I’m a member of a newly formed book club. It’s my turn to pick the book for our late December meeting. I’d like it to be something winter or holiday-related with a lot of snowy atmosphere. I’m thinking lots of drinking hot cider by the fire, maybe a murder or two on the icy moors.
We’re all over the place in terms of genre; so far we’ve read *The Glass Castle * (memoir), *Gentlemen and Players * (mystery/suspense), *The Pact * (family drama), and *Icy Sparks * (about a person with Tourettes).
I personally prefer mysteries or non-fiction and I think that most of us would prefer not to read fantasy or sci-fi.
Well, for snowy atmosphere, you can’t beat The Terror by Dan Simmons. But it’s a huge book, it has a horror element, and your club would be afraid to leave the house until May.
Not Christmas-y – unless you count peace and goodwill to men as Christmas-y – take a look at Snow in August by Pete Hamill. It’s about the friendship of a young boy and a rabbi, set in Brooklyn in the 40’s. It’s not a long book and would be a good read for such a busy month.
Excellent! In that case I’ll suggest Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century:* Charles the Fat and the End of the Carolingian Empire* by Simon MacLean ( 2003, Cambridge University Press ). It contains a particularly fascinating discussion of the Mainz vs. the Bavarian versions of the Annals of Fulda and how much of the bad press of Charles III can be chalked up to disputes between the clerics Liutbert of Mainz vs. Liutward of Vercelli, followed by the later influence of the rebellious Arnulf of Carinthia in the Bavaria region.
Smilla’s Sense of Snow , by Peter Hoeg? It takes place between Copenhagen and Greenland. I found the ending to be somewhat unsatisfying, but I liked the writing, the atmosphere and the pacing.
ETA: Not holiday, but it is wintery and a mystery.
I can’t see my suggestion as fitting a holiday or winter-related theme. But for later on, I can not more highly recommend Tracy Kidder’s The Soul of A New Machine.
Don’t think technoid extravaganza here. It is a wonderful work, and while it is about bringing a new machine and it’s architecture to life, it is (at least to me) a slice of life piece on the people involved, and ABOUT the people involved.
Permit me a few points that are probably remembered 100%:
The book starts off with a sailing trip…into a storm. One guy looks at the future protagonist of our story, going into the gale, obviously having the time of his life, and he thinks “What the hell does this guy DO for a living that he considers this shit FUN??”
One of the other players leaves stating that he’s going to a commune and will nevermore examine any architecture other than the female form.
The players go out at one point into daylight! They have been coming into work before sun up, and leaving after sun down. There is light in the sky. They are blown away.
This book deserved the Pulitzer. I encourage anyone to read it, even if they have no interest in computers. It is magnificent.
No Night is Too Long is a Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine mystery novel, that takes place in winter, if I recall correctly. Pretty much everything she writes (especially as Vine) is pure gold, so I recommend that highly.
Huh. I’m a Rendell fan, but I don’t think I’ve actually read that. That’s a good one.
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LiveOnAPlane**, that sounds really good, too. Another one for my list.
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Plynck**, I saw the movie *Smilla’s Sense of Snow * years and years ago. I recommend it, if you haven’t seen it.
The Land Remembers by Ben Logan is a memoir about growing up on a Wisconsin farm in the early 20th century. There’s a lot about the winter and snow and Christmas in it. (Well, it is Wisconsin, after all. We’re covered in snow for half the year.) Great read, very cozy.
