My winter library

… or what to read until you find a brand new book under the Christmas tree.

I guess my reading taste changes with the seasons. In the warmer periods of the year I usually reach for funny “Sex and the City”-like love stories; who doesn´t want to experience a hot summer fling, right? Another type of reading options for warmer seasons are usually novels about traveling and exploring (fictional or not) because they are able to take me places that are either unreachable or I need to wait until the next holiday rolls over to reach them (if they actually exist).

 However, my winter reading list is exponentially different. Some people even go as far as saying it´s darker. I wouldn´t call it dark necessarily, but you know… do as you wish. The thing is, in winter I usually opt for fantasy and fiction; right now I am all the rage for witches and magic, I can´t help it. Other topics that are (more than certainly) covered in the colder months are vampires, ghost stories, conspiracy theories and the list is endless, you will get the idea as you read on..

Wolves in Winter by Lisa Hilton is the textbook example of a good fiction; you get the mystery, you get the history… The story is about a little girl called Mura struggling in the ruthless Renaissance period. Her family roots are pretty mixed up, being a daughter to a Nordic mother and a Spanish father. During the Inquisition period, her father, the only remaining family member, gets arrested and Mura is sold as a slave to the powerful Medici family just in time for the French preparing for a war with Florence. When the family is forced to flee Florence, Mura is gifted to Countess Caterina Sforza, the notorious “Tigress of Forli”. That´s when all the alchemy, potions and poisons talk begins… But no more spoilers! Find out for yourself! It´s a powerful story with a dramatic plot, that´s all I am going to say. 

Miss Peregrine´s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is a must (and not necessarily in winter). I call it a goose bump-creating story, because it´s exactly what it does.  The chapters are accompanied by a strange collection of curious photographs that make your hair stand in places you haven´t even thought you had hair. It´s about Jacob, an unpopular American teenager that suffers a great loss; his favourite family member gets brutally murdered and he gets to witness it all. All that is left is a handful of seemingly pointless sentences about strange children living on a remote island on the other side of the world. As he finally travels to the island and explores the abandoned orphanage that was supposed to house the children, it becomes clear that the children were probably more than just strange; they may have been dangerous and what is even more disturbing, they may still be alive. If this hasn´t caught your attention, there´s probably something wrong with you. If you want a little sneak-peak of what you might encounter while reading the book, there´s a movie directed by the king of spooky, Tim Burton himself. Although the film meets my expectations and ticks every point of how I imagine a Burton movie to look like, the original story is different in many points of view and is definitely worth reading.

It´s called Le Cirque des Rêves and it comes unannounced. The black-and-white canvas of the circus tents are simply there when yesterday they were not. At the first sight, the circus offers lots of amazements and wonderful experience. However, under a closer inspection, the circus hides a dark secret; a “life and death” competition is hidden behind the scenes. A competition between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained their whole life for this very occasion by their mentors. What they don´t know is the fact that only one can win this game.  The two fall headfirst in love with each other on the very first occasion they meet.  Unfortunately, in love or not, the competition must go on. Is there any way to solve this unexpected obstacle? That´s on you to find out! Erin Morgenstern, the magical love that makes lights flicker and her Night Circus are definitely going to play with your imagination and logic. And you´ll love it, trust me!

Speaking with a ghost is possible and Constable Peter Grant can only agree. He dreams of becoming one of the London´s detectives but to his disappointment, he is assigned to an administrative department where the biggest mystery is a case of the lost stapler. One day (or night, rather) his chances change rapidly as he gains an exclusive evidence for a murder case from an eyewitness that just happens to be a ghost. His new-found ability to speak with the dead gets him to work under the wings of Detective Nightingale, who solves London murder cases that are connected with magic and other unexplained manifestations. The city suddenly gets tangled up with unsolved murders and Peter finds out that rational brain won´t be there to help him this time. He is thrown into a world where gods, goddesses and other, up until now only fictional characters, live and mingle with the citizens of the Kingdom´s capital. A fantasy series by the amazing Ben Aaronovitch, the first of which is The Rivers of London, the story about Peter Grant, makes for a wonderful companion for cosy evenings spent with a cuppa under a blanket.

These are my favourite winter picks from my (ever growing) library of amazing books of every genre possible.  If you are a bookworm like me, I would love to know what your favourite winter books are. Of course, I would definitely consider the Harry Potter series to be an essential when it comes to winter but chances are (and they are high) that I would consider them to be a suitable reading for every season J

Until next time,

čauko, Lenka

Miss Peregrine´s Home for Peculiar Children trailer