May We Suggest?

The cold can be depressing, but it also means cozy fires, hot drinks, comfy clothes and, above all, books. Lots of them. And once you’ve finished one, there’s another waiting for you. So if you love to read as we do, we thought we’d start something new and offer reading suggestions with each issue. We start off some seasonal and chilling reads for future fireside escapes.

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Winter’s Tale

by Mark Helprin
This novel has a magic all its own, and Helprin’s style is almost indescribable. The book opens with a burglary, but this long, long tale unfolds through history, eventually leading you into New York across the entire scope of the past century, and it does not let go. Follow the white horse…and Helprin’s mysterious, wonderful storytelling. This is the type of book you’ll read again and again

A Song of Fire and Ice

by George R.R. Martin
Considered the “American J.R.R. Tolkien,” Martin had his first book sexed up by HBO’s Games of Thrones, but not only are his latter titles less overstated; they’re better. There are shudderingly frosty places depicted, but also sunlit spots, action, desert landscapes, battles, and whoa-ful things that will whisk you from the fireside bergère right into Martin’s amazing universe. Not to mention dragons. Yes, dragons!

The Millennium Series

by Stieg Larsson
Thrilling, weird and wildly popular, the first book leads you to a chilling place, the second delves into the cold past of its hacker protagonist, and the third installment keeps you frozen in your armchair, mug in hand, on the edge of your seat. Peter Hoeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow, now celebrating its twenty-year anniversary, also will tickle your (freezing) bones in a similar way. The only colder climes just might be in Dan Simmons’s The Terror…delve into that Arctic tome at your own risk.

Doctor Zhivago

by Boris Pasternak
Perhaps the classic novel is best for winter, hmm? Well, Russia is very cold, but this sweeping yarn warms as it twines you through the snow because of the red thread of passion Pasternak wove smack into its middle. But, for more cold-weather prose from the land of eleven time zones, in this case with crime at its center, visit Martin Cruz Smith’s classic Gorky Park, and the world of Arkady Renko. You’ll be happy you’re snug indoors.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

by Lemony Snicket
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings or the His Dark Materials trilogy, the best books for the young conjuring fantasy universes, are also books best enjoyed by the young-at-heart. Add Lemony Snicket’s twisted tales to this list. Why? Because of the ambience, eccentricity and macabre world Count Olaf and the Baudelaire orphans inhabit. (And the Tim Curry-voiced audiobooks are great, too!) But the best thing about these novels? They read smoothly, and there are thirteen of them.