Books for Snow Days
It’s not the fun kind of snow happening outside my windows today: a bit bleak, nothing fluffy, coming down in stinging sideways splinters. It is, however, the perfect day to stay in with a book, so here are a few of my favourite snowy reads.
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
I’m a broken record about this book, I know, but it’s so atmospheric and brilliant. It begins on Midwinter evening and the snow scenes are amazing. Written for children but with much for adults to enjoy, it’s a nostalgic treat if you loved it as a kid but a series worth discovering if you didn’t. The Backlisted podcast about it is fantastic.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
It’s not all snowy, but it’s all brilliant - and the frost fair scenes at the beginning are some of my favourite pages in the whole of literature. It’s a romp through five hundred years, with the main character swapping gender, and so playful and fun. I think Woolf has a reputation for being difficult that means this book doesn’t get the love it should from readers, but I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying it.
Frost Fair by Carol Ann Duffy
And then of course I have to add in this beautiful little book, which is everything you want it to be, with clever, evocative verse and beautiful illustrations.
Wintering by Katherine May
This excellent non-fiction book looks at periods of our lives when we need to hunker down and hibernate, to repair and rest. It feels so relevant to a locked down pandemic world, though it was written pre-Covid. With thought-provoking interviews and meditations on the art and literature of winter, there’s so much to ponder and be nourished by. I found it extraordinarily comforting and helpful. (I’ve nicked Katherine’s lovely photograph as I listened to the audiobook.)
Tiger by Polly Clark
This book was a thrill to work on. With narratives centred on traumatised zookeeper Frieda, hardy Russian conservationist Tomas, wild mother Edit who raises her daughter in the forest and a magnificent tigress, it will transport you to the snow-smothered Siberian taiga in one of the most immersive reading experiences I’ve ever enjoyed.
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis
Yes, another childhood comfort read - but in a season where it’s always winter and never Christmas I feel like we deserve it, no? Sod it, I’m going to order The Wolves of Willoughby Chase too.
The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting
Finally, here’s one from my TBR pile. I worked on Lars’ surprise bestseller Norwegian Wood which was about… well… wood. The beautiful way he wrote about wood and about the strange and ancient magic of wood fires - the smell, the sound, the flames - knocked me out. His fiction comes very highly recommended and this has a centuries-old stave church carved with pagan deities so - obviously - I’m in.
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