Atmospheric Backlist Books for Winter Reading
I don’t know if you’ve checked your weather app lately or been outside (I hope not!) but (assuming you’re located in the U.S.) temperatures are quite frigid right now. Friday brought warnings, watches, and advisories for the entire contiguous United States and now that the blizzard producing system is moving out a polar vortex has moved in bringing extremely cold temperatures from sea to shining sea.
While I don’t like to be out in the winter, I do like to stock up on wintery reads, stories that transport me to chilly places, books that feel like winter. My favorite way to experience winter is from the comfort of my home, cozied down with a book that pairs well with the season.
Here are 7 backlist recommendations:
Beartown by Fredrik Backman (2017)
When I think winter, I think Beartown. Hockey rinks and wintery forest, a violent act and a mystery that upends this small town filled with memorable characters. Beartown is the first in a trilogy that could hold you rapt all winter.
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The Drift by C.J. Tudor (2023)
The Drift is a backlist book, but just barely, published in January of last year. This gripping horror thriller is essentially 3 locked-room survival mysteries set against the backdrop of a snowy viral apocalypse. I could not turn the pages fast enough!
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Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan (2021)
This historical fiction offers a story within a story within a story featuring a brother and sister in 1950 England, references to the children’s classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (also an excellent wintery read!), and interweaves real events from author C.S. Lewis’s life. A supremely cozy story centering the magic of storytelling.
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Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy (2020)
Literary CliFi set in a near future world where most of the animal kingdom is wiped out due to human interference. A young woman boards one of the last deep sea fishing vessels to follow what is predicted to be the last migration of Arctic Terns, birds who have an unfathomably long migration route, traveling between the North and South Poles each year. Atmospheric, tense, layered, and gorgeously written.
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The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (2023)
An Irish neighborhood in NYC is hit by a blizzard. Amidst heavy snows and power outages, Malcolm, proprietor of a local bar, struggles under the weight of his business and a deal gone sour, grapples with the news that his wife, Jess, who recently left him, is now dating a fellow lawyer. Jess is wrestling with disappointments of her own after years of infertility struggles. Just as everything shuts down Malcolm and Jess hit an inflection point which will determine their path forward. An emotional story about small town life and community, dreams and the realities that come after the happily ever after.
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These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant (2021)
A man and his young daughter live alone together in a remote cabin in the woods. They have no outside contact with the world save for an old army buddy who owns the property and stops by on the same day once a year to restock them with food and other essentials. One year he doesn’t show, threatening their existence in unforeseen ways. I inhaled this atmospheric suspense story.
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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherin Arden (2017)
An enchanting fairytale inspired by Russian folklore. Set in the medieval Russian wilderness in the deep of winter about a young woman able to communicate with and derive powers from traditional mythological creatures at a time when the Orthodox Church was trying to end paganism. This incredibly atmospheric historical fantasy is the first in a trilogy, but can be appreciated as a stand alone.
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What are your favorite atmospheric winter reads?
That Bookish Life 