2026 Winter Reading Guide: Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Build your cozy TBR with the 2026 Winter Reading Guide science fiction fantasy books—lush romantasy, eerie gothics, and twisty SFF picks for winter.
Spellbinding, Spooky & Star-Soaked: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Picks from The 2026 Winter Reading Guide
If winter is when you secretly want a portal to open in your living room—and also maybe a monster to negotiate with over tea—this is your shelf. These are the 2026 Winter Reading Guide Science Fiction Fantasy books I read, loved, and immediately wanted to press into people’s hands: historical fantasy, romantasy with teeth, dark reimaginings, and smart, character-driven SFF that pairs perfectly with blankets and something warm in your mug.
This post is the genre-specific list for science fiction and fantasy from my sixth annual Winter Reading Guide. You’ll find all the SFF picks here on the blog, and if you want my curated “best of the best” across all genres, you can grab the free PDF magazine with my top 30 winter reads when you sign up for the email list.
How This SFF List Fits Into the 2026 Winter Reading Guide
The 2026 Winter Reading Guide is my sixth winter guide, and this year’s cover design theme is The Winter Little Free Library—a big, snow-covered Little Free Library with twelve shelves, each one representing a different genre from the guide.
This post zooms in on the Sci-Fi & Fantasy shelf inside that Winter Little Free Library—the books that gave me the biggest feelings, the most immersive worlds, and the “I stayed up too late and I regret nothing” reading experience.
2026 Winter Reading Guide Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
In As Many Souls as Stars, we follow Cybil Harding, a girl born “under inauspicious stars” and marked by a family curse, as she grows up under her father’s twisted idea of holy magic and learns that men are more afraid of her power than of any actual darkness. When Miriam—an immortal being born from shadow who wears a stolen human face—arrives to claim Cybil’s soul, the story becomes a centuries-spanning cat-and-mouse dance between light and darkness, oppression and self-determination, doomed longing and real, terrifying love. I chose this one because it’s perfect for readers who love witch trials, gothic historical fantasy, morally complicated supernatural love stories, and books like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or Piranesi. It left me feeling wrecked and bewitched in the best way, questioning what love looks like when it’s tangled up with danger, power, and survival.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty
The Once and Future Queen throws twenty-two-year-old Vera—still grieving her boyfriend Vincent and working in her adoptive parents’ Glastonbury hotel—straight into the middle of Camelot when Merlin tells her she’s actually Guinevere and drags her through a magically stabilized wormhole. Watching Vera navigate this world she technically “belongs” to but doesn’t fully recognize—teaching the knights poker, trying not to swear in the wrong era, figuring out whether Merlin and the mages are truly on her side, and falling for Arthur while wondering if she’s allowed to want anything for herself—felt like getting a fresh, fun rerun of Arthurian legend with real emotional stakes. I picked it for readers who enjoy time-travel romance, court politics, myth retellings, and character-driven fantasy in the vein of The Mists of Avalonmeets Outlander. It made me feel both giddy and soft; there’s real grief and pressure here, but also humor, mess, and that “oh, she’s choosing to live again” glow.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva
In How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days, halfling Pansy Underburrow inherits a forest cottage and sees it as her one chance to finally live on her own terms—only to discover that goblin caretaker Ren Woodward and their clan have quietly been using the land for twenty years and have zero intention of leaving. Their “whoever gives up the cottage first loses it” cohabitation pact starts as full chaos (delightfully petty sabotage, sharp banter, deeply ingrained halfling–goblin prejudice) and slowly turns into shared cooking, garden projects, and two people re-negotiating what duty and happiness actually mean. I chose this for readers who love cozy romantasy, cottagecore vibes, interspecies slow burn, and books like Legends & Lattes or The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. It made me feel nourished and seen—warm, funny, and quietly profound about choosing joy over obligation.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
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We Who Have No Gods by Liza Anderson
