Your favourite cosy, autumn-wintery, curl up by the fire books?

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I put this in Adult Fiction but I'd be happy with recommendations for memoirs or children's books or whatever, as well. Just has to be the sort of book you love to sit down with on a cold autumn day and read from cover to cover. Bonus points if you come up with suggestions for good Christmas reading for later on.

Doesn't have to be set in/evocative of autumn and winter, just books you feel you'd want to read at this time of year.

Thank you.

I second Sarah Waters. You must read Fingersmith.

Fingersmith is absolutely wonderful. It's the kind of book that makes me forget to breath, and I end up gasping at the end of the page to the consternation of anyone nearby.

Now that's a recommendation.

I think I have a copy knocking around somewhere, so I will dig it out.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - almost impossible to explain, a sort of Austen meets Harry Potter but for grown ups, it's the book that fires and armchairs were invented for.

I loved Tipping The Velvet too.

Another vote for Fingersmith!

Also - Cashelmara, Penmarric and The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch.

And The Little Stranger! Flip me, it's so good. Probably my favourite from Sarah Waters.

I think that's on my kindle somewhere, Thurlow. I will look it out when I've finished my Denise Mina.

I've read Jonathan Strange. I liked it, but wished it'd been a bit shorter as I got bored in the middle. I loved the idea of it, though.

I have just ordered something by Susan Howatch (I spent the other evening combing through all the threads in this section! ). But will keep in mind those title as I don't think it was any of them.

BOF - is the TV version any good? Or should I hold out for the book?

I was coming on to recommend In This House of Brede!

YOur later list sounds much like my top list (although I would have Georgette Heyer up there for my favourite curl-up-books - but she's a list all by herself.)

I recently discovered Stella Riley - thanks to Kindle - start with The Parfait Knight.

And MM Bennetts is fabulous - only two books so far but I could re-read for ever. Set during Napoleonic wars and just beautifully detailed. Lovely.

Urgh - I didn't like Fingersmith at all. Dp loved it though. The Litte Stranger was okay only; her others I've found unreadable, so have entirely given up on her now.

Have you read The Virgin Suicides? A quick and easy read, so perfect for snuggling with one evening (you could probably read it in its entirety).

Also, how about some Jeeves and Wooster, or some Evelyn Waugh?

I've not read Sharon Penman. I've ordered some.

I have to admit, with the Plantagenets stuff, I'm a bit jaded by The White Queen atm.

Thanks for the recs howgood. I've just ordered my first ever Georgette Heyer.

remus - no, not read Virgin Suicides (I think the title put me off). But I will, and likewise Waugh.

This thread is really helpful - I'm so sick of going into Waterstones and finding nothing but chicklit or 3 for 2 on stuff I've already read. I love chicklit but you can get a bit tired of it.

Do you like Jane Austen? If so, I think you'll enjoy Georgette H. But don't read too many consecutively, or they get a bit wearing and samey.

My favourite autumn/winter nights by the fire books tend to be my guilty pleasure books... But I refuse to be ashamed by them! They're easy to read and although the plots might be a little too obvious to the experienced reader, it's just too easy to read them through... Oh, and I err toward the fantasy genre, so these might not be exactly what you're after, but might help someone else...

• Crown Duel and Court Duel by Sherwood Smith - usually released as a two-volumes-in-one-book deal, this is a wonderfully written fantasy romp. The first part is very much a tale of a rebellious heroine fighting against a tyrant king/dictator/ruler and traversing the land to do so. The second part, as the name suggests, deals more with court intrigue and the politics of being around the Lords and Ladies of the realm. There are some wonderfully indepth rules on the language of the fan, as well as a dastardly villain or two.

• The Green Rider series by Kristin Britain - probably my favourite fantasy series. There are 4 books so far, although they're being released slower than George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series! (almost) Again it's your typical fantasy set up; young girl falls into HUGE adventure. Except it takes twists and turns all over the place, and each book raises the stakes to a higher state of peril than the one before. I've just re-read book 1; The Green Rider, and shall soon be re-starting First Rider's Call

• Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - the first two of a 4-part series retelling fairytales in a fantasy/sci-fi futuristic world. Love, love, love these books.

• Any of Eva Ibbotson's more grown up books; 'The Secret Countess', 'Magic Flutes', 'The Morning Gift', 'A Song For Summer', 'A Company Of Swans' - these are lovely, inoffensive, romance books. From about 20 pages in you will be under no illusion what's going to happen; the handsome hero is eventually going to sweep the sweet young heroine off her feet and they'll live happily ever after. I enjoy reading them anyway to get caught along in the journey. I especially like to read one of these between two more challenging books; they're like junk food when you want a quick calorie fix but don't want a bit dinner.

I do like Jane Austen. I'm quite happy with something that might get samey - I've got a high tolerance for it. I'll just mix with other things.

frett - oh, I like fantasy too. Not as much as some other things, maybe, but I do like it. I'd not heard of Marissa Meyer or Kristin Britain, and it's lovely reading stuff with female protagonists.

Thanks!

Moondial is a bit like Tom's Midnight Garden. I've just realised I haven't read it since I was a child. Off to find out if its available on Kindle...

I have heard it recommended a lot. I must!

Moondial would be nice.

I'm not wild about Terry Goodkind, the writing style just doesn't quite do it for me, somehow?