites. It’s a sad, but beautiful tale about a poor little girl who walks barefoot around in the icy streets, trying to sell matches. She lights up a few matches trying to keep warm and sees the most wonderful sights before… Ah well, let’s just say it doesn’t have a happy ending.

3. Winter [2017] by Ali Smith

Winter is my favourite instalment in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet. It is the most rounded and cohesive of the novels and it features a set of fun and interesting characters. Unsurprisingly, there are lots of references to art and politics, but they feel like an integrated part of the storyline. In Winter, Smith takes her playfulness with words to another level, lifting the reading experience almost to perfection.

4. Moominland Midwinter [1957] by Tove Jansson

Another children’s classic in the Nordic region is The Moomins by Tove Jansson. In Moominland Midwinter we see winter through the eyes of Moomintroll, who wakes up from his normal hibernation. He experiences snow for the first time, wonders about northern lights and feels the magic when the sun just about rises and then disappears again. Yes, winter in the far north is tough and dark. It’s an unusually introspective children’s story filled with wonder and wisdom. Whilst being fun and entertaining, it also touches upon serious topics such as loneliness and survival.

5. The Sittaford Mystery [1931] by Agatha Christie

Many crime novels rely on snowstorms and bad weather to create a locked-room mystery with a limited number of suspects. The Sittaford Mystery is no exception. It may not be amongst Christie’s best known books, but I find it a solid mystery. Like other of Christie’s stand-alone novels, it features a strong heroine with initiative and determination. The solution to the crime relies heavily on the snowy conditions.

6. The Ice Palace [1963] by Tarjei Vesaas

You’ll find some of the most atmospheric descriptions of winter landscapes in Tarjei Vesaas’ The Ice Palace. The novella revolves around an enormous ice structure, which has formed around a partly frozen waterfall. The ice palace is highly symbolic, reflecting the feelings of the two eleven year old protagonists, Unn and Sis. It’s a poetic, mesmerising coming-of-age story, where the icy winter landscape is an integrated part of the story, rather than just a background setting.

7. Smilla’s Sense of Snow [1992] by Peter Høgh

I read Smilla’s Sense of Snow back in the days, when I mostly picked up crime fiction. This is a slightly more literary crime novel, which formed a nice transition into general fiction. The quirky protagonist, Smilla, is half Greenlandic and has studied glaciology, specializing in ice and snow. Besides from the mystery, the novel also deals with the – at times – complicated relationship between Denmark and Greenland. As I remember it, the novel was uneven, but it certainly made a strong impression.

8. The Golden Compass [1995] by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass might be the perfect winter read. It’s a great and imaginative story, which will keep you spellbound. Furthermore, the setting is wonderful. Most of the book takes place in the far North and the story includes polar bears, northern lights and lots of evocative winter scenery, which I could clearly imagine in my head, whilst reading.

9. The Snowman [2007] by Jo Nesbø

This crime thriller ought to come with a warning. If you want to continue to see snow and in particular snowmen as a cosy feature of winter, please don’t read The Snowman. The same applies, if you prefer your crime fiction to be subtle, literary, politically correct and non-graphic. Typical review phrases include “sick” and “disturbing”. I read it quite a while ago and as you might have guessed: I loved it!

10. The Darkest Evening [2020] by Ann Cleeves

Detective Vera Stanhope gets lost in a blizzard on her way back from work, which eventually leads her to a dead young woman. As ususal, Ann Cleeves writes about very human characters with flaws and weaknesses, complex relations and sad lives. Still, The Darkest Evening had a more cosy feel to it, than you’ll normally find in Cleeves’ novels and I will highly recommend it.

There you have it, ten perfect winter reads. I am always on the lookout for more, so feel free to let me know if you have any recommendations.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl.

49 comments

  1. I’m not big on reading for the seasons, but of course I know the Match Girl. I’ve read a couple of the Ali Smiths – not entirely willingly, but not Winter, and the Høgh. All I can offer in return is the starter book for Six Degrees a couple of months ago: Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child – thoroughly recommended.

