**Winter Reading Recommendations**

As the winter months approach, I find myself craving books that evoke the cold, darkness, and coziness of the season. This year, I've discovered some truly entrancing reads that will transport you to different worlds and keep you company on chilly nights by the fireplace or in front of a crackling digital fire.

Personally, just eating up lyrical writing, one book stands out for its sheer enchantment: "The Winter People" by Kate Morton. This is full of it - a perfect winter read that will sweep you away with its romantic and atmospheric storytelling. I think it's ideal to put on your fireplace or fake fireplace and get lost in this beautiful tale. It's just so good, I guarantee you'll have a great time. The writing is perfect for the season, evoking feelings of cold, darkness, and coziness that will leave you feeling all snuggled up.

Next, I highly recommend "The Shadow of the Gods" by John Gwynne, the first book in a new trilogy that's sure to captivate fans of brutal Viking-inspired fantasy. This is a great choice if you want a book about characters interacting and surviving on a desolate and cold landscape. The author's own connection to his heritage shines through in this story, which is set in a land where gods once roamed but are now gone - their artifacts sought after for immense power. This is a multi-pov story, following three perspectives with disparate paths from one another, all bound up in the power struggle and changing landscape of this world. The writing is visceral, brutal, and cold, making it an excellent first book to a fantasy trilogy.

Last but not least, I have to recommend "The Way Back" by Gabrielle Savage, a beautifully written story inspired by Jewish folklore that's perfect for winter. If you love folklore-inspired stories with beautiful writing, this is truly the book for you. I'm a sucker for any book like that, and I really enjoyed this one. The story follows two main characters who encounter death in different ways, leading them to be swept away to a place called the Far Country. Set in 19th-century Eastern Europe, this book is woven with all sorts of storytelling inspirations - Jewish folklore, mythology, and more - which I found absolutely entrancing. The writing style is unique and winding, almost chaotic at times, but that's part of its charm. I loved how it slowly shifted to match the journey of our characters, making for a truly unforgettable tale. The Far Country itself is an entrancing setting, personifying death in all its dark and mysterious glory.

These books have captured my heart this winter, and I'm confident they'll do the same for you. Whether you're looking for brutal Viking-inspired fantasy, beautifully written folklore tales, or simply a cozy winter read, these titles are sure to provide hours of entertainment on even the chilliest of nights.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi guys it's regan and welcome back to another video today i'm gonna be doing a seasonal recommendation style video which i always love to put together personally my reading is very much inspired by the current season just depending on the vibe of outside i definitely do like to bring that into the books i'm reading so for me when i think of winter i love cozy chili and sometimes some intense reads so i do have a collection of books that i personally think would be perfect to read in the season of winter so without further ado let's go ahead and dive right in the first book i'm gonna recommend is one i just finished and also just fell in love with but honestly i think it's just a quintessential winter read and that is bear town by frederick bachmann this book is set in sweden it's set during a cold season and also follows a hockey team so lots of winter vibes are occurring within this book this book is set in a small town that also has a lot of pride in their endurance for the cold and for the winter so if you want something that definitely has a winter snowy backdrop this is a great book to pick up but again this is a story that is set and follows a town called bear town which is a very small and remote town where not much happens here in fact things year over year are kind of getting worse here less jobs there's less opportunity and it seems that more and more businesses are closing down but there's also a spark of hope in bear town right now that is because the junior hockey team is actually in the semifinals and it's been a very long time since bear town has been good at anything and hockey here is also king it's incredibly important and also if this junior team ends up winning it could bring a lot of opportunity to the town itself so the hopes and dreams of an entire town are set squarely on the shoulders of a group of teenage boys however during this sort of backdrop of this hockey championship where the town is riding a high a tragic event occurs to one of the young women living within this community is a book that is so exceptionally written i do want to say trigger warning for sexual violence but this is a book that is multi-pov and i say that in the way that it's not like every chapter you're jumping to a new character but it could be every other paragraph you're just jumping from different individuals from members of the hockey team to families that are directly involved this is a story that is yes about hockey and i do feel like frederick bachmann writes hockey in a way that'll make it engaging even if you do not care about the sport which i have no general interest in hockey but loved all of the hockey scenes because you really see the passion of it within this book but honestly