10 delicious books for the cold days

A Sunday morning is perfect for me, when I wake up and know that I have time to read as long as I want. I usually read books that are recommended to me in my favorite bookstore, which are often the more serious books. Literature with an extra layer everywhere, a kind of easter eggs that you can discover when you really start analyzing the texts. But that's why it's wonderful to occasionally take a detour and just read what looks fun. An interesting cover, or books that I see popping up in my algorithm because every booktoker is currently reading that one book. These are the tips you are looking for when you want to make an out-of-the-box detour, just to make the coziness of the cold days optimal.

1 – The trilogy by Laurie Gilmore: ‘Pumpkin Spice Cafe’, ‘Cinnamon Bun Bookstore’ & ‘Christmas Tree Farm’
A series of three books, all of which feel like the average low-budget Christmas movie you can find on Netflix. A delightful snack, then. I am currently in the second part, ’the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore’, and I love reading about someone who spends the whole day browsing through books while a handsome man occasionally visits in hopes of winning her heart. Also nice: each book contains a kind of mystery that needs to be solved by the main character, and of course, it also gets slightly spicy with fairly detailed sex scenes.

2 - ‘’It starts with us‘, you know, the sequel to ’It ends with us’
Late to the party? Normally, I would say you should read the book first before going to the movie, but sometimes it doesn't matter. It's also really nice if you're not such a fervent reader yet, to read more this way. This way, you don't have to wait for a second movie; you can dive straight into the story.

3 – ‘If he had been with me’
Sometimes a book in English is just better, but in this case, you especially want the English hardcover of this book because it just looks beautiful. If you love filling your bookshelf with beautiful books, then you should definitely put this one backwards on the shelf once you've finished it. The story is also beautiful: it is compared to the books of Colleen Hoover (the author of the books I mentioned above). This story is also about love, which sometimes hurts and can sometimes be nice. Relatable and sometimes exactly what you need.

4 – ‘Better than the movies’
It is clear that I have been greatly inspired by BookTok. At the moment, books about complicated love stories (which usually aren't that complicated, really) are very popular. Maybe it also plays a role that the TikTok audience is a bit younger, but despite the fact that I am probably 100 years older than the average TikTok user, I really enjoy reading these kinds of simple stories. The author of this book, Lynn Painter, has written a lot of books in this genre. If you like it, you can go on endlessly.

5 – ‘Icebreaker’
‘Highschool Musical’ lovers & ‘Laguna Beach’ addicts, pay attention. This is really a classic ‘high school romance’ story: the popular girl, the cool sports jock guy, and I won't say more about it.

6 – ‘Heartless’ by Marissa Meyer
This book is compared to a semi-modern version of Romeo and Juliet, so it's advisable to sit down calmly with your tissues at hand. Maybe it's not such a feel-good book, but that's exactly why it's suitable to curl up with during the cold weather.

7 – ‘Air Target’ 
One of my favorite authors when it comes to thrillers is James Patterson. How he does it, I don't know, but that man pumps out dozens of books, and on November 24, another new story will be released. Although this story belongs to the series about the character Alex Cross, it can also be read independently. Because if you want to start with part 1 of the Alex Cross series, you'll have to read about 35 books. No joke.

8 – ‘Intermezzo’, the latest Sally Rooney book
An easy-to-read book, but it really is about something: that is the summary of the books that Sally Rooney writes. A TV series has already been made from her book ‘Normal People’, but the books are so comfy that you don't want to miss them. Her stories are about the lives of millennials, so again relatable, but from a distance.

9 – ‘All fours’
My insta algorithm is full of the cover of this book. It's quite remarkable that the story appeals to many young people, as it is about a 45-year-old woman who ends up in a kind of midlife crisis. The book is receiving rave reviews, so it's definitely worth it. It may seem more like a psychological thriller: how you accidentally throw your whole life away and no longer know what to do to get back on solid ground.

10 – ‘The Midnight Library’
A remarkable book. This one also deals with reflecting on your choices in life, but especially everything you've done wrong. With the dreary weather, many people feel the same; you stay inside more, see fewer people, so you are left to your thoughts. Maybe it helps to read a book that makes you realize: I'm not the only one and these feelings are very normal.

Image: @dualipa