Raise your hand if you were sorta-kinda-secretly hoping your boss called off work today so that you could stay in bed, nestled under the covers with a comforting book — but then you got the text at 6:00am that work was on for the day, and that your secret hope was all for naught.

Even if your secret hopes might have also been dashed this morning, any time is the perfect time to snuggle up with a wholesome book that offers the tender reminder that the most beautiful parts of life are often the simplest parts.

Wintering by Katherine May

May opens the doors and windows of her life and invites you in, offering unto you her tools, teaching by example how to repair yourself when life knocks you down. She pulls you into her winter rhythms, urging you to seek the beauty it has to offer, rather than hide from its icy gusts. Bravery need not be big steps in order to move your life in big ways.

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

With only the blooming of the cherry blossom trees to mark the passage of time, a trio of stories intersect at a tiny confectionary shop where dorayaki – a type of Japanese pancake filled with sweet bean paste – will allow the trio’s friendships to blossom. Sweet Bean Paste is an idyllic little read that will thaw even the coldest of hearts.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Viv is ready to leave her life of adventuring, sword-slinging, and loot-plundering behind her to start new endeavors: opening the city of Thune’s first coffee shop . But how do you make a name for yourself when no one has the faintest idea of what coffee actually is?

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is no better time to draw upon the hygge of hobbits than when one is snowed in. Hearty meals, good song, and friendships line the pages of Tolkien’s first published novel. Tender, tough, and full of adventure, this book is quite the cozy companion year-round.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is many things – the foremost expert on the study of faeries, a genius scholar, and a meticulous researcher. Emily Wilde is not, however, good at people. As Professor Wilde journeys to uncover the secrets of the Hidden Ones, she must learn to befriend the gruff townsfolk, and suffer the company of her academic rival, Wendell Bambleby, in all his charming confoundments.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

I love an author who can write a story that is precisely as long as it needs to be. At 128 pages, Keegan writes with the gravitas of an wizened sage, requiring you to feel many feelings in a small amount of time. If you’re more of a film type, Cillian Murphy does a bang-up job at dramatizing Bill’s tale.

Will Spring Be Early? Or Will Spring Be Late? by Crockett Johnson

I must admit: when I see small little blooms and blossoms persisting their way up through snow-covered garden beds in late February, I, too, am determined to tell the world that spring will be here early. (Humble brag: I’ve sown some seeds indoors and they’re already sprouting. No big deal or anything.) If you’ve decided you simply cannot wait any longer, Johnson’s story is just right for you.