A Winter Reading List for Thoughtful Evenings
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There are winter evenings that get away from us — the ones where we “just check something” on the phone and suddenly it’s 10:47 pm and we’ve learned nothing except that someone in Kent makes miniature crochet teapots.
This post is for the other kind of evening.
If you’re leaning into a slower, more considered life this season — blankets, hot drinks, maybe a candle that smells faintly of fig and self-approval — then having a small, intentional winter reading list ready to go makes it ridiculously easy to choose rest over scrolling.
If you’re new here, see how reading fits into the rest of the D&L house over on Start Here.
1. Wintering by Katherine May
For: gentle permission to slow down
This is almost compulsory winter reading now, and for good reason. May writes about “wintering” — those fallow seasons in life — in a way that feels like someone has pulled up a chair and said, “You’re allowed to rest.”
It matches the Danbury & Lovejoy idea that slower doesn’t mean lesser — it means thoughtful. It also pairs well with our cozy home ideas in How to Spend a Cozy Winter Weekend at Home.
2. The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift
For: gardeners in winter denial
If your allotment is currently mud, this is the book to keep your gardening brain alive. Swift weaves garden history, personal story and the cycle of the year together in a way that’s part memoir, part horticultural hymn.
It fits beautifully with The Garden & Allotment — reminding you why you bother, even when the compost bin is the only thing doing any work.
3. A Comforting Crime Novel (Choose Your Classic)
For: nights when you want plot, not philosophy
Not every evening needs to be spiritually improving. Sometimes it’s enough to pour something warm, curl up under a blanket, and let a detective with good manners sort everything out.
- Golden Age (Agatha Christie, Sayers)
- Cozy contemporary (new cozy mysteries)
- Or a wintry setting (Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series)
4. A Country Diary-style Nature Writing
For: staying connected to the outside world
Whether it’s Edith Holden, Roger Deakin, or any good UK nature diary, winter nature writing is perfect for evenings when it’s too dark to go out but you still want hedgerows and birdsong in your head.
Buy A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady →
This pairs beautifully with our slow, local pieces in The Weekend — same spirit, just indoors.
5. One Practical Book for the House
For: turning reading into doing
Because we’re an affiliate-friendly household, include one “read this, then buy the thing” title — something on home organising, frugal cooking, or slow housekeeping.
After two chapters you can say: “Right, I’m getting the proper storage baskets / the good slow cooker / the linen napkins.” Then link gracefully to your picks on Shop.
Try The Housekeeper of Other People’s Houses →
This also connects neatly to Money & Sense: a considered home often costs less, because you’re not panic-buying.
6. A Book That Makes You Want to Write Back
For: keeping The Study alive
Some books — letters, diaries, essay collections — make you want to reply. When that happens, don’t ignore it. Get out your pen and answer.
We’ve already talked about building a simple, civilised kit in The Lost Art of Letter-Writing: A Simple Kit for Civilised Correspondence — fountain pen, decent paper, maybe a wax seal if you’re feeling Regency. Keep it near your reading chair.
Try Patrick Leigh Fermor’s Letters →
Make It a Reading Ritual
1. Set the Scene
- Lamp, not ceiling light
- One candle (sandalwood, cedar, or whatever smells like a well-behaved library)
- Blanket — see a few we like on Tools We Love
2. Add a Drink
Hot chocolate, herbal tea, or — if you’ve been out in the garden — something in a good Stanley Classic Flask so you don’t have to get up.
3. Keep Notes
Have a Leuchtturm1917 Notebook nearby. Jot quotes, gift ideas, or what you want to plant when spring stops sulking. Stationery lovers can find our favourites in the Letter-Writing Kit.
4. Finish with Intention
When you’re done, don’t scroll. Mark your place, write tomorrow’s list, blow out the candle. That “closing” makes it feel like a ritual, not an accident.
Where to Go Next
- Start Here – the five rooms of Danbury & Lovejoy
- The Study – more on books, letter writing, and quietly old-fashioned pleasures
- Cozy Winter Weekend at Home – to turn this into a full weekend
- Tools We Love – our running list of practical, well-made things we actually use
- Join the Newsletter – for seasonal reading lists, printables, and the odd partner offer
Tea optional, bookmark required.
You May Also Like
On Writing Letters, and the Stationery That Makes It a Pleasure
The Lost Art of Letter-Writing: A Simple Kit for Civilised Correspondence
