Nothing makes you want to hunker down like the cold weather and short days of winter. Along with a cozy blanket and hot beverage, here are some of the best works of fiction to engage with this winter season.
What makes something “cozy”? That’s generally hard to define, given how much a work’s coziness is defined by the individual. However, there are at least a few different generalities to seem to be shared by everything on this list.
There’s the sense of familiarity, for one. Many of these works are already beloved and may have been read or watched many times over. Perhaps one of these (or more) is a well-known piece of your childhood that brings back fond memories like a Pavlovian response. Play the upbeat theme from My Neighbor Totoro, for example, and it’s like you’re six again, the smell of the plastic VHS case suddenly in the forefront of your senses.
Many of these works also focus on home or the process of building one. Bilbo Baggins longs after his home all throughout the Hobbit, while Little Women practically fetishizes the concept. The Harry Potter series is, in large part, all about finding good people outside of your birth family and building a home and community with them.
At least a few of these books, comics, and films will be just right for that one cold, gray sort of day that practically requires you to stay inside. If you don’t mind indulging in a bit of a stereotype, we recommend finding a warm blanket, some comfortable sweatpants and a mug of tea to complete the experience.
Of course, it would be difficult to include a work on this list if it didn’t include some sort of happily-ever-after ending. In the hands of a good artist, that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice artistic integrity, of course. And though happy finales may or may not reflect the real world, it’s darn comforting when we need a fictional escape.
Though, fair warning: some of the works mentioned here have a dark side. That may be either a turn-off or a much-needed note to highlight all of the good in the rest of a piece. The ultimate decision will be up to you.
This list may contain mild spoilers, though we’ve worked to keep the best plot twists out of view. After all, some of the greatest pleasures of engaging with a “cozy” piece of art — however you define it — is exploring its path on your own.
20. The Hobbit
For all that The Hobbit is full of adventuring dwarves, angry dragons, and mystical, glowing swords, it may resonate with others on a different level. After all, Bilbo Baggins practically has to be dragged out of his comfy armchair in order to go on an epic quest. He then spends much of the book dreaming of the contents of his pantry at home. Who can’t identify with that?
Indeed, Bilbo Baggins is extraordinarily domesticated. He is a hobbit, one of those small, hairy folk who would like to just stay in their Shire, thank you very much. As a people, they’re all pretty reserved and most would like nothing more than to settle into some comfy surface and smoke a pipe.
If only Bilbo didn’t have that streak of adventurousness, he wouldn’t have made friends with Gandalf the Grey. This ancient wizard tricks Bilbo into hosting a large group of dwarves for a party. Even worse, Gandalf has somewhat convinced everyone that the somewhat gormless Bilbo is an expert thief.
The dwarves, one of whom is deposed heir Thorin Oakenshield, don’t buy it. They’re on a serious journey to reclaim their kingdom from a gold-hoarding dragon.
Yet, that darned adventurousness rears its head, and Bilbo decides to join the quest. Even when he’s out of his element in the larger world, readers are bound to get a sense of deep familiarity with the work. Sure, a fair amount of that has to do with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films from Peter Jackson and company.
However, the fantasy world of author J.R.R. Tolkien has been around for far longer than the movies. It’s become so established in the world of fantasy fiction and beyond that its familiar nature is beyond comforting for many.
19. Ella Enchanted
We’re specifically referring to Ella Enchanted the book, rather than the loose film adaptation that garnered mixed critical reviews. Gail Carson Levine’s novel, however, is a Newbery Honor book. So, not only is it the perfect kind of novel for a cold, indoors sort of day, but it’s well-regarded, too.
Ella Enchanted begins with the birth of Ella of Frell, who is given a rare gift by a fairy. However, said fairy, Lucinda, doesn’t quite have her stuff together and gives baby Ella an odd gift — the gift of obedience. This means that Ella is compelled to obey any direct order given to her. Thankfully, this is a novel originally meant for children, and so the darkest implications of that “gift” are thankfully left unexplored.
At first, things work out okay. Ella’s mother, Lady Eleanor, and Mandy the cook manage to protect the young girl for most of her childhood. However, when Lady Eleanor dies, fifteen-year-old Ella is sent off to finishing school. There, her fellow students learn of her condition and almost immediately begin to exploit it.
