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Reading books will always be my favorite way to spend the day, but it’s especially true during the colder months. Endless hours of darkness to sit by a fire or a nice warm lamp, curled up in a comfy chair or wrapped in a blanket, a warm mug filled with a nice hot beverage in one hand and a book in the other.

With these warm thoughts in mind during the cold months, it’s time to look into some winter-themed Middle Grade and Young Adult books that will melt your heart and freeze your spine. The cold, dark months may be a melancholy time for some (I cannot express how often I re-read Jane Eyre in the winter), but it can also be a time of exciting adventures or bone-chilling ghost stories.

At the first snowfall, begin your winter story time journey with Let It Snow. A freak blizzard hits a small town and disrupts everyone’s Christmas plans. Three different sets of characters, all in some way known to one another, tell their 24-hour story of what they did that stormy day.

After you’ve taken a break to go sledding, pick up Breadcrumbs. Forge a friendship with Jack and Hazel and help Hazel find her friend after he’s captured by the Snow Queen. Dive further into the lighter reading with The Mysterious Howling. Touch base with your inner canine at Ashton Place and wreck havoc on your home — figuratively, of course.

As night falls, immerse in the chilling ghost story, The Dead of Winter. Explore a haunted mansion owned by a tormented master, and help young Michael solve the mystery of the mistress’s death in the frozen moat. Look out for the ghosts in The Poisoned House, and guide Abi on her quest to discover who exactly poisoned her mother. Be sure to have all lights turned on for this evening!

The next morning, grab your sword and prepare for a magical battle in Witchlanders. Beware who you trust, the young farm boy destined to save his village or the powerful warrior destined to find his second half. Continue your adventure in Icefall, and discover the traitor in the midst that prevents everyone from leaving the claustrophobic fortress of ice.

Take a trip back in time to turn-of-the-century Paris, inside a cold abbey guarded by gargoyles in The Beautiful and the Cursed. Fight demons, discover inner powers, learn of the protective instincts of gargoyles, and experience the presence of angels like never before with Ingrid and Gabby. Fast forward to Cold War Russia in The Boy on the Bridge. Fall in love and question the motives of everyone around you.

After your whirlwind adventure through time, pick up that beloved, worn copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and cry tears of happiness when Harry discovers he does indeed have a true, loving family. The cold stones and warm hearths of Hogwarts will always be there for those who seek it.

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Laura Crockett is a graduate student, bookseller, Anglophile, tea devotee, musician, and book hoarder. Everything good in her boils down to her Midwestern upbringing. Follow her Downton Abbey obsessions on Twitter (@LECrockett) and book interests on her blog http://scribblesandwanderlust.wordpress.com

We all know what it’s like to be wholly immersed in a book. Suddenly, words on a page become smells, sounds, sights—you can picture every scene so meticulously that you end up missing your stop on the subway or running late for work. Things, ahem, that I know nothing about…

You might find, however, that you’ll want to look beyond the confines of that space between your ears in order to deepen your experience of a story. Graphic novelizations of well-loved books can turn out to be the cherry on top of your literary sundae. For me, reading Hope Larson’s graphic novel of A Wrinkle In Time only served to enhance the otherworldly visuals which Ms. L’Engle first set up in the recesses of my childhood memory. When done well, the visual bonus of a graphic novel can be just as rewarding as the original manuscript.

Below are some additional titles that seem ripe for the illustrated picking.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: The design of this novel already feels like it’s inches away from turning into an illustrated masterpiece, so why not find a way to bring Morgenstern’s dreamlike imagery to life? This story has all the ingredients for a visual delight: a traveling Victorian-era circus that awakens in the gloaming, rival magicians on the cusp of romance, and more nocturnal wonders than you can shake a red scarf at.

The circus features physics-defying spectacles such as a crystalline garden made entirely of ice, a maze constructed of clouds that reaches endlessly into the heavens, and a tree hung with candles that grants wishes for patrons so inclined. The visual richness of this novel could only result in seriously good sensory overload on paper.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: With much of this novel taking place in the limitless reaches of a massive, multi-player online simulation game, Ready Player One is a digital illustrator’s paradise.

Already in the works to become a movie, the story and its myriad planets, avatars, and gadgetry (think mecha suits of armor and DeLorean-style transportation) serve as the springboard for the kinds of scenes that will prompt geeks far and wide to fist-pump in jubilation. Or, at the very least, reading a graphic novel like this might help to make you look like less of a n00b.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Nowadays, dystopian graphic novels are par for the course in somber storytelling, and Brave New World would be an obvious addition to the bunch. This novel takes place in a future society unified under the World State, where children grown en masse are conditioned for their predetermined roles in society, adults are encouraged to endlessly consume (both goods and sexual partners), and hallucinogenic drugs are provided for religious and social events alike.

This story is primed for idyllic, sterile scenery and hauntingly empty eyes. Contrast that with John the Savage, a young man raised outside of the “civilized,” pleasure-fueled society, and you have a story that carries its struggles and soul-searching from type to illustration with ease.

Bonus: Check out this comic comparison between Aldous Huxley and George Orwell.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: Neil Gaiman is certainly no stranger to the graphic medium (we want more Sandman!), so this might be a bit of a no-brainer. While any of his novels have all the right qualities for adaptation, his newest story of childhood memory, magic, and the search for identity has a bittersweet longing about it that stands out among his adult fiction.

Gaiman’s ability to weave the otherworldly into seemingly mundane settings makes his quiet visuals all the more astounding, and to see reality-eating birds and monstrous caretakers fleshed out in drawings would be thrilling. It probably doesn’t hurt that the Hempstock family is my new favorite matriarchy.

Bonus Pick: Welcome to Night Vale, Podcast by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor: I know, I know, this is a podcast and not a bound-in-leather-and-smells-like-musty-old-book novel, but this nightmarish tale—presented as a radio show—is delightfully supernatural, kooky, and engaging. Night Vale is a desert town located “somewhere in the Southwestern United States,” and it brims with Lovecraftian occurrences and tongue-in-cheek commentary.

Pyramids mysteriously appear on the edges of town to deliver foreboding messages, the Sheriff’s Secret Police work tirelessly to deliver propaganda, dark hooded figures frequent the forbidden dog park, and adorable cats materialize to hover in the middle of the station’s men’s room. These oddities are just begging to be drawn.

Bonus Bonus: Check out Toril’s stunning drawing of a (hopefully) future comic for Night Vale.

(Image via flickr)

Filk? What is filk, you ask? In a nutshell, filk is a musical genre inspired by fandom…but as with many fannish things, it’s a lot bigger on the inside. Filk is what happens when music and geekdom join hands and frolic off into the sunset, or more appropriately, collide at lightspeed and zoom through the galaxy.

Take note, Whovians: the 50^th anniversary of Doctor Who is fast approaching. To help pass the time (get it?!) as we count down to this momentous occasion—and to help welcome the Twelfth Doctor—I've rounded up some inspired, adorable, and occasionally incredibly geeky Doctor Who cross-stitch ideas. So pick a pattern, grab your supplies, and follow me as we allons-y through time and space, one stitch at a time.

(Image via http://www.wetcanvas.deviantart.com)

Whether you’ve got an hour to kill, or you just want to keep your hands busy during a class you’re totally listening to, origami can’t be beat. So in honour of Origami Day, here is a roundup of literature-inspired crafts for your nimble fingers.