The upcoming holiday season makes for perfect timing to ask for a few new reads, or stock up on books for the break from your local library. Everyone has different taste in books, especially in relation to the winter or holiday season. Some enjoy mysteries set in cold places, while others enjoy a philosophical book that can reframe your mind for the new year. The break can also be a great time to explore new genres that typically don’t appeal to you at face level. So, here are some recommendations to get you started on your end of year reading.
First is a book of shorter size by Irish author Claire Keegan. Small Things Like These is a historical fiction set in a small Irish town in the 1980s, spanning the few weeks leading up to Christmas. The book focuses on the crimes committed in the name of religion, slowly alluding to the problem of focus throughout the book, from the perspective of a coal merchant father. The book is compelling as you are drawn in by the life of the lead, and the mystery shrouding his local church. The setting and perspectives offered make it a great winter read and learning opportunity.
Next, The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is often described as “Kafka-esqe”, in reference to its melancholy tone in discussing an all-controlling government. In addition to the political commentary, the book explores loss, memory, and change. The book’s gloomy spirit matches what many people feel in the long cold months, however due to this it has almost a calming effect, and could act as a break from the overwhelming festivities entailed by the holiday season. Yōko Ogawa’s latest book (originally published in Japanese in 2006), Mina’s Matchbox, is a pivot from the gloominess, taking more of a nostalgic and coming of age tone, which may be a preferred route for many.
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is a classic, and is also on the shorter end at roughly 192 pages. The book is a true story about a man’s final lessons from his dying professor, they always met on Tuesdays. The book discusses what is important in one’s life, therefore fitting the “new year new me” vibe, but with a different twist. The book questions the common route of putting success and money over the ones you care about, it also deals with loss and acceptance, and is overall a comforting book.
Lastly, people tend to associate the holidays with classic academia, old stone buildings, oil lit street lamps, and libraries with vaulted ceilings. This is a vibe captured by M. L. Rio in If We Were Villains, in which a tribe of theater students at a prestigious arts university become slightly consumed by the characters they play. Told from alternating points in time, the content from the future perspective gives answers in bits and pieces, giving hints at what is happening in the past setting, as a murder unfolds. This book provides the proper holiday mystery atmosphere, helping to get you through the darker months.
The elongated winter break is a perfect time to catch up on reading, whether it fills time on a plane or car ride, or is simply used to pass the time in front of a fireplace. Endless perspectives can be gained from reading, which could help you become your better self for the new year, or ignite a passion to read more, which are both beneficial in their own respects. Hopefully these recommendations get you started on your winter reading journey.