    • You have been reading Ali Smith unwillingly? Ah, I love seasonal reading. I recently tried to read a book taking place in the summer, but ended up putting it aside. It just didn’t feel right. And yes, I have noted down The Snow Child for next winter, it sounds really good and quite different from what I normally read.

      • I think that particular Ali Smith must have been the wrong book at the wrong time. She’s my kind of writer really – I’ll definitely try again.

        • I’ve had varying luck with Ali Smith’s novels. However, Winter was very enjoyable.

  2. I’ve had the snowman for years and still haven’t gotten around to reading it, I really should.

    Also need to check out Ann Cleeves’ work

    • Nesbo probably isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth giving The Snowman a try, especially since you already own it. I find his books excellent entertainment. Ann Cleeves is one of my favourite crime writers.

    • Thanks! Another commenter already recommended it, I will definitely pick it up at some point.

    • Thanks Nicki! I remember you enjoyed Smith’s Autumn, I’m curious what you make of Winter, I actually liked it better.

    • Thanks Jonetta! Yes, the books are all quite different, but they have the winter theme in common.

  6. I love winter reads! I always save them up for when winter is around again. Don’t know all of these titles, but most of them. Might add the rest to my TBR for next year. 🙂

    • I do exactly the same! For some reason, I don’t like to read winter books in the summer or the other way around. Glad I’m not the only one!

    • Aww, I am glad to hear that. It made quite an impression, when I read it as a child as well.

    • The Christie mystery was surprisingly good considering it might be amongst her lesser-known novels.

    • Thanks! The one by Kawabata was so interesting. I will probably read it again at some point and may pick up on more nuances than I did the first time. Unfortunately, I don’t read French, but The Ice People could definitely be an option.

    • Thanks Jane! I know exactly what you mean about feeling cold reading about them. A good winter read can bring winter directly into your living room.

  18. This is a great list. I’ve read a few of them and totally agree with your comments. One question re: the Peter Hoeg novel, Smilla’s Sense of Snow. I read this back in the day too, but I’m sure my copy is called “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow”. (I need to go and find it!) Is it the same book? When did the English title change????

    • Hmm, that is a good question. I read it in Danish and Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow is a word-for-word translation of the Danish title. There is a film adaptation, which is called Smilla’s Sense of Snow. Maybe later versions of the book have adapted that title as well to tie in with the film version.

  19. What a great topic! I recommend Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. It takes the onset of winter in a small, remote community and adds the tension of being cut off due to a distant apocalyptic scenario.

    • Thanks for the recommendation! I am not familiar with Moon of the Crusted Snow, but I will certainly look it up. I quite like apocalyptic stories.

  20. The Little Match Girl and The Golden Compass are the only books I’ve read on this list. I loved both of them, especially The Golden Compass! Philip Pullman is a surreal writer and His Dark Materials is one of my favourite triologies!
    I have to check out the rest of these books, they sound marvelous ✨

    • His Dark Materials is amazing, I completely agree. I think, potentially you would enjoy Moominland Midwinter as well. It’s a children’s book, but it is quite philosophical and it has some wonderful characters and great descriptions of the tough dark winter in the Northern region.

  21. Ha. I remember Smilla’s Sense of Snow being good too but my sister said the ending made her throw it against the wall. Ha ha. Yours is a good list. I’d recommend the Edith Wharton novel Ethan Frome for cold (very icy in that novel) and perhaps The Voyage of the Narwhal … about getting stuck in the ice at the pole. Love those kinds of stories — of ships stuck in the Ice. Like the novel The Terror …. or Snow Mountain Passage about the Donner Party. Yikes! get out of there!

    • Haha, I don’t even remember the ending of Smilla. But I remember I thought it started really well, but couldn’t quite keep up the high standard. I’ve been meaning to get started on Edith Wharton’s novels, maybe Ethan Frome would be a good place to start. And The Voyage of the Narwhal sounds absolutely amazing. I love reading survival stories from cold, icy and remote places. No idea where this fascination comes from. Thanks for the recommendations!

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