this book is more about community this particular small town and what this small town will do for justice this is truly a fantastic book i sobbed reading it i loved it so much frederick bachmann just has a way with characters and a way with bringing you into their minds and their lives i loved the story a fantastic and perfect book to read this winter speaking of cold locations i also have a book set in norway and that is the mercies by kieran millwood hardgrave and this is set in a small norwegian fishing town in the early 1600s and basically before the start of this novel this town was struck with tragedy when all of the men perished in a tragic fishing accident so to survive all the women have kind of banded together and have also taken upon tasks that are more traditionally associated with men three years later and at the beginning of this story a new commissioner is sent to kind of bring order back to this very independent woman-led town and he is scottish and known for his participation in the witch trials over there and he arrives also with his new wife which is from a more populous city center so she's also getting acclimated this is a multi-pov story really about the women in this town specifically about the relationship between two young women both of them learning to rely on one another and seeing their relationship grow this is a very intense tale it's incredibly atmospheric if you want a book that will really make your bones feel cold this is the book to pick up this feels like it's almost set on the edge of the world and you're watching a community take on the elements but also kind of struggling with the societal issues that are bubbling up seeing how this commissioner can breed distrust as well as backstabbing within the small community as well it's intense incredibly well written has a very lyrical quality to the writing style i loved this book very much very character-led and i also think a perfect atmospheric one to read next up i have a fantasy option obviously and that is the sword of kygen by ml wang this is one of my favorite fantasy books i talk about this book a lot but i also think it makes a perfect winter read this is also a fantasy standalone which i think is fantastic especially if you're craving something fantasy but you don't necessarily want to commit to an entire series the reason why i think this is a perfect one to read is actually the setting itself so this is a story that has fantastically written combat and a part of that combat is actually elemental magic in fighting and the elemental magic that is most shown in this story is actually ice based so it definitely has a cold vibe to the overall tale i assure you this is a story set in the kaganese empire specifically in the kansongi peninsula which for generations has been called the sword of kaigen and it is known to kind of house the most powerful warriors in the land specifically our two main characters follow one mamuru who's the eldest son to a very powerful warrior family and he has dedicated his entire life learning the trade of his fathers and mastering different skills to protect his family at the beginning of the story his world is kind of shaken as he's introduced to different facts and truths that make him question a lot of what he has been told his entire life but it also brings him much closer to his mother mazaki who she herself went to school outside of the cagney's empire and has kind of hidden her own sword away and dedicated herself to raising her family this is a book that is incredibly intense it's very emotional and just one of my favorite fantasy books out there the amount of world building and political intrigue the author is able to fit within this book is absolutely admirable truly my favorite component is this relationship of mother and son and also just the spotlight the author puts on motherhood within a fantasy setting i just feel like that particularly is a topic that's not often explored at depth in fantasy and emma wang does a fantastic job including it within this book this is so good perfect winter read a perfect any time of the year read but if i had to pick i would say winter next up i have two books about books because i don't make the rules but i do feel like that type of cozy fantasy is a perfect winter pickup the first is the city of dreaming books by walter mores this is a book i talk about also a lot it's one of the quirkiest and strangest books i've ever picked up which i do feel like makes it a delightful read this is truly a book for book lovers especially if you like weird and unusual fantasy this is a story for you this follows her main character optimus and he is literally a dinosaur and at the beginning of this book he inherits a manuscript from his grandfather that is like his prized possession and then he reads it and he agrees that this is the greatest piece of writing he has ever read he's decided to track down the mysterious author of this book but he has discovered he has gone missing and the very well-known city of dreaming books which is a book obsessed metropolis that basically draws the attention of any book lover in the land here the economy is entirely centered upon books it's kind of a city that's also set upon a bunch of caves where books themselves have been stored here so there is a bunch of different types of jobs that centered around one digging and trying to find rare books and then two selling those books to tourists and locals alike as people try to build out their own collections also writers live here and just the community and the economy of books and words within the city of dreaming books is so unusual but so