The cosiest classics to read this winter

When winter seems to go on forever we dream of escaping to somewhere new. Here’s the next best thing for those long winter days: a collection of short stories which take you from nineteenth-century Vienna to the snowy streets of St Petersburg via the wild moors of Northumberland. Imbued with drama, romance, comedy and warmth, each story sparkles like sunlight on snow. Between the covers are a wonderful array of characters from Kira the Russian ballet dancer who is rescued from exile by Edwin, a lonely dreamer to wealthy Great Uncle Max and his secret love for Susie, a Viennese glove shop assistant.

Discover myths that explore the origins of the season and the importance of embracing icy weather, alongside tales which welcome you into the warm glow of festive gatherings. Featuring beloved storytellers such as Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm as well as little-known, rediscovered treasures, this flurry of wintery tales is the perfect companion for cosying up by the fireplace during the colder months of the year.

Christmas is not always the season of goodwill: it can also be the season of mysterious deaths, hidden poison bottles and blunt instruments. These eleven stories from the Golden Age of British crime feature festive felonies and Christmas whodunnits from the likes of Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and Arthur Conan Doyle. Grab yourself a blanket and settle in for the ultimate in cosy crime.

Long before The Nutcracker became a Christmas tradition on stage, its magical world was brought to life in literature. Alexandre Dumas’s retelling of the E.T.A Hoffman's story is a wonderful classic for readers who love stories where the everyday suddenly gives way to the extraordinary. On Christmas Eve, seven-year-old Mary receives a curious Nutcracker, only to watch him come alive at midnight and battle an army of mice. What follows is a fantastical adventure of curses, quests and faraway lands, told with all the strangeness and imagination of a traditional fairy tale. 

The perfect novel to curl up with through the winter. Who can forget the opening scenes when the March sisters, Beth, Jo, Meg and Amy, face a Christmas with no presents, when they donate their Christmas breakfast to a family living in desperate poverty, and when they’re rewarded with a lavish feast courtesy of their generous and illusive neighbour. Read on to find out how the girls navigate their way through the highs and lows of growing up under the watchful eye of their adoring mother, Marmee.

Of all the Christmas stories this one has probably stood the test of time longer and better than any. No surprise, because it is first and foremost a terrific read – a gripping, dramatic and moving story about a miserly old man who is persuaded to change his ways. Yes, it might be a bit sentimental, a bit melodramatic but hey, that’s why we love it, and Dickens is undoubtedly a storyteller par excellence. His festive tale carries a powerful message which seems particularly pertinent around Christmas time – that we must recognise inequality and help and support each other.

Get yourself in the mood for Christmas with this wonderful array of stories from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that bring the festive season alive. With his famous wit, Thackeray gives us a young family’s Christmas in London in the titular story, Round About the Christmas Tree, in The Adventure of The Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle, a priceless sapphire is swallowed by a Christmas Goose, and in The Little Match Girl and The Fir Tree Hans Christian Andersen gives us two touching Christmas fairy tales. Like a delicious box of Christmas chocolates, there’s so much to choose from in this collection. 

If you’re rushing around getting ready for Christmas, here’s the perfect little book to dip in and out of for a literary swig of Christmas cheer when you need it. From traditional songs and carols, to celebrations of wintry landscapes and the Christmas story itself, keep this one in your pocket, alongside a warm pair of gloves.

For readers who want to experience Dylan Thomas beyond his best-known poems, this beautifully presented collection reveals the extraordinary range of one of Wales’s most distinctive literary voices. At its heart is ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’, Thomas’s lyrical evocation of childhood Christmases, where snow, family rituals and the landscape of Wales are transformed by memory and imagination. Alongside it, the autobiographical stories of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog trace boyhood and adolescence with wit and vivid observation, while poems including ‘Fern Hill’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ showcase Thomas’s exhilarating command of rhythm, sound and emotion.