Winter is a strange time of year for me because I equally love and hate it. All of my favorite celebrations happen during this time of year, and the festive atmosphere creates so many of my favorite memories. However, it's also cold - and between my immune system always being terrible and getting sick multiple times, it also makes all of the chronic pain issues I have get a lot worse. One of the things I always find myself wanting the most during the winter is a chance to escape and go on an adventure - especially on days when I am forced to stay in bed because my body cannot handle doing anything else. So these are the books I have found to give me those winter adventures, all from the warmth of my house.
1. The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
If you want to go on a Christmas adventure, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year should be where you start. It's got a little bit of everything: mystery, comedy, romance, and most importantly, Christmas spirit. With Ally Carter's signature wit, this is the perfect read to give you the chance to visit a historical castle - and also solve a murder. Everyone's a subject, and all the guests at this Christmas party are sketchy - and it's up to two mystery writers to solve the case.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is available through Macmillan Publishers
2. The Frozen River by by Ariel Lawhon
The most celebrated book on this list, The Frozen River is a read worth having. Not only does it give a fascinating look into the treatment of women in the 1780s, but it also looks into the ideas of justice - especially when it came to violence against women. I loved how chilling the atmosphere of the novel was, not just because it starts in the dead of winter, but with the characterization of the people in this story. I think it's an important read, just so we can see how far women's rights have come, but also important to show how little things have changed as well. Also if you hate mansplainers, just a warning, there is one.
The Frozen River is available through Penguin Random House
3. Snowglobe by Soyoung Park
When the world is permanently frozen, any adventure is a winter adventure. In fact, there's only one place in the world that's warm, and the irony is it's called Snowglobe. It's a place where every person is entertainment - filmed for the entertainment of those who provide power in human-sized hamster wheels to keep the shows on. Everyone's goal is to end up an actor in Snowglobe, to be pretty and famous enough to get out of the frozen wasteland. And when Chobahm gets her wish, it turns out everything she knows about the elite is a lie. And it's up to her to stop it.
Snowglobe is available through Penguin Random House