Sir Peter, Ella’s father, eventually remarries. Lucinda shows up and, like one of those aunties whose gifts you just can’t politely refuse, gives Sir Peter and his new wife Dame Olga the gift of always loving one another. That doesn’t mean she has to be nice to her new stepdaughter, however. Ella is quickly reduced to a Cinderella-esque servant in the household, thanks in large part to that “gift” of hers.
Of course, this book could not very well be on this list if it were just a long series of terrible things happening to Ella. After a twisty-turny series of events takes Ella through other elements of the Cinderella story, she is finally able to break through the curse (let’s call a spade a spade, after all) and live her own independent life.
18. Practical Magic
Though Practical Magic leads with some seriously heavy stuff, it’s got the kind of dreamy, fated quality that assures you its female leads will be just fine. At the end of a long, strange year, that’s something we could all use.
The 1995 novel by Alice Hoffman begins with a whole slate of tragedy, however. The Owens women come from a long line of witches, who are cursed by a long-ago relative who wished that love and heartbreak would leave her alone. That’s generally bad news for the men that become involved with the family.
Two orphaned sisters, Gillian and Sally, later learn this to their detriment. They go to live with their aunts, the decidedly witchy Frances and Jet. Sally tries to stay apart from the world of romantic love, but then falls in love with a man and has two children with him. He later dies in a traffic accident and the devastated Sally moves back in with the aunts.
Gillian, meanwhile, becomes a freewheeling wild child. Her own romantic interests turn dark, however, and she’s often off somewhere on a questionable adventure and with no forwarding address. When things grow sour and her latest relationship with wayward Jimmy turns abusive, Gillian reaches out to her sister.
Through a series of events, Jimmy meets his untimely and (mostly) accidental end thanks to some poor dosage choices by Gillian. Isn’t belladonna supposed to make someone chill out? Guess not.
Jimmy isn’t done with the sisters, however, for he soon enough starts to haunt them in the aunts’ home. When a police detective starts sniffing around, things grow even tenser.
As strained as all of this might sound, Practical Magic runs on its own dreamy, assured logic. Bad things happen, sure, but you get the strong sense that things will work out beautifully in the end. Well, at least for the living members of the cast, anyway.
17. Jane Eyre
Sometimes, “classics” become known as such for a reason. And, while some works of art can’t quite live up to their reputation, Jane Eyre is about as monumental as you might think. Sure, Jane herself might think she is “poor, obscure, plain, and little”, but she could really stand to give herself more credit.
This 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë was practically revolutionary for its strong, principled heroine, spooky setting and moody romanticism. Even if you’ve read it 20 times already, its familiarity and strong characters are more than enough for another deeply cozy go-around.
Wait, are you actually one of those rare people who doesn’t know the plot of Jane Eyre? There’s no shame in that, as long as you promise to give the book a good try. It starts on, of course, young Jane Eyre. She’s your standard neglected orphan, first living with uncaring relatives and then in the cold squalor of a rural boarding school, Lowood Institution.
Jane eventually escapes the disease and gloom of Lowood by taking a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall. She’s to teach young Adele Varens, a ward of the mysterious Mr. Rochester, who owns Thornfield. Little does Jane know that the surly horse rider she encounters near the hall is Rochester himself.
Jane is initially unimpressed with him, though there’s a twinge of intrigue when she examines his moody manner. They soon become companions, and thus launched a literary trope of the moody loser getting the strong, female lead (can you tell I have equally strong Opinions about Rochester?).
That’s not all, however, for Thornfield seems to be haunted by a mysterious figure. Rochester himself has a haunting past, one which Jane may not be able to stomach no matter how much she’s swept up by Victorian romanticism. Darkness abounds, but there’s plenty of satisfying resolution and meaty subtext that will keep you satisfied for many cozy evenings.
16. Murder on the Orient Express
Truth be told, there’s an entire genre of “cozy mysteries”, wherein a gentle sleuth solves a murder while swaddled in wool sweaters and sipping endless cups of tea. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, of course. Still, perhaps you should start your mystery reading with one of the most famous whodunit authors of all time — Agatha Christie.
Murder on the Orient Express is not exactly cozy. It features one of Christie’s two famous fictional detectives, the Belgian Hercule Poirot (the other being British spinster Miss Marple). Poirot, for all his brilliance, is a fussy man who can be difficult to get along with. Yet, his vast intelligence, attention to detail, and drive to find justice make him one of the most compelling detectives in all mystery fiction.
