We’re always looking for our next great read, so what are the best books to read that will make us feel like December? This is our take on the perfect books, both novels and non-fiction, to read that capture the mood and magical atmosphere of December’s winter. These are our top picks for what to read this December–actually, any December.
recommended reading for the month of December
so many books, so little time! reading can be one of life’s sweetest luxuries. but how do you quickly find the next big volume to dive into?
You are reading: Best books to read in december
To lend a helping hand, every month we share our recommended reading for the dandelion candlestick: books we’ve personally read and love, some new and some published a long time ago. selected to suit the season, we think they deserve a spot on your nightstand. or your electronic reader. in your backpack. or your hand luggage. you get the idea.
in this edition: 15 perfect books, both novel and non-fiction, to read and feel the mood and winter magic of December. We believe these books best capture the essential spirit of the last month of the year.
what is the essential spirit of december?
For starters, December is filled with festivals of light. Across the world, in many disparate cultures, people will come together to battle the darkness with candles, fireworks, and released lanterns in the night sky.
The month is also full of music and dance: choirs, orchestras and rock bands; plum fairies and rockets and angels. there will be receiving and giving – gestures of gratitude, love, forgiveness and hope. there will be attempts at seduction of all kinds, some passionately open. and some as subtle as a discreet sprig of mistletoe.
It is the most popular month for people to get engaged. but it can also be a time of sadness, loneliness and disappointment. of stress, fatigue, and pain. Vacations can remind us of our regrets and failures just as easily as they can help us remember the brightest moments of our lives.
so what is the perfect reading list in December? we think it should span the globe.
what constitutes the best December reading list?
here in the dandelion chandelier, as the year draws to a close our wanderlust begins to rise. And we’re drawn to books set in foreign countries: you know, places like Paris and Seattle. on a cold winter night, we like to curl up with a good book of poetry. add a smart, sexy romance; a history of modern family life. a piece of history. and a hero’s journey (real, because we’re looking for inspiration and guidance for our own journey into the new year. Come to think of it, let’s make it a hero’s journey).
Hidden treasures, happy surprises, heartbreak and the start of something new. that’s December: ski and sand; intimate gatherings and solitary reflection; strident and serene; candlelight and starlight; an end and a beginning.
here are 15 books to read (novels and non-fiction) that go perfectly with a wintery December mood: read under the tree, by the fire, or après-ski. under an umbrella on the beach; on the plane; on the way to the concert or on the way home.
In the world of commerce, it’s time for the accountants to close the books for the year. and it’s about time we open one of these.
15 best books to read to feel the winter vibe of December
1. adults by caroline hulse.
adults is a comedy of manners set at Christmas time. what could be better for a December winter read than that? smart, sharp and fast, it’s the perfect combination of light and serious for this moment. Two couples go on Christmas vacation to the Happy Forest holiday park: a divorced couple, each with a new partner, and her precocious daughter. and her invisible friend. lust, envy, alcohol, and forced family activities combine in explosively fun ways. Through it all runs a thread of genuine desire for love and connection that makes this a deeply satisfying read.
buy now: $17.00.
2. sad janet by lucie britsch.
This book came into our lives in mid-2020 as the perfect holiday gift. It wasn’t something we were looking for, or even thought we needed, and yet it feels like it was created just for us. it was an instant addition to our list of the best novels and non-fiction books to read in December at the start of winter.
The titularsad janet is a smart, sarcastic and brooding young urbanite, and to her mother’s despair, she finds it impossible to enjoy the holiday season (or as she memorably puts it: she finds it pretty hard to get for santa).
but then comes the new “holiday pill”, invented by big pharma to help all misanthropes survive the holiday season with their families. Janet wears her sadness like a badge of honor and is reluctant to let it go. but this pill is only temporary, right? At first, magical medicines have no effect. But as Christmas approaches, they prove to have unwanted side effects. this is the “christmas novel” for those who don’t love christmas, and believe it or not, it will make you feel extremely merry.
buy now: $14.39.