so cool and we follow optimus as he arrives within the city and quickly finds himself in the middle of a literary conspiracy tracking back to this mysterious author this book is so strange again the main character is a dinosaur but it's so clever and so unique and if you love stories about books this is the book for you i loved it it was like a literary adventure from page one it's funny and clever but it does have a rather like dark storyline like the actual plot is very intense while also being very whimsical which is a combination i personally love it's great i really want to read more books by this author i know there's a direct sequel which i for sure need to check out but this is so imaginative and so cozy and just a great read and then next up i have the starless c by erin morgenstern and i actually hope to read another aaron morgenstern book this winter but again this is another book kind of about books and secret societies which i just think makes it oh so cozy in a perfect winter read also aaron morgenstern's writing is so lyrical and beautiful and just full of heavy metaphor that i just feel it will pull you in as well this follows our main character zachary and at the beginning of the story he is perusing the shells of his university library and he basically pulls a book off the shelf brings it home and begins to read within this book it's full of stories vignettes of different people throughout time but then he stumbles upon a very unusual thing and that is there is a story from his own life within this book when he realizes this he begins to notice there are swords and keys all over the place and this sort of brings him to the secret organization that is associated with something called the starless sea which is a labyrinth of rooms set below the land full of stories and he sort of from there finds himself wrapped up with a few other characters as they begin to gallivant throughout the starless sea and also protecting this particular place from an outside forest that is determined to destroy it this is another book full of stories and kind of an ode to the love of books it also has a delightful romance and also beautifully delicious writing if you love metaphor this is a book for you if you don't don't read this book but i personally just eat up lyrical writing and this is full of it it's just such an entrancing read i think perfect for the winter months to put on your fireplace or your fake fireplace and pick this up and i guarantee you will have a great time it's just romantic you know it'll sweep you away next book i have to recommend is another fantasy option and that is the shadow of the gods by john glenn this is the first book to a new trilogy i want to say by this author with a new book coming out this year this is a brutal viking inspired fantasy option for you if you want a book about characters interacting and surviving on a sort of desolate and cold landscape this is a great book to pick up this is another book that will just make you feel cold to your bones and also really captures that sort of viking vibe john gwen himself is like almost a viking in real life so he really brings that to this particular story i would say it's present on all fronts from not just the landscape but the culture and the settings of the different towns as well as the combat is absolutely brutal and gruesome but so well written and very very visual this is a multi-pov story and it's basically set in a land where the gods used to roam but they have since been killed off but the artifacts or like the literal bodies of the gods are now sought after because they grant users a significant amount of power this is a book where you follow three perspectives that are kind of on disparate paths from one another their own personal quests or journeys some of them are seeking glory by participating with like warrior bands some of them are on their own personal quest for revenge and others are kind of involved in the magic within this land but all of them one way or another are wrapped up in the power struggle and the sort of changing political landscape of this place as the gods might be rising again as well as the structure of the government and society is also changing as well it's so good it's very gripping it's very brutal it's very cold and just an excellent first book to a fantasy trilogy that i also feel like has extreme winter vibes the very last book i'm gonna recommend is another one i read this winter and just felt like it was a quintessential winter read and that is the way back by gabrielle savage is a very lyrical and whimsical story inspired by jewish folklore and it's just seeped with storytelling honestly if you love folklore inspired stories with beautiful writing this is truly the book for you i am a sucker for any book like that and i really enjoyed this one but this is a story that follows two main characters and at the beginning of this book they basically encounter death in two different ways results in both of them being swept away to a place called the far country this is a book set in the 18 mid 1800s in a small town in eastern europe and here the villagers are used to running into sort of demons and other types of creatures from the far country itself so when these two individuals begin to have to traverse this very treacherous place in hopes of getting back home you see them overcome a variety of obstacles also eventually come together to try to help each other out this is a very interestingly constructed book it almost has a sort of chaotic writing style it's almost a little confusing a little winding i constantly was like oh i need to reread that sort