Favourite Winter Reads
Winter is the perfect time of year to cuddle up with a good book. You can take advantage of spending more time indoors to catch up on that reading list you’ve been carrying around in your head, and while you’re at it, check out some of these other great reads as well!
My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh, is a darkly humorous look at a young woman who is attempting to sleep away an entire year under the influence of a drug cocktail, prescribed by a very questionable psychiatrist. Throw in a supposed best friend and a Wall Street boyfriend, and you have the makings of a great read!
Islands, by Australian author Peggy Frew, explores what happens to a family left behind, grieving a young daughter’s disappearance. The story is told through various points in time and place, as well as character perspective. As the book unfolds, we get a better picture of the troubled teen who disappeared, and those who loved her the most.
The Farm, by Joanne Ramos, has been likened to The Handmaid’s Tale, however, this book has a different spin on the “women as breeders” idea. Set in the near future, women known as “hosts” are handsomely compensated for delivering a healthy child at a surrogacy facility in the US. The author, as well as the main character, were both born in the Philippines. Ramos uses her novel to explore the inequality faced by migrant women, as well as the darker side of monetising surrogacy.
Described as “never, ever, boring”, “witty and poignant”, Blood, Bones, & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, is a memoir written by the owner and head chef of a Manhattan bistro. Though not the household name that other celebrity chefs have become, Hamilton could very well change all of that with her writing. Well worth the read!
Drawing from African mythology, the Dark Star trilogy by Marlon James brings together fantasy and history in the story of a Tracker, a mercenary hired to find a mysterious boy. Along the way, we meet a myriad of characters and creatures, both good and evil, as we try to discover just who this boy is and why some want him found while others are intent on keeping him gone forever.
The Dreamers, by Karen Thompson Walker, delves into the mystery behind an illness that is causing residents of a sleepy college town to fall into a perpetual sleep. As we get to know the residents of the town, each trying not to fall victim themselves, doctors discover unusual brain patterns in those who are asleep.
Bestselling novelist Jeffery Deaver returns with another gripping mystery. The Never Game is the first in a series featuring investigator Colter Shaw. Shaw criss-crosses the country seeking investigative jobs that offer reward money. His newest investigation into the possible kidnapping of a college student thrusts him into the cutthroat world of the video gaming industry, with the clues pointing to one game in particular.
Even if you have your own shortlist of “must-reads”, we highly recommend adding a few of these. So, brew a cup of tea, make yourself cozy, and get started. With so many great books to get through, you may almost wish winter was just a little bit longer!