Seasonal Fiction

See also: Holiday and Seasonal Mysteries and Holiday and Seasonal Romance.

General Seasonal and Holiday Fiction

Atmospheric Fiction (The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH): Author and title for about 20 books about weather events, such as floods, drought, global warming, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards; from All around Me Peaceful by Kent Nelson to Typhoon by Joseph Conrad.

Holiday Reading Ideas (MyShelf.Com): Book suggestions for New Year's, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's, Easter, Mother's and Father's Days, Independence Day, Back to School, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (including Christmas Mysteries, Christmas romances, and other Christmas fiction). Books for adults, teens, and children. The plot of the books might be centered on the holiday or the holiday may be in the background. Author and title provided for most of the lists (few summaries).

Spring

Wedding fiction is on the Romance page.

It's Spring! (Susan Higgins, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO): A list of about 25 books set in the springtime, with author, title, and summary for each book, as well as notation concerning sex, language, and violence. From The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald to World's Spring, edited by Vladimir Gakov. Compiled March 2003, updated Jan. 2007.

Spring Fiction (Lansing PL, IL): 7-page PDF. Author, title, summary for about 25 books (mostly fiction) set in Spring, from Bluebeard's Egg and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood to Charles Kuralt's Spring by Charles Kuralt. Compiled March 2005, update May 2006.

My Shelf: St. Patrick's Day Fiction (MyShelf.Com): Author, title, summary for about 10 books, mostly mysteries, set around St. Patrick's Day.

My Shelf: Easter Fiction (MyShelf.com) : Author and title only for 7 titles. Also Easter mystery (about 15 titles) and Easter romance (about 10 titles).

Mothers in Fiction (Kingston Frontenac Public Library, ON, CN): Author, title, webcat link, cover image, summary for 10 novels featuring moms.

Mom's the Word (St. Charles PL, IL): Author and title only for about 45 novels featuring mothers, from In the Name of Salomé by Julia Alvarez to Piece of Work by Laura Zigman. Compiled May 2007.

Mothers and Daughters (Wake County PL, NC): Author, title, webcat link, and summary for about 10 books, from Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison to Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells.

Fathers' Fiction (Albany PL, NY): 'A selection of books about fathers in fiction and true stories of all kinds of dads.' Author, title, webcat link for about 30 fiction titles and about 10 non-fiction. Compiled June 2006.

Fathers in Fiction (Kingston Frontenac Public Library, ON, CN): Author, title, webcat link, cover image, summary for 23 novels featuring dads.

O My Papa (Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN): Stories about fathers. Author and title listed only for about 25 works of fiction featuring dads and 7 non-fiction books.

Who's Your Daddy? (St. Charles PL, IL): Author and title only for about 35 novels featuring fathers, followed by 6 non-fiction titles.

Fathers in Fiction (Karl G. Siewert, Fiction-L) Author and title only for about 40 novels. Compiled January 2004.

Summer

Books Set in Hot Climates (Northbrook Public Library, IL) : Excellent list, with separate categories for fiction, mystery, adventure, and non-fiction. Author, title, summary of each of 90 books.

Summer Porch Reading (Steven Jablonski, Skokie Public Library, IL): Author, title, pub. year, webcat link for about 20 novels 'of love, family, and friendship set in a beautiful place.' From Elizabeth Adler's Summer in Tuscany to Hilma Wolitzer's Summer Reading.

Warm Weather Reading (Springfield-Greene County Library, MO): Author, title, webcat link, cover image, summary for 15 novels set in the summer or in warm places, listed in title order, from A Delirious Summer: A Novel by Ray Blackston to The Summer We Got Saved by Pat Cunningham Devoto.

Independence Day

My Shelf: Independence Day Fiction (MyShelf.Com): Fiction for the Fourth (12 titles). Also Independence Day mysteries (about 15 titles) and Independence day romances (about 15 titles). Author and title listed only.

Fall

Labor Day

Labor Day at Your Library (C. Lee, Des Plaines Public Library, IL): Fiction about labour, big business, and unions. List of 13 books, with author, identification of genre, and summary of each. From James Lee Burke's Sunset Limited to Irving Stone's Adversary in the House.

The Labor Movement in Fiction (Deborah Stroup, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO): A list of about a dozen books, with author, title, and summary for each book, as well as notation concerning sex, language, and violence. In title order from The Desert of Wheat by Zane Grey to Wabash by Robert Olen Butler. Compiled Aug. 2002.

Halloween

See also Horror/Gothic page.

Halloween Happenings (Ginny Ryan, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO): A list of about 25 books on themes of 'haunted houses, graveyards, witches, ghosts and magic tricks.' Author, title, and summary for each book, as well as notation concerning sex, language, and violence. In title order from Moths by Rosalind Ashe to Strange Brew by Kathy Hogan Trocheck. Compiled Oct. 2005.