of make sure i caught everything that was going on i personally enjoyed this element of the story and there is a really clear pivot about halfway through the style of the book also begins to match the type of journey the characters themselves are going on which i do think is very poor this book is just seeped with all different types of story inspirations and i found myself actually looking a bunch of things up i'm not incredibly well-versed in religious folklore so it was really great to not only encounter it but also learn more after the fact but i just really enjoyed this book the writing was incredible i would kind of describe it as a coming of age tale following our two main characters it was just absolutely transporting so wonderfully written in an incredibly unique tale as well i loved it also again set in the winter time in eastern europe so very cold very chilly and also just the adventure and i'm gonna use air quotes there through the far country itself was also a really entrancing setting as well as the sort of personification of death is always something i really enjoy encountering in stories this is great i read it this winter and really really loved it so i deem it a perfect winter read alrighty guys those are some books i think would be perfect to read this winter let me know down below some books you love to read or think would be great winter reads as i would love to know and i will see you soon with another video soon byehi guys it's regan and welcome back to another video today i'm gonna be doing a seasonal recommendation style video which i always love to put together personally my reading is very much inspired by the current season just depending on the vibe of outside i definitely do like to bring that into the books i'm reading so for me when i think of winter i love cozy chili and sometimes some intense reads so i do have a collection of books that i personally think would be perfect to read in the season of winter so without further ado let's go ahead and dive right in the first book i'm gonna recommend is one i just finished and also just fell in love with but honestly i think it's just a quintessential winter read and that is bear town by frederick bachmann this book is set in sweden it's set during a cold season and also follows a hockey team so lots of winter vibes are occurring within this book this book is set in a small town that also has a lot of pride in their endurance for the cold and for the winter so if you want something that definitely has a winter snowy backdrop this is a great book to pick up but again this is a story that is set and follows a town called bear town which is a very small and remote town where not much happens here in fact things year over year are kind of getting worse here less jobs there's less opportunity and it seems that more and more businesses are closing down but there's also a spark of hope in bear town right now that is because the junior hockey team is actually in the semifinals and it's been a very long time since bear town has been good at anything and hockey here is also king it's incredibly important and also if this junior team ends up winning it could bring a lot of opportunity to the town itself so the hopes and dreams of an entire town are set squarely on the shoulders of a group of teenage boys however during this sort of backdrop of this hockey championship where the town is riding a high a tragic event occurs to one of the young women living within this community is a book that is so exceptionally written i do want to say trigger warning for sexual violence but this is a book that is multi-pov and i say that in the way that it's not like every chapter you're jumping to a new character but it could be every other paragraph you're just jumping from different individuals from members of the hockey team to families that are directly involved this is a story that is yes about hockey and i do feel like frederick bachmann writes hockey in a way that'll make it engaging even if you do not care about the sport which i have no general interest in hockey but loved all of the hockey scenes because you really see the passion of it within this book but honestly this book is more about community this particular small town and what this small town will do for justice this is truly a fantastic book i sobbed reading it i loved it so much frederick bachmann just has a way with characters and a way with bringing you into their minds and their lives i loved the story a fantastic and perfect book to read this winter speaking of cold locations i also have a book set in norway and that is the mercies by kieran millwood hardgrave and this is set in a small norwegian fishing town in the early 1600s and basically before the start of this novel this town was struck with tragedy when all of the men perished in a tragic fishing accident so to survive all the women have kind of banded together and have also taken upon tasks that are more traditionally associated with men three years later and at the beginning of this story a new commissioner is sent to kind of bring order back to this very independent woman-led town and he is scottish and known for his participation in the witch trials over there and he arrives also with his new wife which is from a more populous city center so she's also getting acclimated this is a multi-pov story really about the women in this town specifically about the relationship between two young women both of them learning to rely on one another and seeing their relationship grow this is a very intense tale it's incredibly atmospheric if you want a book that will really make your bones feel cold