Wintery Books -- BOOK THOUGHTS

 BOOK THOUGHTS

Wintery Books

Snow is coming!

It is supposed to snow here in Portland this week, although I've been fooled already this winter. If it does snow, it will be a big deal for us. As cold, wet, and gray as Portland winters are, we can go whole seasons without a snowflake. When we do get snow, three to four inches can shut down the city. Yes, much of the shutdown is because we aren’t equipped to deal with it. But I grew up in the Midwest and the snow we get here is not like Midwest snow. 

Here, the snow usually comes when it has been raining and then the temperature drops. So first the wet streets freeze, then we get an inch or so of snow on top of that ice. That's bad enough. But then it thaws just enough to make the snow wet before it freezes again. That's when we get the ice/snow/ice sandwich. It's incredibly slippery and this is a hilly city. Forget winter tires or four wheel drive. It's just ice and it’s treacherous. 

Personally, I love a good snow day (or even a snow week). I have no place to go and no kids to entertain, so as long as the pantry is stocked (and the liquor cabinet), I’m happy to curl up with a good book and wait for everything to melt.

The forecast will most likely change and we will get more rain, not snow. But just in case, I made a stack of wintery books. See any here you’d read while the snow’s coming down?

• The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

• Ice Palace by Edna Ferber

• The Winter of our Discontent by John Steinbeck

• The Case of the Abominable Snowman by Nicholas Blake

• There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes

• Blood Upon the Snow by Hilda Lawrence

• Chilled to the Bone by Quentin Bates

• Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley

• If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Colvino

• In Cold Domain by Anne Fine

• The Ice Saints by Frank Tuohy

• Snow Angels by James Thompson

• Chilly Scenes of Winter by Ann Beattie

• Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indriðason

• A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

• Frozen Tracks by Åke Edwardson

• Wintersmoon by Hugh Walpole

• The Cold Millions by Jess Walter

Just seeing these gathered together make be want to put on a wooly sweater, curl up in front of the fireplace with a warm beverage, and get to reading!

What winter mix of books can you find on your shelves?