All Hallow's Reading: Books With a Ghostly Flavor (Kansas City Public Library): Author, title, webcat link, summary for about 20 titles, from Hangman's Root by Susan Wittig Albert to Strange Brew by Kathy Hogan Trocheck. Includes fiction, mysteries, horror, historical fiction.

Haunted American Tales (Springfield City Library, MA): Shorts stories and novels. Author, title, summary for about 20 books in all.

Halloween Picks (Springfield City Library, MA): Author, title, summary for 6 monster movies and 5 terrifying tales on tape; plus author and title for 16 fiction titles, including Lady Hilary's Halloween by Mona Gedney, The Wizard of La-La Land by R. Wright Campbell, and A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

Halloween Fiction (Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, MA): Author and title, with links to catalog info, for about 50 scary Halloween books from Kingsley Amis's The Green Man to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's vampire books.

Halloween Booklists for Adults (MyShelf.Com): Halloween Fiction. Also Halloween Mysteries and Halloween Romances. Author and title listed only. About 150 books listed in all.

Halloween Fiction (The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH): Author and title of fiction books in these categories: Haunted Places (12 books), Creepy Creatures (15 books), Halloween Night Novels (12), and Scary Short Stories (over 50 anthologies); from The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red by Ridley Pearson to A Whisper of Blood: 18 Stories of Vampirism ed. by Ellen Datlow.

Halloween Horror (Addison Public Library, IL): Author, title, brief summary, webcat link for a dozen books in two categories, Classic Chillers (5 books) and Modern Monstrosities (7 books). Compiled Oct. 2000.

Ghostly Tales for Spooky Fall Nights (St. Charles Public Library, IL): Authors, titles, summaries of 10 spooky books. Compiled Oct. 2000.

Halloween Books Halton Hills Public Library - Ontario, Canada) : Author, title, webcat link for about 15 novels with a Halloween theme (includes mysteries).

Ghosts, Ghouls, Vampires, Witches, And Werewolves (Des Plaines Public Library, IL): Author and title only, for about 25 mysteries and about 25 fiction works featuring these spooky creatures. Compiled 2001.

Things That Go Bump in the Night (St. Charles Public Library, IL): Authors and titles only (no summaries) of over 20 ghostly stories, including Beloved by Toni Morrison, Madeleine's Ghost by Robert Girardi, Margaret's Peace by Linda Hall, The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti, The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan, and Wings of Fire by Charles Todd, among others. Compiled Sept. 1999.

The Treat's on Us (St. Charles Public Library, IL): 'Spooky tales for Halloween.' Authors and titles only (no summaries) for about 20 novels, from Post-Mortem Effects by Thomas Boyle to All Hallow's Eve by Charles Williams. Compiled Oct. 1997.

Veterans' Day

Salute to Veteran's Day (Carol Mathews, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO): A list of about 15 titles, with authors and summaries for each book, as well as notation concerning sex, language, and violence. Compiled Oct. 2002.

Fiction Honoring Our Veterans (Des Plaines Public Library, IL): Title and author only for over 50 books about veterans and war service. Compiled 2001.

Lest We Forget: Stories of Veterans (Lake County PL, Merrillville, IN): Author and title only for about 35 books, organised by war (WWI and WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War).

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Fiction (Wake County PL, NC): Author, title, webcat link, and summary for about 10 books, from Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote to Snipe Hunt by Sarah Shaber.

Thanksgiving Fiction (Leane Ellis - Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, MA): Author, title, publication data, and links to catalog information on each of 10 novels or mysteries.

Fiction with a Thanksgiving Setting (Mary Rindfleisch, Ridgefield Library, CT - Fiction-L List): Compiled Nov. 2000. About 15 books listed, many mysteries.

My Shelf: Thanksgiving Fiction (MyShelf.com) : Author and title only for 12 titles. Also Thanksgiving mystery (about 30 titles) and Thanksgiving romance (about 30 titles).

Novels with Thanksgiving Settings (Mid-Continent PL, Independence, MO): Author and title only for about 15 novels, from Anthony Bruno's Bad Apple to Eleanor Stewart's The Fair Vision: a Frontier Story.

Winter

Winter and Snow

Winter Fiction (Lansing PL, IL): 19-page PDF. Author, title, summary for about 75 books set in Winter, from Fault Line by Sarah Andrews to Death of a Winter Shaker by Deborah Woodworth. Compiled Oct. 2004, update May 2006.

Below Zero: Stories of Cold and Snow (Teri Room, Skokie Public Library, IL): Author, title, pub. year, webcat link for more than 25 novels that use the cold to tell their stories, from Elizabeth Arthur's Antarctic Navigation to William T. Vollmann's The Ice-Shirt.