3. people anxious about fredrik backman.
in anxious people, it’s december 30th in a small town in sweden and instead of festive revelry, there’s loss, despair and melancholy in the air. An unlucky thief, reeling from a divorce and back rent, attempts a spontaneous bank robbery that turns out to be out of cash. Now on the run, the thief crashes a real estate open house (who has those the day before New Year’s Eve? and what clever criminal tries to get away by breaking into a fifth-floor apartment with no rear exit? )
There, two married couples are arguing, and two women who have arrived separately are wracked with pain they’d rather not talk about. throw in a father-and-son cop duo and it’s a hostage drama unlike anything the city has seen before.
What follows is a profound and wise meditation on depression, loneliness, parenthood, and married love. It’s sweet, fun, and perfect for this time of year: In cold weather when everyone thinks they’re the only ones who can’t figure things out, an unlikely group of strangers gathers. And it turns out that when they combine forces, even seemingly intractable problems can be solved elegantly.
buy now: $13.12.
4. where did you go, bernadette? by maria semple.
where did you go, bernadette? wins our award for the “most december” book of all on our list. it’s wacky, hectic, and eventful, and it’s filled with peer pressure, family angst, trust issues, and a wild desire to escape. plus snow and ice. what could be more December than that? It’s a guaranteed good time. This brilliant novel launched the deservedly stellar career of Maria Semple.
buy now: $10.25.
5. winter by ali smith.
What better reading for the month of December than a book titled winter? This is the second in the four-volume series in the seasonal quartet from the Man Booker Award-nominated author. Although it is set on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it is anything but warm and cheerful. this novel hit us like a snowball in the face: it’s hard, it’s cold and it demands all your attention.
winter is full of forebodings, regrets and a sense of ending. there are absent parents, crumbling houses, separated sisters and displaced people. there’s even a benign floating head. like when one is hit unexpectedly by ice or snow, it takes a moment to get back on track. because this book is profoundly strange, on purpose. but it is worth all the hard work involved. stay with that, dear reader. and as if you were bathed in ice, you will emerge from this novel like someone who comes out of the invigorating cold. fully awake. and fully aware of the need to continue like this.
buy now: $12.99.
6. bye bye vitamin by rachel khong.
goodbye, vitaminearns its place on the list of best books and novels to read in December both for its tone and its theme. it is elegiac, melancholic, nostalgic, perfectly crafted and deeply emotional. oh yes, and has a family. and vacations among other things.
Over the course of a year, we see 30-year-old Ruth deal with the challenges of a father who is a history teacher with Alzheimer’s, a mother who blames herself for her illness, a brother estranged from the family, and his own broken engagement. Laughingly amused at times, and piercingly angsty at others, Khong is brilliant at penning memorable aphorisms as well as getting to the heart of the matter with as light a touch as possible. this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as she was the executive editor of the lucky peach that died much loved.
buy now: $10.89.
7. sigrid nunez’s friend.
Inthe friend, the anonymous narrator has lost her closest friend (and unrecognized object of her romantic desire) to suicide. In the midst of struggling to recover from the shock and loss of her, she finds herself the guardian and caretaker of her Great Dane, which is almost as big as her rent-controlled studio in Manhattan. this work is cerebral, surprisingly funny (we laughed out loud several times, despite the dark theme), and deeply honest about loneliness and the hard work of grieving. and about the enduring power of friendship and loyalty, both human and canine.
buy now: $9.93.
8. the anthology of nicholson baker.
A winter day or night is the perfect time for poetry, and The Anthology is a wonderful novel about a poet with writer’s block. In other words, it’s the perfect way to make reading a book of real poetry easier.
paul chowder lives in new england and tries to write the introduction to a new anthology of rhyming verse. He’s failing miserably, struggling with credit card debt and losing the love of his life, Roz, in the process. he clarifies the basic principles of poetry while wrestling with these challenges (he’s also trying to clean his desk, and we all know how incredibly difficult that is). he is a gentle and cerebral companion for whatever adventure you have planned this month. he will come out more literate and more optimistic when the journey is over.
buy now: $15.00.
9. the diane johnson affair.
