Winter Book Recommendations
The season for wrapping up warm when you go out and curling up with lots of blankets and hot drinks is here and so are we with some highly recommended books that are perfect for reading during the cold season. Ranging from folklore fantasy and ice cold zombies to ice rink romance, I’m sure there will be something here for you.
Wranglestone by Darren Charlton - A young adult apocalyptic book set around a frozen lake full of zombie thrills and a tender love story. The islands of Lake Wranglestone are a safe haven for those who are still alive, until winter arrives and the lake begins to freeze over, leaving an easy path for the restless dead to cross. This story follows Peter, one of few survivors of the apocalypse, he’s never felt like he belongs, missing the gritt and practicality that are needed to survive the new world. He’s nothing like his neighbour Cooper and when he is ordered to accompany Cooper to the mainland, they find more than just each other. They find something that forces the pair to question everything they know.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - A beautifully written histroical fantasy set in medieval russia interwoven with hints of the fairytale of Vasilisa the Beautiful and bringing to life the fairytale tropes of the wicked stepmother, the indomitable maiden and the promise in a whimsical way. The story follows Vasilisa, who lives at the edge of russian wilderness, where the winter lasts longer and the snowdrifts are taller. After her mother dies, her father goes on a trip to Moscow and brings home a new wife who forbids them from perfroming their family rituals to honour their homes spirits and in turn the crops start to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep closer and misfortune befalls the village. Vasilisa must defy the rules and use the gifts she has long-concealed to protect those she loves most from the ever increasing danger she senses.
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates - In this highly anticipated horror, Christa is trapped with eight strangers heading out on a tour into the Rocky Mountain when a bitterly cold snowstorm hits and the group is forced to find shelter in an isolated and abandoned hunting cabin. Christa hopes that they can endure the claustrophobic cabin and rapidly dropping temperature, but she soon finds out she’s wrong. During the night their tour guide goes missing, only to be discovered the next morning without his head. Christa isn’t just trapped in a storm, she’s trapped with a killer…and they’re only just beginning. Time is running out and Christa must decide who she trusts amongst these strangers before the frozen mountain becomes her tomb.
The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp - Described as ‘A mystery like a gingerbread house, rich and warm, sweet and dark.’ This cosy mystery is perfect for fans of Richard Osman and anyone who loves a delightfully batty character. The senior sleuths of Sunset Hall must solve one murder while solving another. When Agnes Sharp and the fellow old and unruly get a visit to inform them that a body has been found next door, everyone is secretly relieved because if the body is next door, it means the one in question is not the body in their sheds. Now all they must do is disover their neighbours murderer and pin their own murder on them to.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse - Le Sommet is a sinister place, half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks. The long abandoned sanatorium has now been turned into a five star hotel and it is the absolute last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she has no reason to decline an interruption from her brother and his fiancee, Laure to celebrate their engagement. There’s a storm building when Elin arrives, putting her immediately on edge but nothing strange occcurs until the following morning when everyone wakes to find Laure missing. The storm has stopped all contact to the outside world and Elin is under pressure to find Laure before anyone else goes missing.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman - A beautifully profound novel set in a little town with big dreams. A small community nestled in the forest is slowly losing ground to the trees around them but there stands on old ice rink by the lake built by the founders of this small town. The ice rink is the reason the community of Beartown believe tomorrow will always be better. Their junior ice hockey team is about to take part in the National semi-finals but bearing the burden of being responsible for all the peoples hopes and dreams is heavy and one match is the catalyst for a traumatized girl, leaving the town in complete turmoil. Accusations spur through Beartown, leaving no one unaffected.
From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata - Jasmine Santos is a figure skater and her window of opportunity to skate competively is closing quickly after seventeen years of broken bones and broken promises. Then a once in a lifetime offer appears. Unfortunately it appears tied to the arrogant idiot she’s daydreamed about pushing in front of a moving vehicle on countless occassions. But time is not on her side and Jasmine might have have to reconsider everything, including Ivan Lukov.