1. Get Cozy Take your favorite book, make a cup of cocoa, get a fire going, and take a seat by the window where you can watch the snow falling.  This works better for the first couple snow days, but is less effective when you’re on the sixth in 3 weeks.
  2. Weather Escapism It’s the perfect time to pull out a series set in the Miami sunshine. The South Florida mystery is practically its own genre. Try Carl Hiaasen or Elaine Viets.
  3. Entire World Escapism Fantasy and alternate worlds can help you forget about how awful your current one is. Bonus points for a desert planet.
  4. It Could Be Worse Go full-on apocalyptic. Plagues, violence, society falling apart at the seams. The danger here is that it might start to feel a little bit too close to reality.
  5. Go Full Ingalls Appreciate the relative comfort of your home with its central heating system and electricity by marathon-reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Maybe by the time you finish The Long Winter, it’ll be spring.
  6. Doorstop Time You know that big book, the big fat one that you bought with excellent intentions and never read? Maybe it’s The Goldfinch or (in my case) that Einstein biography, but now you’ve finally got no excuse. Open up that puppy and dig in. It’s better than digging through the snow.
  7. Free Fun Get 10 free Kindle books, read the first chapter of each one, and then finish the one you like the best. The free book list can take some patience to work through- luckily you’ve got time to spare.
  8. Repent of Your Sins of Omission That copy of Don Quixote you bought and never finished? The first volume of Proust you’ve always meant to get to? Scratch one book off your never-finished list.
  9. Educate Yourself Do some educational reading on Seasonal Affective Disorder, Meteorology, or Climate Change. At least this way when you get back to a normal life you’ll have all kinds of interesting tidbits to share.
  10. Embrace the Chaos Just read The Shining and be done with it. You’ve never been in a better situation to judge its accuracy.