This tale is set on the Orient Express itself, a train line that, at the time of the novel, ran from France all the way to Istanbul, Turkey. One night, while the train is stopped by a snowdrift on the tracks while in Croatia, a murder is committed.
It’s hard for anyone to feel especially bad for the victim, however. The newly deceased man is Samuel Ratchett, a deeply unpleasant man who had previously asked Poirot to help prevent his murder. Poirot, who had turned Ratchett down simply because he was so deeply grossed-out by the man, must now investigate the murder.
You’d think that would be pretty easy, given that hardly anyone has been on or off the train on account of the wintry weather. Yet, as Poirot uncovers clue after clue, the identity of the killer becomes ever murkier. The final reveal is one of Christie’s most famous and brilliant moves. If you’re a first-time reader, it will be sure to stick with you long after you’ve closed the book.
15. The Last Unicorn
Don’t let the title deceive you. The Last Unicorn novel is no piece of ephemera, constructed solely of fairies, glitter, and dreams. Rather, it’s a mature work that examines the breadth of beauty and depravity in the world, and what humans wreak upon it. Yes, it also has unicorns.
In fact, The Last Unicorn’s central character is the titular unicorn, seemingly the last of her kind. She’s an ageless sort of being, deeply connected to her forest and its animal inhabitants. Yet, she is also curiously removed from the world, to the point where it’s quite some time before she realizes that she hasn’t seen another unicorn in a long time. Neither is she very familiar with or interested in the human world — though, can you blame her?
Still, this unicorn is inveterately curious. What happened to all the other unicorns? A passing butterfly claims that a fantastical “Red Bull” made of flames chased them into the ocean. Could this really be true? She decides to take the drastic step of leaving her forest and venturing into the larger world.
The unicorn encounters a wide variety of people, from good to bad and everything in between. That includes Mommy Fortuna, a witch/sideshow proprietor who uses magic to convince everyone that regular animals are fantastical creatures. At the carnival, the unicorn also encounter the magician Schmendrick, who is a real magic worker if a bumbling one. The two escape the carnival together, amidst great chaos.
There’s quite a lot more to this slender book, which includes roving bandits, a depressed king, transformational magic, and the legendary Red Bull. Yet, author Peter S. Beagle is able to pack in a lot of thoughts on emotion, regret, and humanity within a small space. The 1982 animated film adaptation is also fine, but the book is more complex and mature.
The Colour of Magic (Cover image via Corgi)
14. Discworld
This one is a bit of a cheat, given that Discworld is actually a book series, and one with so many adaptations that it might make you a little dizzy. Still, this series by the late, great Terry Pratchett is so immersive and intelligent that you can’t help but dive in.
Here’s the basic conceit of Discworld, painted in very broad strokes: it’s all set on the actual Discworld, a flat disc that’s balanced on the back of four elephants, who are themselves balanced on the back of a giant turtle. This turtle, the Great A’Tuin, gently swims through space. Everyone living on Discworld has to deal with their own particular kind of physics apart from ours. Magic is also very, very real.
There are 41 novels in this magical, comedic series. So, where to start? The very first book published in the series is The Colour of Magic, which debuted in 1983. It follows the inept wizard Rincewind who has been hired to guide a naive insurance agent through Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on Discworld. It’s a darn good introduction into the intelligent silliness of the world. Pratchett himself once said that The Colour of Magic was “an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns”.
If that doesn’t quite catch you, then there are plenty of other genres satirized by Pratchett. If you’re into fairy tales, then check out Witches Abroad. Or, perhaps you’re more excited about those tenacious vampires? Carpe Jugulum may be more up your alley, then. What about a novel focusing on a young woman who can see magical creatures, but also with an edge of contemplating your own mortality? There’s actually a four-novel miniseries for that one, starting with The Wee Free Men.
13. The Secret Garden
In Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel, The Secret Garden, protagonist Mary Lennox starts off rude and sour. That was probably a turnoff for early 20th century readers, but perhaps those of us who have made it through the past couple of years can identify.
Well, hopefully not too much. Mary got the way she is through parental neglect. She was born to wealthy British parents stationed in India, during the height of the British Empire. They are, at best, indifferent to their strange little daughter. The servants of their household are the ones that actually raise her, in fact. Perhaps their permissiveness turned little Mary into a sour grape, says Burnett in a flash of Victorian priggishness.