In one of the best novels we’ve come across to read in December, Amy Hawkins is a naïve from Palo Alto who made a fortune in dot-coms. she is the star of l’affair. As the story begins, she travels to France to gain a bit of sophistication. and, perhaps, having an affair that will shake her all-too-predictable and rational existence to the core. She begins the search for her at a glamorous resort in the French Alps, amidst an assortment of aristocrats and ski enthusiasts. we’ll see . . . a novel that includes raclette, an avalanche, off-piste adventures, love, sex, death and travel. what could be better on a cold winter’s eve?
buy now: $15.00.
10. The Art of Gathering: How We Gather and Why It Matters by Priya Parker.
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In a season of parties and gatherings large and small, from family and friends to co-workers and clients, it seems like a good time to pause and ask yourself: why? the art of collecting is a fascinating examination of this very basic question.
the host of the new york times podcast “together apart” argues that many of the meetings in our lives are mediocre and unproductive, and they don’t have to be. he takes us inside events of all kinds to show us what works, what doesn’t, and why. This socially distant time is the perfect time to hit the “reset” button on how to organize your future meetings, and also how you’ll present yourself the next time you attend one.
buy now: $9.19.
11. the new parisian: women & ideas that shape paris.
what better place to travel by couch (or kindle screen) this month than paris? the city of lights is magical this time of year. however, its beating heart is much more than a clichéd collection of cakes, roasted chestnuts, and shopping (although we have plenty of time for all three).
The New Parisian is a wonderful and educational window into the real Paris of today and the influential women who are making things happen in a society known for its traditional love of patriarchy. Emily in Paris can be a great escape and a guilty pleasure, but these women are fierce. And they’re the real deal.
buy now: $18.99.
12. christmas in austin by benjamin markovits.
Christmas in Austin is the sequel to Markovits’ debut novel about a high-achieving but somehow dysfunctional upper-class cosmopolitan family on a weekend in New York strong>. The four Essinger kids gather in Austin for Christmas, each with a bold plan for what they hope to accomplish in the new year. but their parents, at least in some cases, have different ideas.
buy now: $12.95.
13. perestroika in paris by jane smiley.
perestroika in paris is the story of a young racehorse on a track west of paris. he one afternoon he escapes from prison and embarks on a brilliant adventure in the city of light. he soon befriends “a dapper dog, two irrepressible ducks, and a stubborn crow” (is there another kind?). her circle of friends soon widens to include a boy living in seclusion with his great-grandmother. A beautiful fable about friendship, family, and freedom, this is one of the best possible novels to read on a lazy December winter afternoon.
buy now: $12.71.
14. Hitler’s American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany’s March to World War by Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman.
For a fascinating read on a part of history that unfolded in the month of December, you could hardly do better than pick up a copy of Hitler’s American Wager. Two historians recount the five days that turned everything upside down in 1941 in the wake of Pearl Harbor: December 7-11. Tracking events in real time, we relive the tick-tock of why two separate theaters of war, Europe and Asia, over the course of less than a week, coalesced into a global conflagration. What were they thinking when Germany declared war on the United States and allied with Japan? well, one of our relatives has decided to read this book in real time in the same days of December in which these events really happened so long ago. such a great way to truly immerse yourself in what turned out to be perhaps the biggest five days of the century.
buy now: $31.49.
15. fight night by miriam toews.
We close our list of perfect fiction and non-fiction books to read in December with a fantastic winter novel. fight night is set in toronto, where a preternaturally wise and precocious 9-year-old girl, swiv, is raising her pregnant mother and her adorably outspoken and outspoken grandmother. the work takes the form of a letter to her father, who has disappeared without a word of farewell. the three women and “gord”, the unborn child, are left alone. what they do with wit, anger, good humor, and just plain stubbornness.
While this is a relentless look at the effects of age, sexism, religious repression, and living on the economic edge, it’s also a wake-up call for women of all ages to “learn how to fight back.” As the matriarch of the family advises her daughter and granddaughter, there is a flame in each of us, and it is our duty to feed it and prevent it from going out, no matter what world stands in our way. that is the perfect message to end a year full of challenges and to plan the new year that is to come.
buy now: $17.42.
the best books, novels and non-fiction, to read and feel the winter magic of December
That’s our take on the best books, both novels and non-fiction, to read and feel the quintessential winter vibe and mood of the month of December. What’s on your list this month, dear reader?
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