Reading a book inside under the warmth of a blanket while it is snowing outside is a comfortable feeling like no other. Over winter break many people try to read as many books as possible before they have to go back to school. It is a time to sit back, relax, and enjoy a good book. If you do not know what to read, here are a list of books that will give you the chills under your blanket this winter.
1. ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak
After the death of her brother, Liesel Meminger is brought to live with the Hubermann’s in Germany during World War II where she meets Rudy, her friend and schoolmate, and Max, a Jewish refugee. She is fascinated by and finds solace in books, and is able to do that with the help of Ilsa Hermann, Rosa Hubermann’s employer as well as the mayor’s wife. Liesel’s life is told from the point-of-view of Death, who describes both the beauty and destruction of the WWII era makes the story all the more chilling—perfect for winter.
2. ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer
One of the more well-known books on this list, ‘Twilight’ is the story about Bella Swan who moves to live with her father in Forks, Washington where she meets and falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen. Because of its fantastic elements of vampires and other mythology, Meyer’s books are perfect for reading in the winter. The somewhat dark mythology that she creates surrounding Bella and the Cullens, the vampire family, leaves the readers’ fingers cold on the pages.
3. ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll
Extremely well-known for Walt Disney’s and Tim Burton’s film versions, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls through the rabbit hole into a fantasy world that is filled with peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. Carroll’s unique use of fantasy and the “nonsense” world of wonderland make this story perfect for the winter time.
4. ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde
Wilde’s only novel centers on Dorian Gray as the subject of a full-length oil portrait by Basil Hallward, an artist impressed by Dorian Gray’s beauty. Through Basil, Dorian Gray meets Lord Henry Wotton and becomes so enthralled with Lord Henry’s hedonist view that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life, that he expresses his desire to sell his soul that the picture would age rather than he. The philosophical nature of this novel and the cold character himself makes this a book worth reading.
5. ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis
The first of the series to be published, but the second chronologically Lewis’ novel is an entrancing winter read for its fantastic elements and mythology. The story is about the four Pevensie children—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—who are evacuated from their home in London during the Blitz of WWII and stay with Professor Digory Kirke and one day happen to stumble across Narnia through a wardrobe in a spare room of the Professor’s house. In Narnia, the children find that they fit the prophecy to save Narnia from the White Witch.