But the first few pages in India don’t last long. Mary’s parents and the servants are killed in a cholera epidemic, though Mary herself survives. She’s sent to live in far-off Yorkshire, a Northern English county that’s about as different from Mary’s India as the moon. Why Yorkshire? That’s where here Uncle Archibald Craven lives, at the thoroughly spooky and remote Misselthwaite Manor.
This isn’t a cozy ghost tale, however. Burnett has an agenda, as she wants to show that a good, old-fashioned dose of the outdoors will do wonders for cranky, sickly Mary. The young girl eventually warms up to the servants at Misselthwaite Manor, in particular young maid Martha Sowerby and gardener Ben Weatherstaff. The two more or less point Mary in the direction of the late Mrs. Craven’s garden (the “secret garden” of the title, naturally).
Mary begins to care for the neglected garden, which soon enough blooms with the care and encroaching springtime weather. She makes friends with Martha’s young brother, Dickon, and her even more sickly cousin, Colin.
This is one of those rare cases where you may want to watch the film first. Specifically, the 1993 movie directed by Agnieszka Holland. It’s able to capture the growing lushness of the garden and Mary’s inner life, without all of the Victorian moralizing by Burnett. That’s not to say you shouldn’t read the novel. It’s plenty cozy, to say the least. Just be sure to do so with the understanding that its author had a very particular agenda.
12. Spirited Away
In all honesty, the entirety of Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography is practically tailormade for this list. There are enough dramatic episodes and underlying messaging in his work to ensure its artistic reputation. However, rest assured that everything in his movies will work out in the end. Miyazaki may rail against the evil exhibited by humanity, especially when it comes to environmental devastation, but he also rejoices in the hope of redemption.
Miyazaki might even end the world in dramatic fashion, as in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and yet still leave you with a sense of warmth and hope by the time the credits roll. People don’t call him a master of his craft for nothing.
Spirited Away plays out on something of a less grand scale than Nausicaä or Princess Mononoke, though it’s just as rich as any other Miyazaki film. It follows Chihiro, a young girl whose family has just moved to a new home. Chihiro sulks in the back of the family in the opening scene, fairly heartbroken at leaving her friends behind.
When her father takes a wrong turn, the family enters a strange, magical world. The unsuspecting parents insist on exploring, especially embarrassing Chihiro when they begin to pig out at a deserted restaurant stall. Chihiro wanders away, encountering a mysterious boy named Haku. He’s none too happy to see her, warning that she should escape across a river before nightfall.
Alas, it’s too late. Chihiro’s parents have been turned into actual pigs, while Chihiro herself can’t cross the river on her own. She’s stuck in the spirit world. Luckily, she is able to find work at the local bathhouse, run by the fearsome witch Yubaba.
With Yubaba, the strange spirits, and a menacing figure called “No-Face”, you’d think this was a horror movie. In fact, the world of the bathhouse, as weird as it is, turns out to be strangely comforting. No-Face does indeed cause trouble, but nothing that Chihiro (who is renamed “Sen” by Yubaba) can’t handle.
11. Harry Potter
What would this list be if it didn’t include the massive Harry Potter franchise? Come on. It’s got hidden worlds, magical intrigue, a fantastical castle, and adventurous kids, to name just a few plot points. And while it does get pretty heavy towards the end — main villain Voldemort is one seriously bad guy, to say the least — this series is so incredibly popular and familiar that you can’t help but be transported back to the first time you read it.
The first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone, in some countries) starts off with, well, Harry Potter. He’s in a pretty rough situation: orphaned and living with his relatives, the Dursleys. His Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley aren’t exactly the most welcoming family. They’ve grudgingly taken on the care of their young relative, but do little to make him welcome. Harry gets the last of everything and is forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs.
That all changes when owls begin to arrive at the Dursley home. They come bearing letters for Harry, from a strange place called the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though Uncle Vernon tries his hardest to escape the increasingly ridiculous number of owls, it’s no use. A friendly, though massive man called Hagrid tracks them down and takes Harry into the world of magic. He’s got to get to school, after all.