We Who Have No Gods cleverly flips the magical-school trope by centering Vic, the non-magical big sister who’s sacrificed everything to protect her witch brother, Henry, from the dangerous Acheron Order that killed their mother. When the Order finally finds them and insists Henry must train at Avalon Castle to stay alive, Vic goes along as a powerless tag-along—and immediately realizes that not only do the witches look down on her, but something is very wrong within those supposedly impregnable, warded walls. I selected this for readers who love found family, magic schools, prickly heroines, and “I will burn your secret organization down if you hurt my sibling” energy, especially fans of Ninth House, Legendborn, or The Magicians. It made me feel deliciously tense and protective; watching Vic push past her outsider status and start unraveling a conspiracy bigger than she imagined was incredibly satisfying.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
In Nowhere Burning, Riley and her little brother Oliver—freshly orphaned and sent to live with a cruel cousin in a Rocky Mountain town—escape to a rumored refuge called Nowhere, a burned-out mansion once owned by a famous movie star that’s now home to feral, runaway kids and the dark stories that cling to them. Riley’s desperate, caregiver heart, her secrets, the kids’ unsettling games with power, and the looming presence of journalists digging into the property’s gruesome history all collide in a way that constantly made me question what was real. I chose this for readers who love dark fairy-tale energy, horror-adjacent fantasy, unreliable narrators, and riffs on classics like Peter Panwith a teeth-baring twist. It left me haunted and a little hollowed out—in that “wow, I’m going to think about this for days” way.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill
Nightshade and Oak follows Mallt Y Nos, the Goddess of Death, who’s used to collecting souls from bloody battlefields without a second thought—until a spell from warrior princess Beliscena (Belis) accidentally strips her of her powers and traps her in a human body. Forced into an uneasy partnership, the pair journey through an afterlife landscape full of witches, fae, and undead shadowbitten as they try to retrieve Belis’s sister’s soul and restore balance to the corrupted Annwn. I picked this for readers who enjoy Celtic mythology, enemies-to-lovers with a divine twist, quest fantasies, and books like The Sandman meets The Witch’s Heart. It made me feel like I was on a mythic road trip with two stubborn, emotionally constipated women; equal parts banter, longing, and big questions about what it means to be human.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui
In The Glowing Hours, Leila Siddiqui reimagines the infamous Geneva summer where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, but shifts our gaze toward Mehrunissa “Mehr” Begum, a biracial housemaid from India whose once-privileged life has shrunk into precarious service. As Mehr navigates the fraught dynamics between the Shelleys, Lord Byron, Polidori, and Claire—while battling homesickness, racism, and a sense that something is deeply wrong in their eerie villa—her shared nightmares with Mary blur the lines between inspiration, haunting, and possession. I chose this one for readers who love gothic historical fantasy, retellings that center previously sidelined women, and atmospheric books like Mexican Gothic or A Dowry of Blood. It made me feel deliciously unsettled and deeply moved; you can feel the damp chill of the lake and the weight of being the “invisible” one in a room full of geniuses and egos.
You can get a copy on Amazon.
How to Use This SFF Winter List
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by choices (totally normal), treat this list as a winter SFF mood board:
- Want witches, curses, and dark love? Try As Many Souls as Stars or We Who Have No Gods.
- Craving romantasy comfort? Reach for How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days, The Once and Future Queen, or Nightshade and Oak.
- In the mood for eerie, gothic vibes? Pick up Nowhere Burning or The Glowing Hours.
You absolutely do not have to read everything (unless that sounds fun). I’d start with 2–3 that match your current reading energy and let them carry you through a weekend, a snow day, or those dark, in-between evenings where you just want a portal out of real life.
Build Your Winter SFF TBR With Me
Now I want to hear from you: Which of these 2026 Winter Reading Guide science fiction fantasy books are you planning to read—or add to your TBR—for the season?
Tell me in the comments which titles you’re most excited about, and if you’re building a little winter stack (maybe one cozy romantasy, one gothic, and one big-idea fantasy), I’d love to know what’s in it.
