I don’t know about you, but the end of Daylight Savings time sends me straight into hibernation mode. It’s dark by 5:30pm, which for some reason now feels like 8pm. All I want to do is curl up in a nest of blankets and cuddly cats, drink a hot beverage, and you guessed it, read a book! Or at least as much as I can of one until I inevitably fall asleep before 9pm.
This year in particular I find myself attempting to stave off the end-of-year holiday bustle with gentle, cozy comfort either alone or with close friends. My partner and I have more than once discussed having what he has dubbed a “Boring Party,” where we invite people to bring whatever they’re reading over to our house to sit together and read silently or do a puzzle. I think it’s time to make it happen! If you try something like this, please send an invite my way!
Here are some great books for these darker days.
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber (Small-town charm, Light fantasy, Romance, Healing family bonds)
Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café. It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about. As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly. The heartwarming connections that develop and strength between characters is a wonderful precursor to gathering with your own families and friends in the coming holiday season.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
(Memoir, Self Improvement, Reflection, Nature, Philosophy)
A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May’s story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.
Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry
When her beloved eight-year-old brother asks seventeen-year-old Megs if Narnia is real, logical Megs tells him it’s just a book for children, and certainly not true. Homebound due to his illness, and remaining fixated on his favorite books, George presses her to ask the author of the recently released novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a question: “Where did Narnia come from?”
Despite her fear about approaching the famous author, who is a professor at her school, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with C. S. Lewis and his own brother Warnie, begging them for answers. Rather than directly telling her where Narnia came from, Lewis encourages Megs to form her own conclusion as he slowly tells her the little-known stories from his own life that led to his inspiration. As she takes these stories home to George, the little boy travels farther in his imagination than he ever could in real life.
The gift she thought she was giving to her brother—the story behind Narnia—turns out to be his gift to her, instead: hope.
Cosy: The British Art of Comfort (Nonfiction, Essays, Culture, Illustrations)
The language of cosy is part of the English lexicon - 'cosy up', 'cosy down', 'tea cosy', 'cosy toes'; cosy is a concept intrinsically connected to British culture; think cups of warm tea, crunchy toast, a great book, open fires, cosy clothes, wet and windy wrapped up walks, rain trickling on the window - it speaks to people who value comfort and tucking in, and never globally, have we been looking to feel more reassured.The Book of Cosy is a wonderful, comforting acknowledgement and antidote to feeling overwhelmed in modern life - a celebration of our quaint and quirky traditions, habits and loves, new and old and an examination of why this zeitgeist is more relevant than ever.
For more titles, check out this list on the Tulsa City-County Library catalog.