That’s only the beginning. In due course, Harry makes fast friends with Ron Weasley, a young boy from a large, if a little ramshackle, wizarding family. They eventually team up with Hermione Granger, who turns out to be one of the greatest girl characters in all fiction. Together, they must fight against the rise of the Dark Lord, the aforementioned Voldemort. He’s like all of history’s worst people merged into one, and with magical powers to boot.
All of the books in the series are worth your time. Depending on how much you’re into Harry Potter, you may want to skip the first couple of movies, which are fairly unremarkable and showcase child actors just learning the ropes (sorry, Daniel Radcliffe, but you did get a lot better). The third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, is where things get arguably more interesting, film-wise.
10. Anne of Green Gables
Is it a little strange that orphans appear so often on this list? After all, becoming an orphan is a hugely traumatic event, especially for a young child. Yet, some creators can hardly wait to get those troublesome fictional parents out of the way. Are loving, stable families somehow not conducive to adventure and personal growth? How are replacement parental figures intending any better than the original version?
At least Anne Shirley, for all of the terrible forces in her early childhood, eventually lucked out in the parental figure department.
Anne is the central figure in Anne of Green Gables and its follow up novels, all written by L.M. Montgomery. However, the first novel didn’t immediately begin with her. Rather, the first few pages focus on brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. These unmarried siblings live together on a small farm in Avonlea, a small town on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Marilla is a bit of a stereotypically harsh spinster, while Matthew is so shy that he can hardly take the buggy into town to get supplies. Both are getting on in years, so they agree to adopt a boy to help them with work on the farm.
That’s okay enough, even if child care and adoption standards are pretty lax in 1900s Canada. Except, there’s a hitch. The adoption agency sends a girl, the talkative, red-haired Anne. After working through their initial surprise, the siblings agree to keep Anne. Neither can bring themselves to be so cruel as to send her back to the uncaring world of the orphanage.
The book then follows Anne as she grows up in Avonlea. She frustrates nearly everyone with her pure energy and chattiness, then wins them over with her intelligence and heart. That energy is both burden and boon. It leads her to act quickly when others are in need. It also leads her to be forgetful and impulsive, leading to one particularly memorable hair dye incident.
Whatever happens, however, the people of Avonlea and Anne herself are so thoroughly good that you can’t help but feel warmer yourself. The 1985 CBC miniseries is well worth a watch, too.
9. Galaxy Quest
Depending on the individual, science fiction may or may not enter into the realm of the cozy. One person might be utterly lulled into fantasy visa the work of someone like Ray Bradbury or Ursula K. LeGuin. Or, they could be bright right down into a philosophical whirlpool, thanks to those same authors’ focus on the light and dark sides of human nature. Grand, cosmic questions could enlighten you or induce stress, depending on your state of mind. And, though we’re all for asking tough questions even in fiction, it doesn’t necessarily make for comforting reading.
But Galaxy Quest is its own creation. It’s goofy and subversive like some of the best self-aware sci-fi, but very little of it is downbeat. If you need something cozy even in the cold void of outer space, then the crew of Galaxy Quest is here to deliver.
It starts out admittedly rough. Tim Allen plays with Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith, a washed-up actor who once played Commander Peter Quincy Taggart on the sci-fi series, Galaxy Quest. Along with the other cast members (which include Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub and a pretty delightful performance from Alan Rickman), Jason spends his time attending fan conventions. He’s kind of a jerk, though, taking the love of his fans for granted.
However, he probably should have paid more attention. At one gathering, he’s approached by a group calling themselves “Thermians”. They claim to need his help saving their planet. Jason, however, brushes them off as extra-nerdy fans in some sort of role-playing situation.
Except, they’re not. The Thermians are an actual alien race who mistakenly think that Jason and his fellow cast members are real spacefarers. Indeed, they think that the Galaxy Quest show is a documentary series. Thermians everywhere have completely shaped their society to fit with the ideals and aesthetics of the show. Awkward.
This leads to the actors being taken onto a real starship, where they must face an honest-to-goodness alien villain. Tense as that may sound, the script and acting make for a wonderful balance of sarcasm, humor, and genuine heart.
8. Jeeves and Wooster
Here’s another series to dive into, with both a delightful set of books and an equally good television adaptation starring none other than Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in the title roles.
