Sunday 10 January 2016

Update on books with snow settings

One of my favourite settings in books I read is that of a wintery, 'snowy' setting. There's nothing like sitting in a comfy chair beside the fire reading about snowstorms or what the world looks like for people the next morning and how they go about their business or even survive the coming weeks! (Think The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder.) When I saw this Waterstones post on Facebook about books with a snowy setting it reminded me that I had done my own post about snowy books a few years ago. But time flies and when I actually checked I found it was back in 2009! Definitely time for an update, so here goes...

Crime:

Snow Blind - P.J. Tracy
The Virgin in the Ice – Ellis Peters
The Sittaford Mystery – Agatha Christie
The Nine Tailors – Dorothy L. Sayers
After the Fine Weather – Michael Gilbert
The Tenderness of Wolves – Stef Penney
Dead Cold – Louise Penny
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow – Peter Hoeg
Ghosts in the Snow – Tamara Siler Jones
Death and the Dancing Footman – Ngaio Marsh
A Christmas Journey - Anne Perry
Raven Black - Ann Cleeves
Death at Wentwater Court - Carola Dunn
Ice Cold - Tess Gerritsen
Mystery in White - J. Jefferson Farjeon
Sworn to Silence - Linda Castillo
The Cold Dish - Craig Johnson
In the Bleak Midwinter - Julia Spencer-Fleming
The Virgin of Small Plains - Nancy Pickard
The Wolf in Winter - John Connolly
White Heat - M.J. McGrath
Iron Lake - William Kent Krueger


General Fiction:

Ordinary Wolves – Seth Kantner
Dr. Zhivago – Boris Pasternak
Light on Snow – Anita Shreve
A Winter in the Hills – John Wain
The Adventures of Captain Hatteras – Jules Verne
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Sylvester - Georgette Heyer
Winter at Thrush Green - Miss Read
A Country Christmas - Miss Read
Once Upon a Christmas - Sara Morgan
The Abominable - Dan Simmons
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
Winter People Jennifer McMahon
The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey


Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror:

The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula Le Guin
The Fifth Elephant – Terry Pratchett
The Forbidden Tower - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Helliconia Winter - Brian W. Aldiss
The Mountains of Majipoor - Robert Silverberg
The Terror Dan Simmons
The Winter Haunting - Dan Simmons


Children's/Young Adult:

The Long Winter – Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Snowman - Raymond Briggs
North Child – Edith Pattou
Predator’s Gold – Philip Reeve
At the Back of the North Wind – George MacDonald
Northern Lights – Phillip Pullman
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Wintersmith – Terry Pratchett
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
The Call of the Wild – Jack London
The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper
The Snow Queen – Hans Christian Anderson
Winter Holiday – Arthur Ransome
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken
The Rat-A-Tat Mystery - Enid Blyton
No Such Thing as Dragons - Philip Reeve
The Dead of Winter - Chris Priestley
Magyk - Angie Sage


Short Stories:

The Triumph of Night - Edith Wharton

I haven't actually added the Waterstones ones, will check them out properly soon and possibly add them. And there must be more for each category. 'Loads' more. So if anyone can think of any, do please leave a comment.

And just to liven this post up with an illustration or two, here're a couple of my favourite snowy book covers:



~~~oOo~~~

9 comments:

DesLily said...

I see you remembered The Golden Compass (Northern Lights) I really liked that series don't know why I didn't remember them! How about A Christmas Carol?

Cath said...

Yeah, I put that there in 2009 but the movie of The Golden Compass was on TV recently so it was fresh in my mind too. Pity they never made the other books into movies. A Christmas Carol is already there. LOL

DesLily said...

just goes to prove I don't retain what I read even for a few moments!!!


Cath said...

Makes two of us, Pat. LOL!!!

Judith said...

What a splendid list! I am copying it into my "Stormy Books" file. I have a number of titles I could share and I should focus a blog post on the topic and list the books I want to read and have read.
I agree that The Long Winter is one of the penultimate "snowy winter" books. I've reread it so many times, and it never ceases to amaze me.
I love the Angela Thirkell cover and must read that one.
While I'm typing this comment, I can't look at your post, so I may have to reply to myself.
Thank you for putting this together!
Judith (Reader in the Wilderness)

Cath said...

Glad you enjoyed my list, Judith. I hope you do your blog post as I'd love to hear about the wintery books you like or want to read.

I was bowled over by The Long Winter. An amazing tale of extreme weather and extreme hardship. It's by far my favourite snowy winter book. I must reread it soon.

Peggy Ann said...

Great list, Cath! I loved Mystery in White. Read Winter People and Light on Snow, both good. I too love a good snowy story and wicked thunderstorms:)

Penny O'Neill said...

This is a marvelous list; some old favorites of mine, especially "The Long Winter" and "Little Women", but, "Snow Falling on Cedars" is one I would love to go back to. I'm so glad you posted this, Cath, and have bookmarked it.

Cath said...

Peggy: I enjoyed Mystery in White too. I much prefer a wintery setting to a hot, summer setting in the books I read.

Penny: The Long Winter is still my favourite snowstorm book. I haven't read Snow Falling on Cedars. Deslily/Pat keeps encouraging me to so I must get to that this year. Glad you enjoyed the list.