There’s not much sunlight right now – the winter solstice is around the corner. Bookworms across the region are flicking on their reading lights, pulling up their blankets, and cracking open their books.
On our annual winter books show, we compile reading recommendations from Vermont Public staff, listeners and a panel of bookworms. This year's panel includes: Erin Davison, a children’s librarian at the South Burlington Public Library, Katya d’Angelo, the owner of Bridgeside Books in Waterbury, Lisa Sullivan, the owner of Bartleby’s Books in Wilmington, Timm Williams, the owner of Monroe Street Books in Middlebury, and Patrick White of Middlesex, an editor of the Vermont Almanac.
Below are some of the books recommended on today's show:
Fiction:
- The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
- Portrait of an Unseen Woman by Roberta Harold
- Pure by Andrew Miller
- Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Bunnicula by Deborah Howe
- The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County by I.M. Aiken
- Stolen Mountain by I.M. Aiken
- Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Oasis by Guojing
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- Still Life by Sarah Winman
- Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
- My Friends by Fredrik Backman
- The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
- James by Percival Everett
- Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
- I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
- The Blue Cat of Castle Town by Catherine Cate Coblentz
- Heartwood by Amity Gage
- Twenty-four Seconds from Now…A LOVE Story by Jason Reynolds
- I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney
- The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala
- Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket
- Northwoods by Daniel Mason
- The Seven Sisters (series) by Lucinda Riley
- Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
- We Do Not Part by Han Kang
- On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle (translated by Barbara J. Haveland)
- Hunter’s Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor
- Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
- Real Americans by Rachel Khong
- Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith
- The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
- Lanny by Max Porter
- The Mad Wife by Meagan Church
- I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin
- Strange Houses by Uketsu
- Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady
- The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
- So Far Gone by Jess Walter
- Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton
- The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten
- The Payback by Kashana Cauley
- Woodworking by Emily St. James
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia; art by Sharee Miller
- Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
- The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey
- The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
- Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
- The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
- America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie
Nonfiction:
- The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir by Neko Case
- Human History on Drugs by Sam Kelly
- Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Toward Self-Realization by Karen Horney
- Seeking Shelter by Jeff Hobbs
- Boutwell by Jeffrey Boutwell
- Bipolar bear and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad health insurance : a fable for grownups by Kathleen Founds
- Maple Syrup: A Short History of Canada’s Sweetest Obsession by Peter Kuitenbrouwer
- Hurricane by Jason Chin
- Joe Gould’s Teeth by Jill Lepore
- On Freedom by Timothy Snyder
- What Is Wrong With Men? by Jessa Crispin
- Vermont Almanac, Volume VI
- The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
- Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
- Frostlines by Neil Shea
- Reviving Artemis by Deborah Lee Luskin
- Here Comes the Sun by Bill McKibben
- Replaceable You by Mary Roach
- We the People by Jill Lepore
- Dark Renaissance by Stephen Greenblatt
- The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The Editor by Sara B. Franklin
- Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Picture Books:
- Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson; illustrated by Dan Santat
- Broken by X. Fang
- More or Less by Alison Hughes; illustrated by Oge Mora
- Don’t Eat Bees (Life Lessons from Chip the Dog) by Dev Petty; illustrated by Mike Boldt
Broadcast live on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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