Winter Book Roundup

Winter is a time to curl up with a warm cup of hot chocolate and read until the sun returns again. The Fairy Tale Magazine has prepared a list of books sure to brighten the darkness of your winter days, so curl up with a blanket and enjoy!

The Bear and the Nightingale, by Katherine Arden (Book One of the Winternight Trilogy), takes place in the Russian wilderness where Vasilisa and her siblings tell stories by the fire. This beautifully written novel explores the conflict between organized religion and the worship of household spirits, and it is a must read for anyone looking to get lost in the pages of a sumptuous novel.

Alice Hoffman provides readers with her version of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen in her novel The Ice Queen. A young girl touched by tragedy is frozen from the inside out, and she goes in search of Lazarus Jones, a fellow lightning-strike survivor, to find a way to heal. Fans of Hoffman’s Practical Magic series will find much to love in the wintry descriptions of this story.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, may be categorized as a book for children, but it is a complex retelling of The Snow Queen which looks at how imagination can be an antidote to grief. Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard must navigate a Gothic museum to rescue the Marvelous Boy from his entrapment, and, along the way, she learns what true bravery is all about. This is a beautiful book!

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey, sets a folktale about a couple and their child made of snow in 1920’s Alaska. The couple is changed forever by the little girl who shows up on the doorstep of their home in the Alaskan wilderness.

The Sisters of the Winter Wood, by Rena Rossner, follows the story of two sisters, Liba and Laya, living in a remote village at the edge of the Moldovan and Ukrainian forests. Together, they learn that fairy tales are true, and that they will need each other to survive.

If you enjoy fairy tale themes set in harsh winter environments, you will love Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Build of beautiful threads, this loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin will render readers spellbound. This multilayered books weaves folklore and mythology to a stunning effect.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass, by Melissa Basardpust, is a feminist retelling of Snow White. This story expertly explores the relationship of two women born to be rivals.

Although The Absinthe Earl, by Sharon Lynn Fisher is not a fairy tale retelling, it is rich in fairy lore, and it takes place in 19th century Ireland over the Christmas holidays. I love the story of Ada Quicksilver, a student of London's Lovelace Academy for Promising Young Women, who is studying the connection between absinthe and fairy sightings when she encounters the dashing Irishman Edward Donoghue. You can read my review here.

Readers looking for the perfect balance of mystery and folklore in their holiday novels need look no further; Sharon Lynn Fisher’s hauntingly beautiful novel Grimm Curiosities will be a book you return to each winter season! Filled with fairy lore about Krampus and the Wild Hunt, this sweet romance set in a curiosities shop is a delight. You can read my review here.

Gregory MacQuire gives readers a retelling of The Nutcracker in his novel Hiddensee. Set in the black forests of Bavaria and the streets of Munich, this book tells the story of how the nutcracker came to be carved, exploring the life of the strange Godfather Drosselmeier who presents the toy to Klara on Christmas Day.

Finally, if one Nutcracker story is not enough for you, check out M. A. Kuzniar’s Midnight in Everwood, the story of a girl named Marietta who longs to be a ballerina but must marry and take her place in society. When a mysterious toy maker, Dr Drosselmeier, builds an elaborate set for Marietta’s final performance, she is transported to a world filled with magic.

Stay warm! And Happy Reading!

Kelly Jarvis is the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine. Her work has also been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her first novella, Selkie Moon, comes out in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Cover Image by FreePik