this is the book to pick up this feels like it's almost set on the edge of the world and you're watching a community take on the elements but also kind of struggling with the societal issues that are bubbling up seeing how this commissioner can breed distrust as well as backstabbing within the small community as well it's intense incredibly well written has a very lyrical quality to the writing style i loved this book very much very character-led and i also think a perfect atmospheric one to read next up i have a fantasy option obviously and that is the sword of kygen by ml wang this is one of my favorite fantasy books i talk about this book a lot but i also think it makes a perfect winter read this is also a fantasy standalone which i think is fantastic especially if you're craving something fantasy but you don't necessarily want to commit to an entire series the reason why i think this is a perfect one to read is actually the setting itself so this is a story that has fantastically written combat and a part of that combat is actually elemental magic in fighting and the elemental magic that is most shown in this story is actually ice based so it definitely has a cold vibe to the overall tale i assure you this is a story set in the kaganese empire specifically in the kansongi peninsula which for generations has been called the sword of kaigen and it is known to kind of house the most powerful warriors in the land specifically our two main characters follow one mamuru who's the eldest son to a very powerful warrior family and he has dedicated his entire life learning the trade of his fathers and mastering different skills to protect his family at the beginning of the story his world is kind of shaken as he's introduced to different facts and truths that make him question a lot of what he has been told his entire life but it also brings him much closer to his mother mazaki who she herself went to school outside of the cagney's empire and has kind of hidden her own sword away and dedicated herself to raising her family this is a book that is incredibly intense it's very emotional and just one of my favorite fantasy books out there the amount of world building and political intrigue the author is able to fit within this book is absolutely admirable truly my favorite component is this relationship of mother and son and also just the spotlight the author puts on motherhood within a fantasy setting i just feel like that particularly is a topic that's not often explored at depth in fantasy and emma wang does a fantastic job including it within this book this is so good perfect winter read a perfect any time of the year read but if i had to pick i would say winter next up i have two books about books because i don't make the rules but i do feel like that type of cozy fantasy is a perfect winter pickup the first is the city of dreaming books by walter mores this is a book i talk about also a lot it's one of the quirkiest and strangest books i've ever picked up which i do feel like makes it a delightful read this is truly a book for book lovers especially if you like weird and unusual fantasy this is a story for you this follows her main character optimus and he is literally a dinosaur and at the beginning of this book he inherits a manuscript from his grandfather that is like his prized possession and then he reads it and he agrees that this is the greatest piece of writing he has ever read he's decided to track down the mysterious author of this book but he has discovered he has gone missing and the very well-known city of dreaming books which is a book obsessed metropolis that basically draws the attention of any book lover in the land here the economy is entirely centered upon books it's kind of a city that's also set upon a bunch of caves where books themselves have been stored here so there is a bunch of different types of jobs that centered around one digging and trying to find rare books and then two selling those books to tourists and locals alike as people try to build out their own collections also writers live here and just the community and the economy of books and words within the city of dreaming books is so unusual but so so cool and we follow optimus as he arrives within the city and quickly finds himself in the middle of a literary conspiracy tracking back to this mysterious author this book is so strange again the main character is a dinosaur but it's so clever and so unique and if you love stories about books this is the book for you i loved it it was like a literary adventure from page one it's funny and clever but it does have a rather like dark storyline like the actual plot is very intense while also being very whimsical which is a combination i personally love it's great i really want to read more books by this author i know there's a direct sequel which i for sure need to check out but this is so imaginative and so cozy and just a great read and then next up i have the starless c by erin morgenstern and i actually hope to read another aaron morgenstern book this winter but again this is another book kind of about books and secret societies which i just think makes it oh so cozy in a perfect winter read also aaron morgenstern's writing is so lyrical and beautiful and just full of heavy metaphor that i just feel it will pull you in as well this follows our main character zachary and at the beginning of the story he is perusing the shells of his university library and he basically pulls a book off the shelf brings it home and begins to read within this book it's full of stories vignettes of different people throughout time but then he stumbles upon a very