Winter Is Near

The weather is getting colder. A chilling wind is whistling through the branches. Grey blankets, blankets softer than the ones you desperately want to curl up under in your bed, cover the horizon. Winter is coming, and I hate to break it to you: this isn’t a Game Of Thrones Post. This blog post is about winter-time reads, and I have two to recomend.

My first recommendation is Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

Because I don’t think I could give you a summary of the book any better without spoilers, here is the blurb from the back of the book:

“It's wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler's inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers' adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo's home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook's daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House--and themselves.”

This beautiful middle-grade perfectly captures the days when you played make-believe games with your friends and an ordinary object could possess its own kind of magic. Tied into the tales of fantasy, legends of smugglers, and a murky history to the town, this book also discusses the importance of family— found, by blood, but most prominently, adopted.

This book also contains twist after turn as the readers unmask the mystery at an almost identical pace to Milo and Meddy, something which I believe helps add to the excitement since you as the reader have no clue what is coming.

My second recommendation is The Language Of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo. I believe it fits the season because it is the perfect story for when you want to feel a chill pass through your bones as you sit around the fireplace. Language Of Thorns is a collection of dark short stories, from the little doll of a soldier prince come to life to a girl wondering what happens to the children gone missing in the forest. One of the great things about this book is that it can be read before or after any other books by Leigh Bardugo. If you have read Shadow And Bone or Six Of Crows these short stories will build upon the cultures already established for each Grishaverse (the fictional world where most of Bardugo's stories take place) country. If this is your first book by Leigh Bardugo though, it will help set up the world and allow readers to gain insight on the stories characters might grow up hearing.