10 “Stormy” Books

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This week’s prompt called for cozy/comfy reads, books with storms in them, atmospheric reads for dark or stormy nights, light reads to combat the heavy weather, etc. (Submitted by Astilbe.). I struggled with this (I don’t read specifically dark/cosy etc I found it hard to think in those categories!) and my picks don’t feel very creative! I suspect I’m going to see a lot of the same classic on other blogger’s lists this week!

Funnily enough, as I write this there is a storm outside, this weekend was extremely windy and wet in the UK! I’m exhausted because the high winds have been lashing rain at the window all night, keeping us awake all night. We had 45 mph winds but some parts of the country were getting 80 mph. So I am feeling like I just want to hunker down with a blanket, some Netflix Christmas rom-coms and lots of tea, and work on my latest embroidery project!

So here are eight books I can think of, that I’ve read, which featured bad weather storms plus two just kinda related ones that came out of free association!!

1. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis – This was the first book I thought of when I tried to remember storms, and funnily was also the first book my fiancé suggested when I asked him about it! This is the third book in the series and features Lucy and Edmund from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe in their last adventure in Narnia along with their cousin Eustace. It is memorable for how Eustance Scrubb is the absolute fucking worst, but also most of it takes place at sea on a ship which includes a big storm!
2. Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte – another one that I need to stop putting on every list but, I mean, “wuthering” literally means stormy! There are a lot of stormy nights in this book.
3. Book of Dust: La Belle Savage by Philip Pullman – This His Dark Materials prequel is entirely about navigating a huge rainstorm flooding the Thames Valley, as two young friends are tasked with getting a baby Lyra safely to Jordan College (where we know she’ll grow up leading to the events of Northern Lights). I read this quite a while ago but I did enjoy it, I must get to reading the other books in this series! I also think His Dark Materials would be a good atmospheric read during a storm too!
4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding – it is many years since I read this now, but I remember a huge atmospheric storm over the island as the boys became increasingly frenzied and violent.
5. The Shining by Stephen King – Yeah I’m pulling out the obvious ones still! The big snowstorm is what ultimately traps the Torrance family at The Overlook Hotel when Wendy might have otherwise made the decision to leave with Danny. I read this as a teenager and I think the book is better than the movie, I prefer the ending and Wendy is less annoying!
6. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke – I mean it is set on the Scottish Coast in a Lighthouse so there is plenty of stormy weather to add to the atmosphere in this gothic thriller!
7. Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey – The fourth book in this excellent sci-fi series seeing the crew of the Roci sent to humanity’s first colony world on the other side of the newly opened Gate. Along with a lot of frustrating conflict between colonists and the corporates over who has the rights to the planet, there is (obviously!) also some weird alien world shit happening and a by-product of that are several natural disasters, including a big dramatic storm!
8. Old Magic by Marianne Curley – I have to tell you I put so much time and energy into trying to remember what this book was called! I read this as a teenager and I absolutely loved it! I remember buying it from a bookshop (probably around 2000) and it sitting on my bookshelf for years, I definitely read it more than once! All I could remember was the cover (with its grey stormy clouds), and there was a boy and girl teen witch couple, magic storms and time travel to medieval times (and a scene where they had to spend the night together in a barn!). I should never try to reread this because I’m sure it probably won’t hold up to my memory but I’m glad I managed to identify it!
9. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas – I don’t remember a storm in this book but it does start with a long, very cold wintery carriage ride up to Gretna Green during which I fell in love with Sebastian St. Vincent on the strength of his provision of foot warmer. I want a romantic hero who keeps me warm and cosy on a stormy night!
10. Right, so getting a bit more out of the box here picking the X-Men comic books because, well Storm!

I think Storm is an awesome character, love her in the cartoon (the drama!) but I don’t think I have read any comic books with her in! I really would love to get into some X-Men, and from what advice I’ve read Uncanny X-Men #94 is a good place to start with the Chris Claremont era of X-Men. It’s on my list for when I’m up to date with Jessica Jones!

OK, phew! I got there! Next week the prompt is “My Winter 2024-2025 to-Read List”, which might not be any easier. I feel like I only just did an Autumn one and read basically nothing from it, so I might do something a little different.