5 cozy books to curl up with on a rainy day

Here we are with our recommendations for 5 cozy books to curl up with on a rainy day!!

Rain is just a nature’s way of adding bliss to the outdoors – Evangeline Duran Feuntes

Do you agree? The monsoons are the ultimate bliss for readers (not that the other seasons are not!). But there is something infinitely soothing to sit curled in a chair with a hot cuppa and a book when it is raining cats and dogs outside. And as there is little else you can do outside that doesn’t involve getting drenched and then lying in bed with a cold or worse! You can actually use this time fruitfully to catch up on that long-pending reading list that never seems to end.

After a long time (and a writer’s block), I have come up with a list of cozy books that you can read on a  rainy day. And I have made an attempt to cover every genre so you can pick your favorite!

5 cozy books to Curl Up With on a Rainy Day

Here we go:

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Romance)

Let us start this list of 5 cozy books for a rainy day with one of the classics. This is one of the most popular books of all time and features a feisty heroine in the times of the American Civil War. Scarlett O’Hara is a spoilt and pampered girl from the South. When the War breaks out, the men in every family are called to war, while the women struggle to make ends meet. At one point, it seems Scarlett will lose her home, Tara, too. But she swears to herself to save it and her journey is one of the most epic and poignant ones ever written. Also, as an additional eye candy, there is Rhett Butler, the enigmatic ship runner who frustrates and enamours her in equal measure. Margaret Mitchell wrote only this one book but she won the Pulitzer Prize for this classic.

If you feel Gone with the Wind is a tad too heavy but are in the mood for some romance, you can opt for lighter romance classic books like Love Story by Erich Segal, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes or The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. My all-time favourite Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is another good pick for a rainy day. For a newer take, there is The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

Also read: 5 best romantic books of all time

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond (Young Adult, Adventure)

The Blue Umbrella is one of the first Ruskin Bond stories I read when I was 10 or 11 and it left such a strong impression on me that it is one of my favorite books by the author even now. The master storyteller that Ruskin Bond is, he creates the atmosphere of the quiet hills of Himachal right in your living room, where 10-year old Binya acquires then loses and again acquires a blue umbrella. It gives an insight in human relationships and how such a small, unnoticeable object like an umbrella can stir the strongest feelings in people. Read it for contentment and satisfaction, because that is what the story brings to you.

Other Ruskin Bond stories like The Night Train at Deoli, The Room on the Roof, and Dust on the Mountain are other delightful cozy books to curl up with on a rainy day!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Literary Fiction, Coming-of-age)

Ove is a curmudgeon who dislikes people in general and is unhappy. He has his reasons – his wife, “the only color in his life” – is dead. Ove sees no reason to live. He contemplates and attempts suicide several times. But he has reckoned without his chatty and (according to him) unnecessarily friendly neighbour, Parvaneh and her family. When Ove sees that her husband cannot even back an U-Haul without felling the fence, he sighs and takes it unto himself to teach them some skills. What follows is a heart-warming tale of friendship and hope. Be sure to keep a huge box of tissues near you for the ending.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (Mystery)

A snowdrift stops a luxurious train. The conductor of the train discovers the body of one of the passengers in his compartment – brutally murdered. Who killed him? And why? The world famous detective, Hercule Poirot, who is also a passenger on the Orient Express is baffled. The killer, surely, is still on board the isolated train.

With very less time and superb deduction skills, you can almost see Poirot’s grey cells turning, trying to find the killer before he strikes again.

One of Christie’s best books, this acclaimed cozy mystery novel will ensure you are on the edge of your seat. In your reading nook. On a rainy day. Definitely a must to include in your cozy books to curl up with on a rainy day

If you have the stomach for more fast-paced mysteries, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, The Good Samaritan by John Marrs,  The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson, and Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris are superb reads as well. As for Agatha Christie books, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Sparkling Cyanide, and The Pale Horse are good reads.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Historical Fiction)

If you love historical fiction, you will fall in love with this book. Two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle go through completely different but equally dangerous set of situations during the Second World War. These events bring them closer but also threaten to tear apart the very fabric of their existence. This beautiful novel is a journey through the eyes of these sisters about themselves and the thousands of women who fought the war behind the scenes.

Books like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows are other glowing examples of Second World War fiction. Guaranteed to make you believe in the resilience of humans in the face of utter destruction and sorrow.

If you are interested in Hindi literature, you can read our recommendations for Hindi books to read: 5 Hindi authors you will love

As I mentioned above, rains are the best time for a reader to curl up with their favorite books. So that is what exactly I am going to do now.

But before I go, do tell me which genre you like reading so that I can come up with some suggestions for them too. And let us know what you are reading right now!

Browse and schedule more such activities on Think Metime mobile app – Download now!