Holiday books: Readers' picks

Daniel Seglem, Duluth: Perhaps it is because of the length of a Minnesota winter, but my most potent memories are from that time of the year. During winter, I like to read books I would read if I were 7 again. "Winnie-the-Pooh," "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," "Barbapapa." I'll make myself a pot of tea and try to stave off cold creeping in the windows and doors, stave off the memories of adult obligations that try to claim my attention.

Catherine Partsch Conlan, Duluth: I like Tolkien in the winter, as well as my guiltiest pleasure, "The Shell Seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher.

Kate Johnson, Minneapolis: My favorite book any time of year, but especially over the next several months, is Henry Beston's "The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod." To call it a classic of nature/environmental writing is inadequate. In these tumultuous times, it has the effect of producing calm and gratitude in the reader.

Karen Buschow, Waseca County: On cold and stormy days in the midst of winter my reading selection is always "Giants in the Earth," by O.E. Rolvaag.

Rachel Coyne, Lindstrom, Minn.: In the winter I like to read Pablo Neruda's "Odes to Common Things." Especially in that part of the winter where all the fruit in the supermarket tastes like the truck it rode in on from hotter, more blessed regions. There is a poem about a tomato that always makes me hungry for fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes.

Mary McDermid, Minneapolis: "Walking Across Egypt" by Clyde Edgerton -- the book makes me feel warm and happy.

Michael Taeckens, Chapel Hill, N.C.: My fave winter reads are "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" and "Wuthering Heights."

Kathryn Christenson, St. Peter, Minn.: One satisfying way to escape winter in Minnesota is to become absorbed in a lengthy biography. Three memorable ones are: "Marie Antoinette," by Antonia Fraser; "Thomas Hardy," by Claire Tomalin, and "Virginia Woolf," by Hermione Lee.

Kurtis Scaletta, Minneapolis: I like something deeper and longer and more involving in the winter. I'll turn the entire winter into a single reading project. I've spent winters reading Dante's "Divine Comedy," "Ulysses," the histories of Shakespeare and the Old Testament in its entirety. But I think my official answer is poetry. I'm more likely to grab a big book of Frost or Stevens or Stafford off the shelf in winter, read one or two, get reflective and slide off into a thoughtful doze.

Kelly Anne L. Bretheim, Edina: The Monkeewrench series, by PJ Tracy. Specifically, "Snow Blind."

Nancy Crocker, Minneapolis: I don't reread "A Prayer for Owen Meany" every winter, but I can't imagine reading it in another season. It suits a weekend afternoon next to the fireplace the way Janet Evanovich suits a rainy summer day at the cabin.

Patricia Hagen, Duluth: Definitely the time of year for 19th-century novels I can curl up by the fire with. "Middlemarch," or just about anything by Trollope or Dickens. Or maybe Barbara Pym. Or, to step into the late 20th century, one of my favorite books ever, "Eureka Street" (Robert McLiam Wilson). Reread it just about every year. Hilarious and poignant.

Jim Carmin, Portland Ore.: Maeve Brennan's wonderful story "Christmas Eve" in "The Springs of Affection."

Sabrina Rood, Edmonds, Wash.: I return to Mark Helprin's astonishing novel, "Winter's Tale," every fall in preparation for winter. It is one of my favorite reads, and I am proud to have introduced many people to this book. It is a magical story. It opens: "There was a white horse, on a quiet winter morning when snow covered the streets gently and was not deep, and the sky was swept with vibrant stars, except in the east, where dawn was beginning in a light blue flood."

Sandy Swopes, Hereford, Texas: When I am slightly under the weather, it's the couch, Vick's Vapo-Rub and "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. At any other time during the winter, when I just need the comfort of something already read, I grab the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I am in hog heaven tonight -- our first freeze, and Diana's new book.