I’m not 100% sure how to describe what I’m looking for… largely hoping to find some books that evoke a feeling/sense of place I am absolutely loving and living for right now.
I absolutely love winter – I’m in the US and when I first learned that hygge was a thing I finally felt understood since it seems so popular to hate on winter where I’m from (Pittsburgh). I love being cozy inside, I love watching the snow pile up (I admit I am lucky on this front that I can work from home and don’t have to worry about driving on Pittsburgh’s hills on these days!); I love the silence of freshly fallen snow.
The last two winters here have been way too mild for my taste, and so I’ve found myself being really into YouTube videos and channels with frozen/snowy landscapes – folks who live off the grid in cabins and post videos taken during blizzards; I follow a few IG and YouTube accounts made by folks living in Svalbard; I’ve been binge watching Northern Exposure since it (finally) landed on Amazon Prime!!
One thing is that I’m not into any type of romance book OR horror; I also don’t tend to like books that are overly cutesy (eg cozy mysteries aren’t my thing). I’m more into contemporary/literary fiction or historical fiction. I don’t mind magical realism. I can do thrillers too if they are not overly creepy. (I’m planning to start the new season of True Detective soon and am hoping it’s not too gruesome, but it takes place during the 24 hour night in Alaska; I didn’t mind seasons 1 and 3 so hopefully I can handle it!).
The only books I can think of that are sort of along the lines of what I’m looking for are the Great Alone – though that was a bit more gut wrenching at times than what I am looking for right now; or Beartown (INCREDIBLE book, one of my favorites, but also more emotional than I’m looking for in some ways). I’m not looking for books where the cold itself is going to kill someone or that are mainly about survival.
I like the sense of community/small town you can find in some of these places; I like the mysteriousness/mystique of these landscapes, I love the sensory aspects and warmth of winter that I feel from many of these videos.
I’m super interested and very open minded to any suggestions that anyone might have of books that might evoke these same kinds of feelings!
by bmcl7777