Banish Winter Doldrums with 8 Hot Books for Chilly Afternoons

Now that the holiday excitement is over, are you dreading the seemingly endless stretch of time until spring? Escaping to another world is as close as a cozy chair, a warm throw blanket and a great book.

Spend some time catching up on your reading with these top book picks. There's something for everyone, whatever your preference.

1. A Wrinkle in Time

With Disney bringing this classic to the big screen in 2018 with a star-studded movie, it's the perfect time to introduce your kids to this beloved novel. Readers aged 10 to 90 will delight in the story of three friends searching through space and time for one girl's father, a scientist who mysteriously disappeared while conducting top-secret work for the government.

2. Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen's journey took him from the streets and bars of New Jersey to the stage at halftime during the Super Bowl, becoming an American icon along the way. Born to Run is a candid and moving account in Bruce's own words of the dreams, struggles and influences that shaped his remarkable 50-year career.

3. Exit West

This inventive novel was a critical favorite, topping many year-end top-ten lists, as well as a finalist for the prestigious Man Booker Award. It tells a particularly timely story about a young couple seeking a way out of their homeland as it's being torn apart by civil war.

4. The Switch

What happens when an innocent everyday man finds himself in the middle of a political time bomb? You won't be able to put down this thriller about a traveler who accidentally retrieves a computer containing explosive political documents.

5. Crazy Rich Asians

Beach reads go down just as smoothly in the winter. Check out this wildly popular and delightfully funny story of an American-born Chinese woman and her Singapore-born boyfriend, who turns out to be the son of one of Asia's most outrageously wealthy families.

6. Six Wakes

Six Wakes is a clever mashup of science fiction and mystery. The title refers to six clones of a spaceship crew whose "originals" are being murdered by a seventh member. As they search for the killer, they uncover the murky secrets behind their own creation.

7. Turtles All the Way Down

With past titles including Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars, John Green is the number-one young adult author writing today. His latest book is about a pair of teenage friends who set out to solve the puzzle of a fugitive billionaire as one of them fights her own "thought spirals."

8. Afterglow (a dog memoir)

You don't have to be an animal lover to appreciate this tale of the 16-year relationship between the author and her dog Rosie. It expands into a meditation on family, alcoholism, grief and other topics with which everyone can identify.

Do you have a recommendation to add to our list? Tell us in the comments!