The original Reginald Jeeves was a fictional butler created by P.G. Wodehouse in 1915. He appeared for nearly six decades of Wodehouse’s writing, becoming a beloved British character. He’s the incredibly competent and unflappable valet of the young Bertie Wooster. Jeeves has a lot of work ahead of him, given that Bertie is, well, a bit of a dullard. Don’t get me wrong; young Bertie is okay at the end of the day. He’s just so wealthy and lazy that he can’t help but get into one awkward situation after another.
The “Jeeves” works encompass 35 short stories and 11 separate novels. Many of the short stories (which generally preceded the novels) appeared in various magazines throughout the 20th century. You might start with The Man with Two Left Feet (1917). This contains the first-ever published Jeeves story, “Extricating Young Gussie”, which was originally published in 1915.
Carry On, Jeeves, published in 1925, collects 10 different stories, making this collection more rich for the budding Jeeves and Wooster enthusiast. If you’d prefer a proper novel, then start with Thank You, Jeeves (1934), which was Wodehouse’s first full-length novel.
That isn’t all, however. There’s also the British comedy series to peruse. Jeeves and Wooster aired on ITV from 1990 to 1993. Hugh Laurie, who began his acting career diving into comedic roles, plays the doofy young Wooster. Stephen Fry takes on the role of Jeeves himself.
The pair were already a popular comedy act known as Fry and Laurie. At the time Jeeves and Wooster began airing, the duo was already acting on their own BBC show, A Bit of Fry & Laurie (which aired 1987-1995).
7. Calvin and Hobbes
How could anyone consider the Calvin and Hobbes comic to be anything other than cozy? Now, this isn’t to say that it’s an emotional or intellectual lightweight. Author and artist Bill Watterson created this comic strip without sacrificing the value of a good story or complex insight.
This daily comic strip ran from 1985 to 1995 and has since been collected in numerous editions. It follows Calvin, a six-year-old boy who is remarkable for his precocious understanding of the world, not to mention his creativity and adventurousness. He’s accompanied by Hobbes, who the adults see as a plain old stuffed tiger. Calvin, however, interacts with a Hobbes who is the real deal, though heavily anthropomorphized and pretty sarcastic to boot.
There are also Calvin’s unnamed parents, a mother and father who are kept plenty busy by their young son. Their sensible, middle-class behavior acts a foil to Calvin’s flights of fancy. That isn’t to say they have no personalities. Calvin’s father, for instance, isn’t above a sarcastic lie or two, such as when he claims that they bought Calvin as a Blue Light Special at K-Mart.
Calvin and Hobbes going on adventures that bump up against such large issues as philosophy, environmentalism, education and more. Oftentimes, they transform cardboard boxes into complex machines, such as a Transmogrifier that can turn its user into practically any animal or object.
Calvin himself takes on multiple personas. These include “Spaceman Spiff”, a spacefaring adventurer straight out of science fiction’s Golden Age. Or he might be “Stupendous Man,” a superhero with nemeses such as “Mom-Lady” and “Crab Teacher”. Calvin might even pretend to be “Tracer Bullet”, a grizzled private detective. Hobbes, meanwhile, can often be found at the ready with a sardonic remark.
6. Little Women
Though Little Women author Louisa May Alcott was no huge fan of this money-making novel, her readers have since enshrined the work as one of the coziest of all time.
Little Women follows four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March — and their mother, Margaret “Marmee” March. Mr. March is away, entangled in the American Civil War. It falls to Marmee to lead the household and help her daughter through their lives, all by herself.
Though the March family is apparently comfortable, money is actually quite tight. Thus, Meg and Jo must work in order to earn money for the family. Meg is a teacher to four young children, while Jo is a companion to their great-aunt March. That would be a decent enough position, except Jo is oftentimes irritable and hot-headed. She’s also something of a tomboy (at least, as much as a 19th-century girlhood would allow) and arguably the central character of the book.
Meg, meanwhile, is commonly known as the beautiful sister. Beth is a gentle musician, while Amy is focused on her art. Beth eventually contracts scarlet fever, which we now know to be a Streptococcus bacterial infection. She recovers, but not fully, and is plagued by the aftereffects of the disease for the rest of the book.
All of the other sisters go about building their lives, from getting married and becoming a young mother (Meg), to Jo, who starts to build a successful writing career. If that sounds a little familiar, then you may have already guessed that Jo is the closest fictional analogue to Alcott herself.
