books she loves

WORDS : MEGAN ELGIN PORTRAIT : JILL OCKHARDT BLAUFUSS

One of my favorite winter activities is cozying up with a great book. The best winter reads whisk me away to another place or time or feeling, where I can forget it might be below zero outside. Sometimes the escape is literal — a fantasy world, somewhere historical, maybe a different continent. Other times the escape is falling into the character you’re reading and getting a chance to feel as they feel, seeing events unfold from their perspective. So grab a hot drink, your coziest blanket, and escape into these reads.

Daisy Jones & The Six

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Written as an oral history of a fictional iconic rock band, this novel feels like it should be every bit as real as the Rolling Stones. I devoured this book in a day, falling hard and fast as the characters captured my heart. Set in the 1970s, it follows the band from their rise in the L.A. music scene to the top as they become one of the most legendary bands in the world, where, at the height of success, they inexplicably split. Like a great rock ‘n roll song, it hit me deep in my soul. Now if only the band’s iconic album, “Aurora,” was real enough to be played on repeat.

Far From the Tree

by Robin Benway

This is a heartwarming story exploring family — the family we find, and the one we’re born into. Grace, Maya and Joaquin are biological siblings who were each given up for adoption by their birth mother. After putting her own daughter up for adoption, Grace, who was adopted at birth, goes looking for her biological family. She connects with Maya, also adopted at birth, and Joaquin, who has spent his life in the foster care system. What plays out is a contemporary novel that captures the up and down feelings of coming together and realizing that family will always be there for you, no matter what.

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

by Dani Shapiro

A thought provoking memoir, “Inheritance” is a book about identity, paternity and secrets. After submitting her DNA to a genealogy website, Shaprio received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. What follows is a story of her quest to uncover the family secrets that were hidden from her and unlock her own identity. Shapiro allows the reader to feel her roller coaster emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them. The ramifications and possibilities of her situation are enormous and traumatic, and I enjoyed the way she presents them.

The Bear and The Nightingale

by Katherine Arden

A beautiful tale of winter and magic and folklore set in the icy northern kingdoms of medieval Russia. Vasya is the young and wild protagonist who can see house-spirits and catches the attention of the frost demon from the folk stories she grows up listening to. As her new stepmother convinces the village to renounce their old ways and become more devout, the household spirits can no longer protect the hearth. As misfortune stalks the village and danger circles, Vasya must call on her long hidden gifts to protect her family from the threats they believed to be only folktales. This wintery fantasy novel is perfect reading during the next snowstorm.

NEXT UP:

Finish Vasya's story with books two and three in the Winternight Trilogy.