Seasonal eating has always resonated with me. We aim to prepare meals that contain fruits and vegetables in season—comforting stews in winter, grilled meats with vibrant, fresh salads in summer—with these choices, we can connect deeply with nature’s rhythms. We all do a version of that, right?

But what about the natural rhythms of reading? I have noticed that my reading choices follow a similar, unintended, seasonal pattern. I start the year with heftier and dense titles as the cold winds blow and the snow falls outside. Deep winter is the very best season to curl up in a chair with a juicy classic or new historical fiction. I get lost in the pages as fierce winds howl outside, a fire burning in the fireplace, and a cat on my lap. Each season provides the best authors, who invariably leave us with something authentic to ponder, reflect, or dream about.

In spring, I imagine we all run on hope. The finest example of hope is when the ground is covered with snow, walks slippery with ice, and all seems grey and dead to the world. Yet we spy the miracle of a purple-white crocus in tiny full bloom or the tip of a tulip’s thick green triangle leaf poking through first, frozen ground, then the outer muddy layer of snow-slush mix. Hope is there, just there.

Without planning to, we naturally gravitate towards books about unsung heroes and stories of courage. I might choose tales of overcoming incredible odds, abolishing injustice, or overthrowing regimes. Spring authors include Bryan Stevenson, Octavia Butler, George Elliot, James McBride, Daniel James Brown, Isak Dineson, Rebecca Skloot, and Anthony Doerr. Read Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, or Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire; those ‘ll get you off your couch, charging into the rainy-spring world.

Summer is literary romance season, and we don’t mess with that. Beach reads, light romance, poetry, and fantastic stories set in nature. Summer authors are Mary Oliver, Kristin Hannah, Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, Nicole Krauss (The History of Love!), and Barbara Kingsolver. I would also add Jane Austen, Gustave Flaubert, and Vladimir Nabokov for some high-brow romance, as well as the lyrical Jules Verne and romantic historical fiction of Paula McClain. My favorite summer reading place pairs with a tall iced tea or crisp Sauvignon Blanc on our wrap-around porch. With a bit of shade, a soft breeze flowing, and summer sounds of birds chirping, I can happily nap-read for hours out there.

Fall is a time for gorgeous writing (not that the others are not–just a seasonal observation). Amor Towles feels like a ‘Fall’ author. Gentleman in Moscow, Lincoln Highway, Rules of Civility—all perfect for the fall. I would pair them with a nice Cote du Rhône or sip a sweet-tart Cosmo and follow with Steinbeck, George Sanders, Tolstoy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and, of course, Hemingway. Abraham Verghese, Miguel de Cervantes, and Muriel Barbery are best read in the crisp, warm fall season. West With Giraffes and City of Thieves must have been written as a gift for Fall readers. My favorite authors are primarily Fall: moody, succinct, timeless, and all sharing impossibly beautifully written books.

It’s back to winter again with its inherent challenges: it is such a busy time of the year with all the decorating, baking, gift-wrapping, parties, and traditions. The holidays remind us to make time for our favorite people and dream about plans for the following year. Irish authors are imperfectly Winter: James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Frank McCourt, and Colm Tóibín. December and January are the best months to read the quiet poetry of Marge Piercy or the deep thoughts of Paulo Coelho, David McCullough, Maggie O’Farrell, and Fatima Farheen Mirza.

I suggest reading J.R.R. Tolkien, Truman Capote, Charles Dickens, and Claire Keegan while enjoying a slice of holiday pie. Each has earned a spot in my Christmas Library.

All just food for thought.

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines who you will be when you can’t help it.”  – Oscar Wilde

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