The Bear and the Nightingale: The first of the four books on this list that are set in Russia, where I basically assume it's always winter. I've picked books where the wintery-ness is an actual real part of the plot and not just assumed! A frost demon plays a central role here, so winter is very much present.
War and Peace: So much of this book happens during the winter, because...Russia.
City of Thieves: That this book, and its central search for eggs, takes place during the winter. The Siege of Leningrad winter, at that, so a bad one even by Russian standards.
Child 44: I read this several years ago now, so maybe it doesn't mostly take place during the winter? But I feel like I remember a lot of winter-ness and snow.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: All the Harry Potter books have Christmas scenes, but the Yule Ball in this one really makes the winter-ness of it memorable!
Lirael: Like to rest of the Clayr, Lirael lives in a glacier, in a world carved entirely from ice.
The Shining: The Torrances head to the Overlook to take care of the hotel during the long winter off-season, and anyone who's lived in an area where snow is real knows how isolating winter can be when you're snowed in.
In Cold Blood: The murder takes place on November 15th, which is technically fall rather than winter, but we all know mid-November is basically winter and there's something about this true crime classic that feels wintry to me.
Snow Falling On Cedars: The snow's right there in the title, and the image of the island community buried, even isolated under its weight, is resonant.
The Golden Compass: The portions of the book that take place at Svalbard, northern and wintry, are the ones that stick out the most in my memory.
I haven't read most of these, but some have been on my TBR for forever! Harry Potter is on my list, too... so many pivotal things happened around Christmastime for those Hogwarts kids!
ReplyDeleteThere are great Christmas scenes in so many of the HP books!
DeleteI love the Christmas scenes in the Harry Potter books! It's like the one time when everything is light and good.
ReplyDeleteI love that Harry gets a Christmas sweater from Mrs. Weasley every year! His relationship with their family is one of my favorite parts of the books
DeleteSo many great books on your list! The Bear and the Nightingale made mine as well, and I nearly included The Golden Compass and City of Thieves as well.
ReplyDeleteAt first I didn't think I could come up with ten books set in the winter, but once I started thinking about it, there are so many!
DeleteThis is the only other list I've seen with some Stephen King on it! Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThe winter maze scene from the movie popped into my head as soon as I started thinking about the topic!
DeleteIn Cold Blood is such a classic. It's so chilling, and that definitely makes it fully appropriate for both autumn and winter. Great picks!
ReplyDeleteHaha maybe I was just thinking of the shivers it gave me! One of my all-time faves
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