10 Books with Winter in It

Perfection has a cost . . .

In the Soviet Union in 1973, being selected for the prestigious USSR gymnastics program is a remarkable honor for any young girl, and for eight-year-old Anya, it feels like a dream come true, bringing joy to her family—what remains of it, anyway. Years ago, her mother vanished, leaving a void that Anya struggles to fill. Her only source of comfort is her neighbor, an elderly woman who endured unimaginable suffering during her decade in a Gulag camp. Unbeknownst to Anya, this woman was also her mother’s confidant and may have crucial insights into her mother’s disappearance. As Anya climbs the ranks in competitive gymnastics, she becomes increasingly aware that the pressure is immense; for her—and for all the other girls—there’s hardly any room for mistakes.

History has all but forgotten…

In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write...

It’s winter in Sokcho, a tourist town straddling the border between South and North Korea. The biting cold brings a hushed stillness. Bodies flush in the chill, and the fish take on a dangerous edge; beyond the beach, imposing guns emerge from the North’s vigilant watchtowers. In a weary guesthouse, a young French Korean woman commands her role as receptionist with poise. One evening, an intriguing guest arrives: a French cartoonist set on uncovering inspiration amidst this strikingly desolate landscape.

Long ago, following a cataclysm called “The Rupture,” the world was shattered into many floating celestial islands. Known now as Arks, each has developed in distinct ways; each seems to possess its own unique relationship to time, such that nowadays vastly different worlds exist, together but apart. And over all of the Arks the spirit of an omnipotent ancestor abides.

Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker carries the weight of truth within her heart. She and the Walker women before her have always felt an extraordinary bond with the woods, a sacred connection that guides her to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who mysteriously vanished from the Camp for Wayward Boys just weeks ago, right in the midst of the harshest snowstorm in years. Against all odds, he should have succumbed to fate, yet here he stands, alive, lost in the woods, grappling with the haunting absence of memories from the days he went missing.

Something is rotten in the heart of Winterkeep…

Four years after Bitterblue left off, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla; and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.

The Winter Garden opens at the stroke of midnight without any fanfare – after all, this is a time when all virtuous folk are tucked away in bed. Yet, for the bold few who dare to step through its gates, a world of enchantment awaits.

Arthurian legends are reborn in this upbeat queer urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart…

While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat’s rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam’s cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.

This original research unfolds through four deeply moving and insightful journeys, each enriched by conversations with unique and engaging experts in their fields, along with Fox’s own poignant narrative of growing up on a secluded island in northern Maine.

Timely, immersive, and thoroughly examined, The Last Winter reveals a startling and unforeseen consequence of climate change—one that has the potential to trigger its own irreversible warming cycle.