Wondering what cottagecore books to read next? We’ve got you covered.
Cottagecorecore books are gentle, escapist reads. They’re invitations to slow down, unwind, sip a light drink (my go-to: Erin Gleeson’s lavender lemonade), and cozy up with a good story.
Spring is rain (heavy rain) and warm, wet days, but its highlight reel – bursts of blooms, sunlight, and birdsong – feels like a cottagecore Pinterest moodboard. So, here are twelve spring books that embrace the season’s joys, simplicity, and tenderness.
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L.m. mONTGOMERY
Anne Of Green Gables
Anne Of Green Gables is the definition of cottagecore: a warm, feel-good story set in a quiet, rural landscape. L.M. Montgomery’s descriptions of Avonlea, a fictional town with snug farmsteads, sweet air, and sloping meadows, are radiant (or, as Anne Shirley would say, “radiantly lovely”). Anne romanticizes everyday moments. She sees beauty in all things: mornings, ice cream, Octobers. And it’s her perspective (headstrong, determined, resilient, imaginative) that makes Anne Of Green Gables all the more charming.
Margaret Renkl
The Comfort Of Crows
The Comfort Of Crows is Margaret Renkl’s ode to the joy of outdoor spaces. Her essays span a year in her Nashville backyard and are full of memories and meanderings. The Comfort Of Crows quietly nudges you to zoom in on nature and observe its tiny shifts. Each essay is thoughtful, succinct, and paired with a full-color collage (pieced together by Margaret’s brother, Billy).
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Braiding Sweetgrass
Braiding Sweetgrass moves as slowly as a seedling pushing up against soil. This book feels like a labor of love but is not laborious to listen to. Robin Wall Kimmerer narrates the stories she’s absorbed as a scientist, a botanist, a professor, a mother, a daughter, and a citizen of the Potawatomi Nation. Her tone is gentle and soft and grandmotherly (think of Braiding Sweetgrass as a grown-up, bedtime, nightstand-nonfiction read).
Sarah Beth Durst
The Spellshop
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst leans fully into the cottagecore aesthetic—picture ribboned jars of jam, a vine-covered cottage, and a (sentient) houseplant. This standalone fantasy is steeped in magic and friendship and is most loved by those looking for sweet cottagecore romance books.
Anna Marie-McLemore
Wild Beauty
Wild Beauty is one of the best cottagecore books to read if you want to feel like you’re walking through a beautiful botanical garden. Anna Marie-McLemore’s prose is lush. Every inked line is enchanting, lyrical, and flower-filled. The story isn’t a mystery but is rooted in suspense (think: little reveals that feel like petals unfurling). A young boy found on the grounds of La Pradera forces generations of Nomeolvides women (who have long lived on the land and coaxed plants from its ground) to ask who he is, why he is here, and what he represents.
Mai K. Nguyen
Pilu Of The Woods
Pilu Of The Woods shares a comforting message: it’s okay not to be okay. When Willow meets Pilu, a runaway forest spirit, the two become friends and learn to listen to their feelings. Mai K. Nguyen’s art conveys Willow’s mental health challenges (her anger, frustration, grief, and fears) and brims with leaves shaped like teardrops, grass colored in the gentlest greens, and mushrooms capped in pastel browns.
J.R.R. Tolkein
The Hobbit
When it comes to cottagecore fantasy books, The Hobbit is a long-time favorite. Hobbits are little furry-footed people with good-natured faces and deep, fruity laughs. And Bilbo, the reluctant hero of The Hobbit, spends his days partaking in cozy cottagecore activities: drinking tea and baking seed cakes. J.R.R. Tolkein’s first published novel is full of laughter, singing, and cheerfulness, a merry mood that doesn’t stop, even when Bilbo does “wish to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”
Becky Chambers
A Psalm For The Wild-Built
A Psalm For The Wild-Built and A Prayer For The Crown-Shy are two more of my favorite books of all time. Sibling Dex moves with the rhythms of a tea monk. They travel from village to village on an ox-bike wagon, set up a folding table at each stop, lay out tins of tea, and listen to townspeople’s worries. Dex’s life is good, but they still want more. Becky Chambers’ soothing sci-fi duology explores the question: does having more matter in a world where people have what they want?
k. O’Neill
The Tea Dragon Society
Set aside an evening, brew a warm mug of jasmine or chamomile tea, and prepare to smile until your cheeks hurt while binging The Tea Dragon Series, a trio of comics blanketed in cozy, fantasy world-building (there are dragons!) and cute, cottagecore art.
Kalynn Bayron
This Poison Heart
This Poison Heart shakes up the twee tales of the cottagecore aesthetic and jabs in a twisted fairytale edge. Brooklyn high school student Briseis can transform seeds into blooms with her fingertips, but when her aunt passes away, she finds herself entangled in a world of poisonous plants and brutal botanicals. This Poison Heart gives The Secret Garden’s core a moody, gothic spin.
Elizabeth Von Arnim
The Enchanted April
Next, The Enchanted April (our Eden Travel Book Club April pick). If you love Jane Austen’s writing for her wit and comedy, give Elizabeth Von Arnim a try. The Enchanted April is a light read, a springtime dreamscape basked in sunlight and wisteria. Lottie Wilkins trades London’s wet, rainy days for the bright shores of The Mediterranean. There, she shares a beautiful medieval Italian Castle with three other holidaying women so her dream cottagecore vacation can become a reality. I love the first three-fourths of The Enchanted April for its charm, optimism, budding friendships, and transportive descriptions of the San Salvatore.
Beatrix Potter
The Tale Of Peter Rabbit
I revisited The Tale Of Peter Rabbit a few years ago after seeing Drawn To Nature, a touring Victoria & Albert Museum exhibition focused on Beatrix Potter’s love of plants and wildlife. Published in 1901, The Tale Of Peter Rabbit is a simple children’s picturebook. But walking past watercolors, inks, and prints (that influenced Miss Potter) showed me how much observation was involved in each little illustration. Miss Potter helped pave the way for cottagecore books; her stories are cozy, nostalgic, and memory-unlocking.
Did you enjoy this list of cottagecore books? What are your favorite cottagecore books? Let me know in the comments below!
