Snow Day Reads ❄️
Book recommendations for when you are trapped indoors in a snowstorm.
Tale 🥶
I returned to New York City just in time to experience the snowstorms and frigid temperatures of this winter. I spent most of February sequestered in my tiny studio apartment: I brewed endless cups of loose-leaf tea, made bubbling bowls of ramen, and watched mesmerizing snowflakes fall outside my window while I snuggled under a cozy blanket.
I’m so ready for this interminable winter to be over, but I did read (and listen to) a lot of books from my backlog while trapped indoors. I’m excited to share my favorites with you! This month’s book recommendations feature protagonists who also find themselves stuck inside because of a blizzard.
Tomes 📚
61 Hours
I’ve read all the books in the Jack Reacher series, and these episodic thrillers seldom disappoint. Jack Reacher is a retired military police officer, an experienced brawler, and a vagabond. His itinerant lifestyle constantly gets him into dangerous situations. In 61 Hours, Reacher gets stuck in a small town in South Dakota because of a snowstorm. He soon finds himself guarding an elderly woman who is a key witness in an upcoming trial. Reacher barricades himself along with the witness in her house. He keeps vigil—even after the protective police detail leaves. He stays awake by patrolling the perimeter, drinking copious amounts of coffee, having philosophical conversations with the witness (who turns out to be a retired librarian), and striking up a phone flirtation with the new commanding officer of his former military unit. The novel is full of quiet and reflective moments with an undercurrent of nearly unbearable tension. When the action sequence finally unfolds it is unrelenting, gruesome, and explosive.
The Nowhere Man
This is the second book in the phenomenal Orphan X series. Evan Smoak, a former black ops assassin, is captured and imprisoned in a luxurious room in a mansion nestled in the snowy mountains. Evan is initially unbothered by his predicament; he has survived far more inhospitable captivity before. But as Evan’s repeated escape attempts are thwarted and he realizes the depths of the depravity of his captor, he becomes increasingly desperate. The reader is left wondering how Evan will live up to his moniker of the Nowhere Man and disappear without a trace. The blockbuster ending is surprising, exhilarating, and emotionally devastating.
The Hunting Party
I love a locked-room murder mystery, and The Hunting Party is a perfect example of the sub-genre. A group of nine friends—who met at Oxford University over a decade ago—embark on a winter trip to a remote lodge in the Scottish Highlands. The trip starts out festively with roaring fires, fancy libations, and fond anecdotes. But it soon becomes apparent that the group’s social dynamics are complicated: A bewildering tangle of old resentments, new slights, and wavering loyalties. When a blizzard traps the group in the lodge, things take a deadly turn. I found the final reveal to be astonishing, but astute readers might notice the subtle clues hidden throughout the novel.