20 books to get you through the rest of winter
Here are 20 wintery books to choose from before the chill abates, no matter what genre you prefer. And if you are pushed for time or just not much of a reader, we’ve also included their movie and television iterations where available.
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Winter days like these we are having now are the perfect time to snuggle up with a book — and what better book to read than one full of snow, ice and bitter cold.
As the characters struggle with frostbitten fingers and howling winds, you can make a hot drink, pull up the blanket and really chill out. But winter is running out, so you don’t have much time before the beach beckons and the books are put away.
So here are 20 wintery books to choose from before the chill abates, no matter what genre you prefer. And if you are pushed for time or just not much of a reader, we’ve also included their movie and television iterations where available.
FANTASY
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE
George RR Martin
What else could you read when “Winter is coming”? This is the series of books that started the television phenomenon. Hopefully by the time you have got through the series, book six — Winds Of Winter — might even have a publication date.
● Foxtel’s Fox Showcase: Game Of Thrones needs little introduction other than to say: watch it if you haven’t already.
WINTER WARRIORS
David Gemmell
The master of the gritty stand-alone fantasy gives us a sort-of sequel to his earlier Drenai series. A handful of soldiers deemed too old to fight are sent home, only to be drawn into a desperate battle to save a young queen from demons.
DYSTOPIAN
HUNGER GAMES
Suzanne Collins
The classic trilogy that inspired the Jennifer Lawrence movies sees the characters struggle against the cold — and the evil President Snow. He’s certainly enough to send shivers down the spine.
● Watch on Netflix: Does a great job of capturing the novel’s key themes and allowed Lawrence to really shine.
CHILDREN’S CHAPTER BOOKS
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
CS Lewis
This classic story sees four children, sent away to live in a country house during World War II, discover a magical world at the back of a wardrobe. But the world is trapped in an endless winter by an evil witch and it’s up to them to defeat her.
● Watch on Foxtel On Demand: Visually spectacular, the first of the Narnia series won an Oscar and picked up two more noms.
THE GIRL FROM SNOWY RIVER
Jackie French
Author and Funday Telegraph book reviewer Sandy Fussell describes this highly rated book as being set against “a backdrop of the return of soldiers from World War I and the Snowy Mountains”. It’s historical fiction with a horsey flavour but some serious themes as well.
CHICK LIT
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY
Helen Fielding
The misadventures of a 30-something woman trying to make sense of life in London. A classic of the genre turned into hugely successful films. And included here because of that snow scene, obviously.
● Watch on Netflix: Hilarious rom-com with Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth forming the perfect sides of a love triangle.
ONE DAY IN WINTER
Shari Low
Described as the film Love Actually in book form. Four people’s lives change dramatically over 24 hours as a series of interconnected storylines come together. Daughters, husbands and wives follow their hearts — to sometimes unexpected conclusions.
HORROR
THE SHINING
Stephen King
A father hopes to reconnect with his family and write a bestseller while looking after an old hotel during winter. Instead its evil spirits possess him, while his gifted son tries to understand the dark visions he is getting. Many people know it from the Jack Nicholson movie but the book adds extra depth and subtlety to the father.
● Watch on Telstra Box Office: King wasn’t a fan of Kubrick’s adaptation and didn’t like the choice of Nicholson either.
THE THING
Alan Dean Foster
This the novelisation of the 1982 horror film starring Kurt Russell. But because it was written off the original script, there is more depth and some different twists. Scientists at a Antarctic station battle a shapeshifting alien that turns into its prey after it kills them.
● Watch on Foxtel: Sci-fi once touted as one of the most hated films ever, but now has a cult following.
DYSTOPIAN
THE ROAD
Cormac McCarthy
A Man and a Boy travel the freezing wasteland of a post-apocalyptic America, battling the cold, the hunger and the bands of roaming bandits and cannibals. Not for the faint-hearted or those without warm blankies.
Watch on Stan: Divided critics with some saying it didn’t do justice to the book while others raved of its rawness.
CRIME
THE COLD DISH
Craig Johnson
The start of his Walt Longmire mysteries. It’s not the best
of this long-running series but it warms up as the weather cools down in remote Wyoming. A great twist at the end and some fascinating Native American magic/legends interwoven into the winter storm.
● Watch Longmire on Netflix.
SET IN DARKNESS
Ian Rankin
This one is quite a way into Rankin’s amazing Inspector Rebus series. Luckily they don’t tend to follow on too closely and you can easily pick it up. Set in a cold Scottish winter, when darkness falls early, it’s a clever mystery that will inspire you to go back and read them all.
HISTORICAL FICTION
WAR OF THE WOLF
Bernard Cornwell
The most recent of the Last Kingdom series. Uhtred is hunting an enemy through the depths of winter. His daughter has been killed and he will stop at nothing to avenge her. Revenge will be a cold dish, indeed. Let’s face it, you’ll want to read them all after this.
● The very watchable three seasons of The Last Kingdom are on Netflix. It was announced this week that season four is due in 2020.
BRITANNIA
Simon Scarrow
Scarrow’s Cato and Macro series, about a pair of Roman officers battling barbarians, emperors and political intrigue, are real page-turners.
This time the intrepid duo get caught in an ill-fated hunt for druids through a vicious British winter. The Roman army is freezing and starving and it’s down to our two heroes to get them home.
LITERARY
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Charles Dickens
The story that has inspired so many movies and TV specials, including a Muppet version. Scrooge only cares about money but, one snowy Christmas, he is visited by three ghosts who show him the error
of his ways.
● A new television series is in the works but you can catch this story in one form or another basically everywhere.
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS
David Guterson
The chilly Pacific Northwest of America is the setting for this novel about a fisherman’s death in 1954. A Japanese-American is accused of killing him and, with World War II
still fresh in memories, it divides the town. During a huge snowstorm, complicated relationships get even more entangled as a former soldier turned newsman searches for the truth.
● Watch on GooglePlay: Fizzled at the box office with Ethan Hunt and James Cromwell unable to entice the fans.
WAR
HMS ULYSSES
Alistair MacLean
This was the first book from the king of the war mystery genre, best known for books such as Where Eagles Dare and the Guns Of Navarone. This one is based on his experiences on the brutal North Atlantic convoys sailing to Russia. The cold and the icy sea are as much an opponent as the Germans in this powerful novel.
SPEARHEAD
Adam Makos
The tale of American tank veteran Clarence Smoyer and his battle from Normandy, through the brutal winter of the Ardennes campaign to victory. The snow and the cold are constant threats — but not as much as the superior German tanks that destroy most of his friends. It starts slowly but the ending, of what is a true story, is amazing.
PICTURE BOOKS
THE SNOWMAN
Raymond Briggs
This beautiful book has no words, only stunning pictures as a boy builds a snowman that comes to life and they go off on an adventure together. The illustrations are gorgeous and need no explanatory words.
● Watch on YouTube: Like the book, there are no words to this beautiful story that was nominated for an Oscar in 1983.
SNOW WOMBAT
Susannah Chambers and Mark Jackson
Funday Telegraph book reviewer and author
Sandy Fussell describes this as: “A heartwarming Australian picture book about a wombat travelling the Australian High County in the snow and the animals he meets on his way home.”
Originally published as 20 books to get you through the rest of winter
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