search-icon

8 Rainy Day Reads for When You Don’t Want to Leave Home

by  | April 19

There’s nothing like stormy weather to make you wish you were cuddling up with a warm drink, a soft blanket, and a good read. Or maybe you’re the type of person who grabs the closest thriller and lights candles for maximum effect during a storm. Or heck, maybe you’re the kind of person who needs a little humor to deal with being stuck inside. Rainy-day reads are a type of book, but what that book is can vary for person to person, and sometimes storm to storm. I’ve decided to build a list that accounts for all different types of rainy-day readers and moods, so hopefully you’ll have some options when it’s time to stay indoors (or venture out, for you brave souls).

Supermarket

Supermarket

by Bobby Hall

Rainy Days

If you’re the type of reader who uses rainy days to finally tackle that book with all the hype around it, then Supermarket is going to be your pick. Written by Bobby Hall, a.k.a. the rapper Logic, the story follows a 24-year-old depressed man working at a grocery store. As he begins to write a novel about said grocery store, more and more peculiar things start to happen to the typical patrons. Finding himself ensnared in a strange mystery, this pop-culture-loving narrator with a wry sense of humor leads us down a rabbit hole of psychological twists and turns.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logoBookshop logo
Dear Committee Members

Dear Committee Members

by Julie Schumacher

Rainy Days

There’s nothing like reading book on a rainy day in one go, the storm outside a great excuse to pick up that short novel you’ve been saving. Hopefully, at the top of that pile is Dear Committee Members, a story told entirely in recommendation letters and other correspondence from a wry and somewhat egotistical English professor. Dr. Jason T. Fitger is the kind of narrator who you can’t help but love and loathe at the same time—he constantly belittles others with sharp but clever turns of phrase. But the book, the winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, also has a lot of heart, and will leave you a little stunned but ultimately satisfied. It’s the kind of read that calls for a good cup of tea…and maybe a little whiskey on the side.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logo
My Favorite Half-Night Stand

My Favorite Half-Night Stand

by Christina Lauren

Rainy Days

There’s nothing like some sexy banter, hijinks, and will-they/won’t-theys to make a rainy afternoon fade away. Millie Morris is a serial killer expert and professor who ends up falling for one of her closest friends after a “half-night” stand that ends in an agreement to stay friends. In a plot twist, the same friend inadvertently connects with Millie on her online dating profile…where she’s pretending to be someone else. Sweet, thoughtful, and witty, My Favorite Half-Night Stand takes the reader on a journey of vulnerability, acceptance, and yes, love where you last thought to look.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logoBookshop logo
Wishful Drinking

Wishful Drinking

by Carrie Fisher

Rainy Days

If that new trailer for the new Star Wars movie didn’t make you miss Carrie Fisher, then I am sad for you. But for the rest of us, one of the best ways to celebrate the life of this radical icon is to read her books. Besides being a talented actress and fantastic feminist role model, Fisher was also a phenomenal writer, who crafted her own works of fiction and nonfiction as well as helped edit film scripts. Get a dose of her wit and charm with this memoir, which documents her life from childhood to stardom and everything after, including her struggles with mental illness and her victories big and small. The perfect read to brighten up a dark and dreary day.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logoBookshop logo
House on Fire

House on Fire

by Bonnie Kistler

Rainy Nights

On rainy nights, there’s nothing quite like getting buried in a dark novel, and House on Fire plunges the reader into a deeply unnerving story line. Leigh and Pete, two divorcées with children, find love with each other. But when Pete’s son ends up in a drunk driving accident, killing Leigh’s daughter in the process, Leigh isn’t sure how to feel. However, when Pete’s son, now charged with manslaughter, blames Leigh’s daughter, saying she was the one driving, the house is torn along family lines. But what really happened that night, and will the family survive? As the storm rages on outside, so too will this heart-wrenching tale of family, secrets, and loss.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logoBookshop logo
No Exit

No Exit

by Taylor Adams

Rainy Nights

We’ve all had the moment when we feel like something is amiss, but we can’t quite place why. Most of the time, it’s nothing, but for Darby Thorne, her gut instinct is right. On her way to see her dying mother, she finds a young girl locked in the back of a van that is parked next to her car while she is waiting out a blizzard at a rest stop in Colorado. Who can Darby trust in this battle for a child’s life? If this sounds like the kind of gripping thriller that will improve a good dark and stormy night, then you’ll love the twists and turns of the book too much to put down, even just to double-check your locks.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logo
The Cheerleaders

The Cheerleaders

by Kara Thomas

Rainy Nights

The death of a teenager is tragic. The death of five, all of them cheerleaders on the same squad, is deeply harrowing. Kara Thomas’s The Cheerleaders follows the aftermath of these deaths, from the perspective of Monica, the sister of one of the cheerleaders. Five years later, and now a high school cheerleader herself, Monica finds herself drawn back to the mysterious deaths of her sister and her sister’s squad. And while the mystery is intriguing, the real draw of the book is the humanity of the characters, and its hard look at how grief affects a family. A haunting portrayal of how lives connect, and the things we do as we continue to mourn, this read will have you hooked long after the storm has passed.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logo
The Last

The Last

by Hanna Jameson

Rainy Nights

Imagine texting your loved one, only to find out minutes later that there has been a nuclear bomb that has likely killed them as well as millions of others across the U.S. and Europe. Jon faces this dilemma as he is trapped in a Swiss hotel in the middle of nowhere with twenty other survivors. But it doesn’t end there—two months later, they find a young girl dead in the hotel’s water tank, and no one knows why. This novel asks the question of who we will be when the world seems to be coming to an end, and shows how fear can shape a group’s actions. You might even start to feel a little trapped yourself as the group begins to grow even more hostile and afraid—but at least you can still step out into the rain and get a breath of fresh air…before getting back to reading, that is.

Amazon logoBarnes & Noble logoBooks a Million logoBookshop logo

Photo Credit // Photo by Deva Darshan on Unsplash

Categories // Bookish Lists

Tagged // • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Love to get lit... erary? Sign up to get the latest delivered to your inbox!
A reporter by trade, Sara Roncero-Menendez is a lover of horror, sci-fi, and all things pop culture. From indies to classics to even the strangest genre pieces, all movies, TV shows, and books are fair game for a binge-fest. Follow her on Twitter @sararomenen or at her website, www.sara-roncero-menendez.com
Read these articles next: