Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

You might be asking yourself why we are reading a book set in winter in the month of June.

Well, for our southern hemisphere friends, winter is just kicking off! And for the rest of us, sometimes during those sweltering summer days, it's nice to be transported to an icy setting.

Winter Book Lists: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/wi...
Cozy Up with a Good Book: https://sclibrary.bibliocommons.com/l...
16 Page Turners Set in the Snow: https://strongsenseofplace.com/2023/0...
Top 25 Best Winter Books of All Time: https://theliterarylifestyle.com/best...

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading for this prompt, and how does it fit?

According to my research, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo begins in autumn, progresses to winter (including the Feast of Sankt Nikolai), and concludes in spring. So, not a perfect fit, but close enough.

I may read:

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
or
Longbourn

but realistically it will probably be one I pick when I read a book and realize it takes place in winter and place it here


Actually I’m going to definitely slot
Five Winters here

I also have Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times for this prompt and also a bit of jollity, The Girl Who Saved Christmas

I'm planning on The Woods in Winter and Winter.

I've been meaning to read The Blue Fox for quite a while.

Note: Disappearing Earth has many votes on the listopia, but if memory serves, it was set over the course of a year with one chapter per month. (Winter is long there, so those chapters might be more memorable.)

I will read The Bell in the Lake. It’s set in Norway and the harsh winters play a large part in the novel according to the blurb.

I'll probably read one of these, or just a book I run into at the library.

The Half Moon - Mary Beth Keane
Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak
The Frozen Thames - Helen Humphreys

I'll try The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

I've chosen Cold Reckoning by Russ Thomas. It doesn't specifically say it's in the winter, but there's a body in a frozen lake and it's set near where I'm from - there's no way any lakes around there are freezing outside of winter or an ice age!

Emily wrote: "You might be asking yourself why we are reading a book set in winter in the month of June.

Well, for our southern hemisphere friends, winter is just kicking off! And for the rest of us, sometimes..."

I really appreciate this! :)

NancyJ wrote: "Note: Disappearing Earth has many votes on the listopia, but if memory serves, it was set over the course of a year with one chapter per month. (Winter is long there, so those chapt..."

I'm pretty sure I added Disappearing Earth because I remember it being cold all the time lol. I don't like cold books (which is something I've discovered about myself through my challenges), but I did love this one.

I have a book that I won in a 2015 GR giveaway that I still haven't read. It's perfect for this prompt! It would be my first book set in Idaho.
Moonshadows by Julie Whitesel Weston

Emily wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Note: Disappearing Earth has many votes on the listopia, but if memory serves, it was set over the course of a year with one chapter per month. (Winter is long there,..."

It’s also on one of the bloglists for far north settings. The winter scenes are def more memorable. I just mentioned it in case it’s important to anyone that it was 100% winter settings.

I may use some holiday books too.

I’m looking at
Snow Road Station - also Tob, adult friendship
Smilla's Sense of Snow
2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas
Good Morning, Midnight
The Secret of Snow
Bellweather Rhapsody
The Frozen River

I won't be reading in order, so I might use this for something festive late in the year, depending how my challenge is going! I am intrigued by The Land in Winter, set during the harshest English winter on record.

There's a new book out in November that looks great for this! Brightly Shining

Currently, I am oscillating among Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia, The Last Chairlift by John Irving, or Schemes & Scandals by Kelley Armstrong. The latter is an in-between novella in the A Rip in Time series.

I might do some sort of holiday read for this--like Hercule Poirot's Christmas.

Goodreads just released another list for this: 69 winter themed books

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2...

I will be reading The Christmas Party by Karen Swan. It is set in Ireland in winter time.

I’ve read Nightwatching for this. Marketed as a thriller but more a suspense mystery I thought. It’s set in the winter and the snowy setting plays quite a part in the story.

I finished A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. It was a lovely story.

I read Hidden in Snow for this. It is set in December in the winter and skiing town Åre in Sweden.

I read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

It’s set between October to February in a country which seems to be based on Iceland. The cold and snow are featured throughout the story.

I really enjoyed this one. Some romance but not too much.

NancyJ wrote: "I may use some holiday books too.

I’m looking at
Snow Road Station - also Tob, adult friendship
Smilla's Sense of Snow
2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas
[..."

Nice list! I think I'm also going to read The Frozen River.

I read The Creeps by John Connolly. It was next up in the series I was reading, and just happened to be set at Christmas time.

I didn’t plan this one, but while reading it, I realized it was a great fit.

Last Night in Montreal b6 Emily St. John Mandel

For this prompt, I read:
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May - 4* - My Review

I read The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. It was excellent! Besides the title, the feeling of winter, and its importance to the story, is very evident.

The book is set in 1789-1790, but the author does a terrific job of making the characters feel very relatable. I think she does this by having the characters speak in more modern phrasing, but without modern slang. She also portrays the lack of modern conveniences that we are used to seem normal, and not setting up that lack to be an unreasonable chore. Based on a historical figure, excellent story, satisfying ending.

I read Winter's Gifts: A Rivers Of London Novella and Midwinter.

I enjoyed reading a Rivers of London book with a different setting. Peter Grant appeared off stage but the new MC was relatable and the spookiness not too scary.

Midwinter is actually the name of the father and son protagonists in the second book, but it is also set in a Suffolk country winter (with flashbacks set in Zambia). The haunting of the father and son by the death of their wife and mother is the main theme, but the book conjures up the beauty and brutality, poverty and friendship in the surrounding farming community. (view spoiler)[ Warning - the most brutal scene is the death of a dog, which takes up a couple of pages mid book. (hide spoiler)]

I read Christmas at the Gingerbread Inn by Michelle Stimpson for this prompt. It was a cute and sweet cozy romance. It was enjoyable.

I read:
Abel Bodied: Murder at the Malden Bank by Michael Cloherty

REJECT: A book involving money – or a lack of money

Finished: 04/29/2025
Rating: 4 stars.

From Goodreads:
If I were to ask you where the first bank robbery murder took place in the United States, your mind would naturally travel to the Old West. But the first murder during a bank robbery actually occurred in Malden, Massachusetts on December 15, 1863. And the perpetrator was far from a famed gunslinger. However, he was someone just as dangerous – a desperate opportunist.

Would "In winter I get up at night" by Jane Urquhart count? The present of the book is set in winter, but so far most of the book that I've read is her remembering her past (not during the winter)?

Chantal wrote: "Would "In winter I get up at night" by Jane Urquhart count? The present of the book is set in winter, but so far most of the book that I've read is her remembering her past (not during the winter)?"

I think it fits since the present time is winter. The title suggests there will be more.

I read Hidden in Snow by Viveca Sten for this topic (Read May 9th; 4*)

I read Five Winters Kitty Johnson

I read Camp Zero. It has a pretty low rating but still wanted to give it a go. It ended up being mostly enjoyable but can see why people would rate it low.

I read When the World Fell Silent