Given the novel’s focus on family and home, it’s easy to see it as a cozy sit-down treat. Other critics have taken a more critical view of it, stating that its homemaking focus was too central to make it truly groundbreaking or radical. Whether or not you see Jo or her sisters as keepers of a patriarchal narrative or rebels in their own right, it’s worth it to read Little Women.
5. The Princess Bride
Though it’s well-known now through the 1987 feature film, The Princess Bride first began life as a 1973 novel by William Goldman. Unusually, Goldman decided to pretend that he had abridged the earlier work of fictional author S. Morgenstern. Throughout the book, he comments on “Morgenstern’s” work in asides. An eventual epilogue came late because, said Goldman, it was “having trouble getting published because of legal difficulties with S. Morgenstern’s estate”.
In the novel (which is entirely Goldman’s work, to be clear), we meet a beautiful young woman named, of all things, Buttercup. She lives on a vaguely Renaissance-era farm in the country of Florin. Despite her outer beauty, she’s kind of a jerk to Westley, a farm hand. Though she calls him “farm boy” and orders him to do chore after chore for her, he only responds with “as you wish”.
Buttercup later realizes that “as you wish” is really “I love you”, and quickly falls in love with Westley in return. He leaves to earn his fortune before they marry but is later reportedly killed at sea by the Dread Pirate Roberts. She becomes incredibly depressed, claiming that she will never love anyone again. Might as well marry the shady Prince Humperdinck, then, who’s taken a fancy to her.
Before she can become Princess Buttercup, however, she is kidnapped by three outlaws. These are the loudmouth Vizzini, fencing genius Inigo Montoya, and the gigantic Turkish wrestler, Fezzik. They are all pursued by a mysterious masked man who, upon closer inspection, has an awfully familiar face.
There’s not enough space to follow the twisting, turning plot of The Princess Bride, and neither should we spoil it for you. Take joy in uncovering the complicated relationships, everyday heroes, and intimidating bad guys in both this book and the beloved film adaptation.
4. Groundhog Day
Once you think about the central conceit of Groundhog Day for more than a few minutes, it gets kind of horrifying. After all, how long is weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) trapped in his time loop? He does get very good at the piano, which isn’t exactly a skill you pick up overnight.
But, work past that, and you’ll see that Groundhog Day is also a story of hope and redemption. If a laconic jerk like Phil Connors can do right, then practically anyone can.
Things start to go wrong for Phil when he travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for — you guessed it — Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney is home to the famous “Punxsutawney Phil”, a local groundhog that supposedly predicts whether or not winter will stick around for six weeks. He does so on Feb. 2, which is (duh) Groundhog Day.
The human Phil, however, is unimpressed. His weather broadcast is dismissive and he’s rude to his producer Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell) and Larry the cameraman (Chris Elliot). When his broadcast turns out to be inaccurate, all three as stranded in the town by a blizzard. Phil goes to bed early in something of a huff.
That’s where some unknown force finally gets to him. Phil wakes up and quickly discovers that everything is happening exactly as it did the day before. When he goes to bed again, thinking it was all some strange vision, the day repeats itself.
How will Phil get out of this hellish loop? The first few go-rounds of extravagant drunkenness and debauchery don’t seem to work. Neither do the following repeats full of despair, including one incident where he steals Punxsutawney Phil and drives both himself and the groundhog off a cliff. No matter — he wakes up the next morning with the same Sonny & Cher song on the radio.
Could it be that trying to be a better person could save Phil? I mean, if it didn’t, this movie wouldn’t be on the list. Still, it’s genuinely heartwarming to see the cranky, misanthropic weatherman learn how to be a good person over the course of Groundhog Day.
3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Unlike many of the other entries on this list, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy did not start life as a book. Though it’s since become a well-known and beloved-by-many novel series, it actually first emerged as a BBC radio show.
That first BBC Radio 4 show in 1978 soon spread to other media, including books, comics, television series, and a 2005 feature film which is decent enough for background noise and the occasional laugh. It’s even been adapted into a stage show.
For maximum enjoyment, however, you may want to start with the novels, written by Douglas Adams (who also wrote the original radio show and most of the other adaptations, or at least the best ones). If you get a massive omnibus edition, you may even be able to prop it up at just such an angle that people will see the massive tome and leave you alone. Hopefully.
