Cosy reads for when it’s cold outside

When it’s grey and drizzling, the best thing to do is grab a blanket and dive into the inviting pages of a good book. From tales of faraway islands and magical creatures to adventures that unfold in gorgeous manors, there’s no better time to escape into worlds these books offer.

If you’re looking for a comforting read to cuddle up with while it’s cold outside, here’s our round-up of some cosy recommendations.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Linus Baker is perfectly happy being alone. Sort of. But when the Department in Charge of Magical Youth give him a highly classified assignment, he can’t say no. Linus is sent to Marsyas Island Orphanage to find out whether the children there are likely to bring about the end of days, upon meeting the six dangerous children there, Linus’s life is transformed forever.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Set 20 years before Legends & Lattes, this standalone cosy fantasy novel follows a much younger Viv. Unfortunately, her career with the famous mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going well. After being wounded in combat, she’s forced to stay behind and heal in the sleepy seaside town of Murk. Without any enemies to slay, Viv unexpectedly finds herself spending hours at a nearby struggling bookshop. There, she finds adventures of a different kind and Murk turns out to be more eventful than Viv could have imagined.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

In a village teetering at the edge of the bitterly cold northern Russian wilderness, a stranger bestows a new father with a precious jewel on a delicate chain meant for his daughter. Unsure of the stranger’s intentions, the father stows the gift away and Vasya, his newborn daughter, grows up headstrong and unaware. But when mystical influences threaten everything she holds dear, Vasya discovers that she might be the only one who can ward off the oncoming darkness.

The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson

Three rival actresses who all have played the same role, sleuth Dahlia Lively, are forced to team up to solve a murder. In the stately home of the author who made them all famous, the actresses will have to overcome their differences to solve the crimes as they unfold.

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

Orphan Cristabel Seagrave grew up in an old English manor by the sea. But she always knew she didn’t belong. But her life suddenly changed the moment a whale washed up on the beach, and from then on, she was determined to do things differently. The Whalebone Theatre follows Cristabel and her siblings as they grow up together and tells the tale of how their lives unfold and are changed by World War II.