The internet thoroughly exhausted the snow puns well before the weekend storm arrived, so we’re going to jump right into it. If you’re snowbound for the foreseeable future, we hope you are well supplied with blankets, snacks, and reading material.

Here are a whole bunch of recommendations to keep you company:

• ❄️ A variety pack of 12 recommendations to get you through the storm
• ❄️ Reading is a great path out of the winter blues
• ❄️ Picture books about snow that will melt your heart
• ❄️ Heart-pounding horror reads will keep you warm (and wide awake)
• ❄️ Long books for long winter nights
• ❄️ A book critic’s favorite books for a snow day
• ❄️ Learn about the history and impact of The Snowy Day

Looking for things to watch? Keep scrolling to read up on the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees a few blocks below.

Is it too soon to call the literary event of the year? Vigil , George Saunders’s sort-of sequel to Lincoln in the Bardo , continues his meditations on mortality and morality and is the frontrunner to be my favorite book of 2026. If the most-anticipated lists and Saunders’s track record are any indication, I won’t be alone.

Also hitting shelves this week:

• A domestic thriller about a woman whose wife goes missing on her morning run the day after they have a big fight
• A highly-anticipated debut novel that tracks seven generations of women, with comps to Homegoing and The Love Song of W.E.B. DuBois
• An interdisciplinary exploration of why we click with the people we click with and how to be more in sync with those around us
• A radical new consideration of disability and neurodivergence

📚 Find more of the week’s most interesting new books.

Right now, Columbia members save $40 on orders of $200 or more. Shop the Annual Winter Sale and score deep discounts on gear for the whole family, like a down jacket with Omni-Heat Reflective lining. Don’t miss the biggest sale of the season at Columbia!

What is Herman Melville’s most famous short story about? Depends on who you are and who you ask.

Much like its titular main character, " Bartleby, the Scrivener" is a lot less straightforward than many modern interpretations would have you believe. When Bartleby says, "I would prefer not to," is he opting out of capitalism? Commenting on the dehumanizing nature of work? Being a weirdo just for the sake of it? Melville never tells us.

What you see in Bartleby is largely a product of what you want to see, and that’s part of the wonderful absurdity of the story. We had a hell of a time revisiting this English class staple on Zero to Well-Read, and we think you’ll have fun, too. Go ahead and give it a listen.

🏆 The nominees for the 98th Academy Awards were announced last week, and the Best Adapted Screenplay category is remarkably stacked.

Here are the nominated films and the works they’re based on.

• 📞 One Battle After Another, written by Paul Thomas Anderson: Based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. Pynchon is notoriously tricky, and this book is a RIDE. Here’s our conversation about it.
• ✒️ Hamnet , written by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell: Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s gorgeous five-alarm snot bomb of a novel. Go deep on the book, and hear our analysis of the film.
• 🚂 Train Dreams, written by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar: Based on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella. Don’t sleep on this one, folks. It’s quiet, striking, and remarkably lovely.
• 🧪 Frankenstein , written by Guillermo del Toro: Based on Mary Shelley’s classic novel. Here’s the story of how she invented science fiction at the ripe old age of 17.
• 👽 Bugonia, written by Will Tracy: Based on the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet!

👉 Remember, this is an award for the best screenplay that happens to be adapted from another work; it’s not about how well (or not) the movie adapts the original work. In fact, we should assume that the Oscar voters are not familiar with the original works at all. - RJS

Stop dreaming about your 2026 goals and start documenting them. Research shows you’re more likely to achieve what you write down—and Papier makes the process beautiful. From fitness tracking to financial milestones, turn your resolutions into reality, one page at a time. Shop now and take 20% off sitewide.

For those passionate about youth literature , the annual Youth Media Awards presented by librarians who are part of the American Library Association (ALA) are like the Grammys, the Emmys, and the Oscars all at once.

Over the course of the last year, librarians have dedicated their time and energy to reading a LOT of books. They engage in lively discussions about the requirements of the award for which they’re reading in order to determine which books deserve to be crowned the best of the best.
This year’s best of the best, announced yesterday, included:

• The John Newberry Award is for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children in a given year. All The Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson won, with The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser, A Sea of Lemon Trees by María Dolores Águila, The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri, and The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman earning honors
• The Randolph Caldecott Award is given to the artist/illustrator for the most distinguished American picture book for children. This year’s winner was Fireworks, illustrated by Cátia Chien and written by Matthew Burgess. Honors included Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan, Our Lake by Angie Kang, Stalactite and Stalagmite by Drew Beckmeyer, and Sundust by Zeke Peña.
• The Michael J. Printz Award is given to the most distinguished young adult literature of the year. The winner was Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, with honors for Cope Field by T.L. Simpson, The House No One Sees by Adina King, Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley, and Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout.

Dozens of awards and honors were handed out, including in categories for best informational book, best early reader books, best adult books for teens, and affinity awards, including the Stonewall Awards, the Pura Belpré Awards, the Coretta Scott King Awards, the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature, and the American Indian Youth Literature Awards.

Check out all of the winners, honors, and additional “best of” lists here. -KJ

Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning journalist and the founder of The Mattering Institute and The Mattering Movement. Her new book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose is out now.

Books are more than just stories—they’re bridges. In writing Mattering, I thought a lot about how books offer us a chance to build community around shared values and common struggles, like life transitions, losing a sense of purpose, and yearning for new ways to matter.

• Books can prompt deep reflection on who we are, what we stand for, and what gives our lives meaning. And they remind us of the values we may have drifted away from in the busyness of our daily lives, helping us articulate the kind of people and communities we want to build.

Here are three small ways book lovers can turn reading into connection:

1. Read in community. Books provide a natural scaffolding for belonging. Whether it’s a formal book club, a library circle, or a group chat trading favorite passages, reading together transforms a solitary act into a collective one. It creates space for reflection, empathy, and perspective, which are all the ingredients of a meaningful bond.

2. Share the story behind the story. When a book moves you, don’t just recommend it—tell a friend why it did. Share the lines you underlined or the questions it raised about your own life. When we reveal how a book has changed us, even in small ways, we invite others into our inner worlds where a deeper kind of connection begins.

3. Trace the ripple. Ask yourself: how did this book change how I see myself or others? Maybe it inspired a hard conversation - with yourself or someone else - or a small act of courage. Letting books shape our real-world opinions and choices—and sharing those effects—turns feelings of inspiration into a positive impact we can trace.

Get more of what you love. Join Book Riot All Access today to unlock an exclusive library of deep dives, community features, and the full Read Harder Challenge. The first 100 readers to sign up for an annual membership will receive a FREE copy of Good Intentions by Marisa Walz—a chilling thriller about a woman whose grief morphs into a predatory obsession. Don’t miss your chance to secure this twisted must-read and gain year-round access to the best of Book Riot. Sign up for an annual All Access membership today!

Did you know? Estes’s Women Who Run With the Wolves spent 145 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list, which was a record at the time.

🌺 Flowers wilt. Build your favorite person a custom Lego Minifigure this Valentine’s Day.**

📈 Dig into stats about the bestselling books by Black authors last year.

🙊 Brush up on your book club etiquette.

📘 Historical fiction fans, don’t miss these books about rule breakers and rebels.

💞 Here’s how to read the Bridgerton books in order.

_{** This is a product recommendation from the Book Riot team. When you buy through these links, we may earn a commission.}