The story generally follows hapless Earthman Arthur Dent. He barely escapes the demolition of the planet Earth by the alien Vogons. Now, the Vogon fleet isn’t here to take advantage of Earth’s natural resources or anything. Instead, our planet is simply in the way of a hyperspace bypass. No hard feelings. Certainly, the bureaucratic Vogons don’t feel too bad about eliminating a minuscule and boring species.
Luckily, Arthur is friends with Ford Prefect (yes, he is really named after a British car popular during the latter half of the 20th century). He thought that Ford was a regular human guy, but it turns out that he’s actually an alien. Even better, he’s a writer for the travel guide known as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Dent and Ford make their way onto a Vogon ship and, from there, out into the wider galaxy.
If the destruction of our planet and species sounds a little grim, it doesn’t come across as such in Adams’ work. It’s so full of fun and dark, surreal humor that you don’t much mind.
2. Pride and Prejudice
Likely Jane Austen’s best-known work, Pride and Prejudice often isn’t given the respect it deserves. That’s not to say that people don’t love it and the rest of Austen’s novels. In fact, there’s a whole community of “Janeites” that are so devoted to the world of Jane Austen that they have long arguments about minor plot points and wear surprisingly comfortable Georgian attire. Think of it like a comic-con, but with more corsets and gallons upon gallons of tea at the ready.
Still, it often seems that the common conception of Pride and Prejudice is that it’s a mannered, slow-burning love story. And, yes, in many respects, it is. But there is also substantial character work, particularly in the case of central character Elizabeth Bennet.
Plus, the savvy reader can pick up on what may be Austen’s most admirable trait as an author — her incisive social commentary. Austen, who could be downright acid when talking about real and fictional people alike, was never one to pull her literary punches.
Published in 1813, this novel is the earliest one on the list, though centuries have only served to sharpen readers’ adoration for the work. It tells the story of the Bennet family, including mother, father, and five daughters.
Pride and Prejudice takes particular care to chart the development of Elizabeth, the second-oldest daughter. She’s not unlike Jane herself, prone to witty turns of phrase and sometimes harsh judgments of character.
This tendency to evaluate someone on first glance doesn’t look like it will end well for Mr. Darcy, a new-in-town gentleman who leaves a poor impression in Elizabeth’s mind. He’s much too reserved and snobbish, she thinks. Plus, she concludes that Darcy believes his rich friend Mr. Bingley is too good for her gentle, reserved eldest sister, Jane. That’s that, she concludes and turns her attention elsewhere.
Except the story is nowhere near done with Elizabeth or her vibrantly alive family. Like any other character, she is subject to change and examination by the author. Neither, to her eventual joy, is Elizabeth right all the time.
1. Howl’s Moving Castle
There are two equally good paths you can take with regards to Howl’s Moving Castle: book or movie. Both follow roughly the same plot, though naturally, the book takes quite a few more hours and perhaps a more concerted effort of imagination. However, the movie is another Hayao Miyazaki gem, which is a delightful experience all on its own.
It all begins with Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three sisters. Sophie lives in Ingary, a kingdom where magic is a bit of a ho-hum fact of everyday life. There is also a persistent belief that the oldest sibling of three will never be successful. Sophie accepts this with resignation and prepares to run her family’s boring hat shop for the rest of her life.
All seems set to move along that path when the Witch of the Waste (voiced by Lauren Bacall in the English dub of the film) enters the shop. Sophie inadvertently angers her, causing the Witch to place a curse on Sophie. She’s aged into an old woman.
Not sure what to do, Sophie simply leaves the hat shop and wanders out into the country. She eventually comes upon the titular moving castle, which is the property of the fearsome Wizard Howl. Sophie, however, realizes that she is an old woman and unlikely to be the target of Howl’s wicked magic. She, therefore, becomes his cleaning lady.
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While living in the castle, Sophie befriends Calcifer, Howl’s resident fire demon. Calcifer says that he will put Sophie back into her original body if Sophie can break the contract that binds the demon to Howl.
For all that Howl’s Moving Castle concerns powerful magic workers, fire demons, curses, and the specter of international war, it’s a gentle, amusing work. Howl turns out to be essentially good, if lazy and self-absorbed. Calcifer is sassy, but not all that menacing. Sophie learns to stand up for herself and take hold of her fate.
Of course, it all ends in a happily-ever-after, as all best cozy works should do.