I love the winter.

The cold.

The snow.

The quiet.

The absolute COZY vibes, glimmering gloriously and on-point. 

One of my favorite things to do during the coziest of seasons is to curl up with a good book in my armchair by the window, sip on a mug of hot apple cider, and watch the snow falling through the soft lamplight.

But what to read?! 

You've heard of, “Beach Reads”, yes. But do I want to read about someone's spicy summer vacation on the beach while I am living my best cozy winter life? No! I absolutely do not, my dear frost-bitten reader.

Beach reads? Out. Zip up those parkas and step adventurously out into this snowstorm of “WINTER READS”. <<the ice in my veins shimmers and sparkles in anticipation>>

Without further saucy ado (...but make no mistake, saucy ado is my specialty), here are a few of my favorite Winter Reads:

1) Ways to Hide in Winter, by Sarah St. Vincent

This is my gold-medal-award-winner for Winter Reads. It is The Most Atmospheric Book I have ever read in my long and chilly life. You can cut the atmosphere in this debut-novel with a knife and drop a chunk into your hot cocoa, like marshmallow cream. It is set in winter (yes, it's true), and our intrepid narrator works alone in a small convenience/camping store in the isolated privacy of a state park. She walks with a limp. She trudges through the snow. She lays down on frozen lakes. She drives down icy roads, all largely in silence (so many of my favorite winter activities in one book). There's also a mystery to her that we can't quite place…and as her quiet, wintery, world is jarred by the presence of a stranger, we see the frozen pieces holding her in place begin to thaw. They threaten to destroy everything around her in an avalanche if they give. But turns out she isn’t the only one with secrets…and there is more than her own internal winter at stake.

2) The Alex Carter Series, by Alice Henderson

A wildlife biologist takes remote jobs in cold places, drawing on an usual childhood and a ragtag group of interesting friends that develop with each story. Plus questionable frenemies (my favorite kind!) and *science*! What’s not to love?! Dr. Alex Carter’s clever adventures and McGuyver-esque antics are an absolute delight and I’m thrilled to see her running amok in at least four novels in this series thus far:

a) A Solitude of Wolverines: Do you feel like holing up all alone (...or perhaps not alone, which may be worse) in a spooky, abandoned, ski chalet deep in the Rocky Mountains and solving wildlife mysteries? YEAH YOU DO. Jump on in! There is So. Much. Snow. Packed. Adventure.

b) A Blizzard of Polar Bears: POLAR. BEARS. Y’ALL. We are grabbing that wintery dial and cranking it right on up to 11 in here. Add in some Northern Lights, spicy frenemies, and climate science?! Hell yeah. Speaking of, hell has even frozen over in anticipation of reading this book. Hell and I both highly recommend it (Hell and I are separate entities…I swear…). <<shifty eyes>> <<wipes totally normal sweat from brow>>  

c) A Ghost of Caribou: It’s Caribou, y’all! In the north. Save some fantastic beasts with Dr. Alex Carter and her science! Go on now, git! These books aren't going to read themselves, people. <<looks at you expectantly over my glasses>> <<...slowly winks>> 

d) A Prowl of Jaguars: Number four in the series is due to release in 2024, and will be set in New Mexico. <<very excited>>

3) The Ice Queen, by Alice Hoffman 

Ok, so maybe this one isn't your traditional winter’s tale...or is it? Written with fairytale-like prose, the plot’s internal avalanche is triggered on a winter night by an uncontrollable slide of tires on an icy road. Even after we change settings to a region where there's little cold at all, even in winter, the powerful theme of ice remains constant. It is lodged in the practical heart of our narrator (a chaotic-neutral librarian), The Ice Queen. Yet suddenly, The Ice Queen and a silver-hot lightning bolt both have to reside within her at the same time. As we all know: this kind of internal conflict is going to lead to some absolutely delicious chaos. And who doesn't like a chaotic librarian? No one, that’s who. Enjoy this sumptuously written, icy, treat.