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Speaking of books, which one would you choose? By the wonderful Grace Farris.
P.S. My favorite author and CoJ readers’ favorite books.
Winter Books
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its so funny
We used to get the I Spy book for our daughter. Similar to the Where’s Waldo concept, but beautiful photos of many small items and a list of what to find in each photo. We loved those and would spend lots of time poring over the photos.
For the last six winters I’ve read the Harry Potter Series, I can’t not. It brings such wonderful memories of when my son (now 26) and I read them together when they were published. I’ve turned to audible for this yearly venture, which has brought a whole new joy to the process. I’ll be 50 this year and I truly hope I do this for the rest of my life.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a juicy “tropical” book?
The Unhoneymooners was a really funny romp. (rom-com genre)
oh and Euphoria by Lily King. It takes place in Papua New Guinea. It’s not juicy per se, but so good!
Yes! Elin Hilderbrand has a 3 book series set on St. John’s called the Paradise series. I read them last winter and they scratched that travel itch for me during deepest, darkest Covid times.
The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy by Katherine Arden. I reread them last winter and they were the PERFECT winter read!
I’d love a trip to the Isle of Skye so think I’d opt for the 600 page Scottish Romance novel. I’m really enjoying the Lucinda Riley series of books at the moment…..starts out in Geneva but not a murder mystery. Loving all these recommendations though!!
The Scottish romance one made me giggle because I was JUST thinking about rereading the first Outlander…even though I just reread it six months ago. And am rewatching the series. (I am forever amused that I share a name with the main character—the fact that Jamie says “Claire” 50 million times per episode is a bonus!) If anyone’s got *other* Scottish romances to recommend…please send them my way!
Not quite as sexy as Outlander, but Jenny Colgan writes some cozy romance novels set in Scotland. :) I quite enjoyed 500 Miles from You, which is one of her newer ones, and The Christmas Bookshop was perfect for the holiday season.
The Outlander books draw heavily on The Lymond Chronicle, a six book series by the great Dorothy Dunnett set in 16th c Scotland, Europe and the Middle East. They’ve had a cult following for years, but now are moving from great “historical fiction” to “great fiction.” Read them in order and prepare to fall under their spell.
I’ve been working my way through Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series also (since February 2021). I live in Quebec and *love* that its set here in the province. I’m getting ready to start 16 out of 17.
I definitely am another vote for the Louise Penny books, I need to pace myself before I read them all and have to wait for her to write more. Also want to give a big thanks to whomever on a previous book thread recommended Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I am loving it so much and have stayed up way too late this workweek reading.
Jane Eyre. I re-read it every winter it seems. I don’t read the whole thing every year (usually only a chapter or two), but it’s what I pull out when it’s cold outside! And another recommendation for Louise Penny – just finished #5 in the series yesterday and they are just the perfect cozy mystery series.
Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone is soooooo good for snowy days. It’s giant and will pull you right in!
I once saw Where’s Waldo wallpaper. I was mesmorized!
oh my gosh, would make me insane! haha
Just here for the book recommendations….👀
i love saving “‘winter” books to read…i have on hold the Louise Penny’s series..i’ve read a couple but wanted to save them for now. Wintering by Katherine May..looking for more cozy mysteries..sounds right with thick socks , a simmering pot on the stove, and a hot drink..maybe some snacking cake or a scone…love them all!
My husband recently bought a Where’s Waldo book at the airport. He went to buy a magazine for our 2 hour flight and returned with a Where’s Waldo book. For reference, we don’t have kids and we are in our late 30s. We had the best flight ever with that book — better than in flight movies or in flight cocktails, to be honest. Both of us noses down in this shared book excitedly trying to find the key or the bone or the binoculars. This was also a reminder of why we’re such a good match — I never would have spent money on a silly book like Where’s Waldo, but he did, and he made that flight and my life so much more fun for it.
Love this!
Ooh, I’ll take a hit of Jamie Fraser (in or out of a kilt) any day of the year…winter or summer, Thankyouverymuch.
I picked up the new book, but can’t seem to jump into it. Don’t know if it’s the length that has me intimidated or the fact that I read the last one more than seven years ago. How was it? Worth it obviously.
Meghan – Bees is definitely slower paced than some of the other Outlanders. The first 200 pages are just reacquainting us with the people and time of Fraser’s Ridge. I didn’t feel compulsively driven to barrel through it, but looked forward to sinking into a few chapters every evening. Yes, worth it!
Well…I’ll sheepishly admit that I’ve not even seen the new one and haven’t even tracked down a copy of it yet. But 7 and 8 took me a while to really get into–a few weeks of slogging through the first few chapters. The longer the books get, the longer it takes to really get involved with it.
I’m slowly pacing myself through the new Diana Gabaldon.
There are sections I’m drawn to, and sections I try to stop myself from skimming through.
I love the day to day life on the ridge. Feeding people , clouts (diapers) the sweet moments of day to day life.
The actual revolutionary war, turncoats, spying, just leave me lukewarm. What I’ve found with this series, is the absolute luxury of going back and forth through the series, and finding things I missed, ot forgot about during previous reads.
It’s a treat for me to always have one of these novels in the the stack on my bedside table.
A bloody, Alpine thriller sounds marvelous right about now, are there any recommendations?
Ruth Ware’s “One by One” is one of my recent-ish favorites in this genre :) Lucy Foley’s “The Hunting Party” is not Alpine, but set in a snowy Scottish Highlands lodge and also fun!
I have no recommendation, but somewhere around 7th or 8th grade I definitely wrote a short murder mystery about someone getting killed on a ski lift! I hadn’t thought about that in probably 25 years.
I just read “the sanatorium”. A murder mystery set at a hotel that used to be a sanatorium for TB patients. Set in the Swiss alps
Echoing the “One by One” suggestion! Great thriller, fun to read!
Louise Penny’s novels set in (often snowy) Quebec have that snow+murder combo that might be just right. The first is “Still Life.”
A Solitude of Wolverines, by Alice Henderson. It is not Alpine, but it is an exciting winter thriller with a female protagonist set in the Northern US that has a wildlife conservation subplot. She heads out to study wolverines in the midst of a breakup. A good read!
Anything by Henning Markell!
No Exit by Taylor Adams.
Thank you for the recommendations! I DEVOURED One by One on Friday night, and I have The Sanitorium on the way, as well as a bunch of Kindle books in the queue for after I finish that one.
It’s not MY choice, but “Where’s Waldo?” is a huge hit with my preschooler. If you look for the supporting characters and the extra things in the back it’s a solid 30 minutes of ‘sittervising’ (term stolen from Busy Toddler on Instagram who is a winter heroine around here).
sittervising ahah, love it !
As they get older check out Pierre maze dectective. So much fun!
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