Recently I noticed how I’ve set aside the cozy mystery books I was reading in the winter and have been gravitating toward lighter, fun reads as the weather gets warmer. It got me thinking about purposefully reading certain types of books during particular seasons to really immerse myself into those months of the year.

Or in other words, seasonal reading.

Thinking about it more, I realized that I’ve been unconsciously doing this since my college days. Summer pool reads were usually westerns or books where the characters take a trip somewhere warm. Fall meant a re-read of Harry Potter and the back to school feelings that Hogwarts brought. The first snow always made me want to step through the wardrove to revisit Narnia. Whether it was due to the setting or the tone, some books reminded me of specific seasons.

Why not tailor part of your reading list to align with the seasons?

Now don’t get me wrong, I read a lot and I definitely don’t wait to read everything until I deem it the right “season” for the book. And many books (maybe even most) can really be read any time of the year without evoking any specific timeframe. But lately I’ve been trying to tuck at least one or two away to be read during specific times of the year and offer more immersion in both the current season and the setting of the book.

So What is Seasonal Reading?

Seasonal reading is aligning the current time of the year or season of your life with the setting or plot of books. This can be in a literal sense, like reading stories associated with holidays at that time – for example, reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens at Christmas. It can also be in a less concrete way such as personal or business development books in spring to align with growth, or horror and mystery books in the fall to capture that spooky feeling.

Sometimes books (especially fiction) have settings that are specific to a time of the year, like summer romances or dark, gothic classics that happen during the fall months. Reading this way lets you almost feel the sticky hot July evenings or the cloudy, windswept moors at the first frost. By being intentional about when you read certain books, those feelings can align with and evoke the season you’re currently in. Or you can take this awareness and read a book set on a sunny desert island or a villa in southern Italy when you’re craving warmth in the middle of winter. Overall, it’s an intentional awareness of immersion in the books you read and aligning them to the seasons of the year.

Seasonal Reading Genre Ideas

Everyone’s taste in books is different, and I encourage you to take some time to think about the settings or genres you enjoy and how they fit into the changing seasons of the year.

Here are a few genres and types of stores I enjoy reading during the different seasons to help you get started.

Spring – personal and business development books that talk about growth, memoirs and biographies of botanists and historical figures, lighthearted fiction and nonfiction, travel stories

Summer – adventure stories, westerns, books set in the summer or desert environments, easily read books for the pool or beach, humor

Fall – moody gothic and classic novels, mysteries, suspenseful stories, school or bookstore related, historical fiction

Winter – meaty classic novels, cozy mysteries, fantasy books set in far off worlds

How to Start Reading Seasonally

As I said before, there are many books I read whenever I want to, and don’t fit into a specific seasonal category. But with a little planning, seasonal reading is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in each part of the year.

Next time you have a book that you want to read, take a look at the setting or themes to see if it aligns with a certain season. Then wait to read the book until the matching part of the year. As you do this more, you’ll discover which books and genres you enjoy reading at specific times. It leads to lovely rhythms throughout the year and even anticipation as you wait to until the weather matches the feeling of the book.

So how about it? Maybe every winter you find a new travel book to devour. Or maybe you start every January reading about simple living or minimalism. Or perhaps every fall you decide to pick up an epic, sweeping story of tragedy and romance. Whatever genre you think aligns with the seasons, why not save a book or two to try out seasonal reading?