North Pole Library

Christmas and Winter Books for Teens and Adults

Holiday reading is not just for children. These are real Christmas and winter books for teens and grown-ups, from light romance and cozy mysteries to literary fiction set in the snow.

Most titles here are widely held by public libraries, and many classics are free online through Project Gutenberg. Editions, formats and availability vary, so check your local library catalogue.

Christmas books for teens

For teens, holiday romances and anthologies are the easiest way in, along with fantasy rooted in midwinter.

  • Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle (2008). Three linked stories in one snowed-in town on Christmas Eve.
  • Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (2010). Two New York teens trade dares in a red notebook over the holidays.
  • My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by edited by Stephanie Perkins (2014). Twelve stories by popular young adult authors, covering several winter holidays.
  • The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand (2017). A modern twist on A Christmas Carol: the girl who failed to change after her ghostly visit now works for the company that runs them.
  • The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973). Midwinter fantasy that unfolds across the twelve days of Christmas; great for younger teens.

Light and funny holiday reads

  • Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (2001). A couple decides to skip Christmas entirely, to their neighbours' horror.
  • Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (1997). Essays including “SantaLand Diaries,” about working as a department-store elf.
  • In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd (1966). The comic stories that became the film A Christmas Story.
  • A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (2004). A man moves to a small Alabama town and finds community.

Christmas mysteries

  • Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie (1938). A tyrannical patriarch is murdered during a family Christmas gathering.
  • The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James (2016). Four short mysteries, including Christmas-set tales, published posthumously.
  • The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892). Sherlock Holmes and a jewel found in a Christmas goose. Short enough for one sitting.

Literary fiction for winter

  • The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (2012). A childless couple homesteading in 1920s Alaska build a snow girl, and a real girl appears. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, by an Alaska author.
  • Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021). In 1985 Ireland, a coal merchant makes a discovery in the weeks before Christmas. Short, powerful and shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
  • Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher (2000). Strangers gather for Christmas in a house in the north of Scotland.
  • Winter by Ali Smith (2017). The second of Smith's seasonal quartet, set over a fractious family Christmas in Cornwall.
  • The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (2017). A fairy-tale novel set in the winter forests of medieval Russia.
  • The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder (1992). An advent calendar novel in 24 chapters, from the author of Sophie's World; ideal for reading one chapter a day in December.

Nonfiction and memoir

  • The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford (2008). How Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol and how it shaped the holiday.
  • Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub (2001). The 1914 unofficial truce on the Western Front.
  • Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (2020). A memoir about the seasons of life, and the literal winter, when we must slow down.
  • Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson (2016). Stories paired with recipes and memories, one for each of the twelve days.

Alaska and the far North

For readers who want the real North beyond the North Pole of stories:

  • Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (1993). A Gwich'in Athabascan legend of survival through a famine winter, retold by an author from Fort Yukon, Alaska.
  • To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey (2016). An 1885 expedition up an Alaska river, told through journals and letters.
  • Coming into the Country by John McPhee (1977). Classic nonfiction about Alaska's people and landscapes, including a winter in the Yukon-Charley country.
  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903). The Klondike classic; public domain and widely available.

Tips for choosing a holiday read

  • Short on time? Small Things Like These, A Christmas Memory and A Christmas Carol can each be read in an evening or two.
  • Want a daily ritual? The Christmas Mystery is built for one chapter a day from 1 to 24 December.
  • Reading with a book club? The Snow Child and Small Things Like These spark good discussion.
  • Need comfort? Go with Pilcher, Flagg or Sedaris.