Winter Reads (Kent District Library, Comstock Park, MI): PDF. Author, title, webcat link, publication year, and summary for about 15 books about winter and snow. Compiled Oct. 2006.

Winter Tales (Ginny Ryan, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO): A list of about 35 books about 'people coping with the hardships of winter,' fiction and non-fiction, with author, title, and summary for each book, as well as notation concerning sex, language, and violence. In title order from Abandoned: The Story of the Greely Arctic Expedition, 1881-1884 by A.L. Todd to Winter Thunder by Mari Sandoz. Compiled Dec. 2006.

Winter Holiday Fiction and Literature (The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH): Author, title, and summary of Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's fiction, poetry, drama, etc. 3 Hanukkah books, over 85 Christmas books (sub-categorised), 1 Kwanzaa book, and 4 New Year's books.

Novels of Snow and Cold Weather (Carol Elmore, Newnan-Coweta Public Library, GA - Fiction-L List): Compiled Nov. 2000. List of about 110 fiction works and 15 non-fiction. Provides only author and title.

Books Set in Cold Climates (Northbrook Public Library, IL) : Excellent list, with separate categories for fiction, mystery, adventure, and non-fiction. Author, title, summary of each of 100 books.

Christmas

Christmas Fiction (Lansing PL, IL): 23-page PDF. Author, title, summary for about 120 books set at Christmas, from A Cat On Jingle Bell Rock by Lydia Adamson to We Wish You A Merry Murder by Valerie Wolzien. (There are lots of books that aren't mysteries.) Compiled Oct. 2005.

Deck the Halls with ... Books! (Lynne M. Kennedy, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY): Christmas fiction (novels and short story collections) in sections: General (39), Romance (21), and Mystery and Suspense (32). Author, publication info, and summary for each.

Christmas Fiction, Romance, and Mystery (Skokie Public Library, IL): Author, title, pub. year, webcat link for about 110 fiction, mystery and romance novels, and a few anthologies. Updated March 2006.

Home for the Holidays (Susan Higgins, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO): Lists 11 titles, mostly fiction, with authors and summaries for each book. Authors include Jan Karon, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, Richard Paul Evans, et al. Compiled Dec. 2003. See also Heartwarming Holiday Stories, with about 20 titles by authors including Maeve Binchy, Prudence Mackintosh, Helen Norris, Pearl Buck, Penelope Stokes, Jostein Gaarder, et al. Compiled Dec. 2001.

Winter Holiday Fiction (Springfield City Library, MA): All Christmas novels. Author, title, summary for about 15 books in all.

Holiday Fiction (Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, MA): Books 'with a Christmas, Hanakkuh, or Kwanzaa theme' listed as General Fiction (about 70 books), Mystery (about 80 books), or Romance (about 30 books). Author, title, publication data, webcat links.

Christmas Books Halton Hills Public Library - Ontario, Canada) : Author, title, webcat link for about 80 novels with a Christmas theme (includes mysteries).

Holiday (Christmas) Fiction (Des Plaines Public Library, IL): Title, author, and summary for 12 adult fiction works and 6 mystery selections.

'Tis the Season: Novels, Mysteries and Stories With a Christmas Theme (Madison Public Library, WI): Author, title, and publication year. General Fiction titles: 60; Mystery titles: 58; and 16 Short Stories.

Holiday Fiction: Christmas (Tulsa City-County Library, OK): Provides authors, titles, and webcat links for 30 novels or collections with a Christmas theme; over 50 Christmas mysteries; and 4 Christmas romances.

My Shelf: Christmas Fiction (MyShelf.com) : Christmas sci-fi/fantasy, general fiction, non-fiction. Also lists of Christmas mysteries and Christmas romances. Author and title only.

Open Anytime You're in a Holiday Mood! (St. Charles Public Library, IL): Authors and titles only (no summaries) for about 20 Christmas mysteries, by authors including Susan Wittig Albert, Andrew Greeley, Jeanne Dams, James Patterson, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, Maeve Binchy, Sandra Brown, more. Compiled Nov. 2000.

New Year's Day

My Shelf: New Year's Day Fiction (MyShelf.com) : Author and title only for about 15 titles. Also New Year's mysteries (about 45 titles) and New Year's romances (about 45 titles, plus about 15 more anthologies).

Presidents Day

See Biography / Autobiography - Presidential Fiction.

Valentine's Day

See also Romance page

For Your Valentine (St. Charles Public Library, IL): Annotated list of 23 books (plus another 20 or so without comments) that have the words rose or chocolate in them.

My Shelf: Valentine's Day Fiction (MyShelf.com) : Author and title only for 8 fiction Valentine's books. Also about 25 Valentine's Day mysteries and about 90 Valentine's Romance books, plus a slew of romance anthologies focused on Valentine's day.