unusual thing and that is there is a story from his own life within this book when he realizes this he begins to notice there are swords and keys all over the place and this sort of brings him to the secret organization that is associated with something called the starless sea which is a labyrinth of rooms set below the land full of stories and he sort of from there finds himself wrapped up with a few other characters as they begin to gallivant throughout the starless sea and also protecting this particular place from an outside forest that is determined to destroy it this is another book full of stories and kind of an ode to the love of books it also has a delightful romance and also beautifully delicious writing if you love metaphor this is a book for you if you don't don't read this book but i personally just eat up lyrical writing and this is full of it it's just such an entrancing read i think perfect for the winter months to put on your fireplace or your fake fireplace and pick this up and i guarantee you will have a great time it's just romantic you know it'll sweep you away next book i have to recommend is another fantasy option and that is the shadow of the gods by john glenn this is the first book to a new trilogy i want to say by this author with a new book coming out this year this is a brutal viking inspired fantasy option for you if you want a book about characters interacting and surviving on a sort of desolate and cold landscape this is a great book to pick up this is another book that will just make you feel cold to your bones and also really captures that sort of viking vibe john gwen himself is like almost a viking in real life so he really brings that to this particular story i would say it's present on all fronts from not just the landscape but the culture and the settings of the different towns as well as the combat is absolutely brutal and gruesome but so well written and very very visual this is a multi-pov story and it's basically set in a land where the gods used to roam but they have since been killed off but the artifacts or like the literal bodies of the gods are now sought after because they grant users a significant amount of power this is a book where you follow three perspectives that are kind of on disparate paths from one another their own personal quests or journeys some of them are seeking glory by participating with like warrior bands some of them are on their own personal quest for revenge and others are kind of involved in the magic within this land but all of them one way or another are wrapped up in the power struggle and the sort of changing political landscape of this place as the gods might be rising again as well as the structure of the government and society is also changing as well it's so good it's very gripping it's very brutal it's very cold and just an excellent first book to a fantasy trilogy that i also feel like has extreme winter vibes the very last book i'm gonna recommend is another one i read this winter and just felt like it was a quintessential winter read and that is the way back by gabrielle savage is a very lyrical and whimsical story inspired by jewish folklore and it's just seeped with storytelling honestly if you love folklore inspired stories with beautiful writing this is truly the book for you i am a sucker for any book like that and i really enjoyed this one but this is a story that follows two main characters and at the beginning of this book they basically encounter death in two different ways results in both of them being swept away to a place called the far country this is a book set in the 18 mid 1800s in a small town in eastern europe and here the villagers are used to running into sort of demons and other types of creatures from the far country itself so when these two individuals begin to have to traverse this very treacherous place in hopes of getting back home you see them overcome a variety of obstacles also eventually come together to try to help each other out this is a very interestingly constructed book it almost has a sort of chaotic writing style it's almost a little confusing a little winding i constantly was like oh i need to reread that sort of make sure i caught everything that was going on i personally enjoyed this element of the story and there is a really clear pivot about halfway through the style of the book also begins to match the type of journey the characters themselves are going on which i do think is very poor this book is just seeped with all different types of story inspirations and i found myself actually looking a bunch of things up i'm not incredibly well-versed in religious folklore so it was really great to not only encounter it but also learn more after the fact but i just really enjoyed this book the writing was incredible i would kind of describe it as a coming of age tale following our two main characters it was just absolutely transporting so wonderfully written in an incredibly unique tale as well i loved it also again set in the winter time in eastern europe so very cold very chilly and also just the adventure and i'm gonna use air quotes there through the far country itself was also a really entrancing setting as well as the sort of personification of death is always something i really enjoy encountering in stories this is great i read it this winter and really really loved it so i deem it a perfect winter read alrighty guys those are some books i think would be perfect to read this winter let me know down below some books you love to read or think would be great winter reads as i would love to know and i will see you soon with another video soon bye\n"