Welcome back to Top Five Wednesday! We’re now smack in the heart of the winter months and to distract us from our ongoing battles with those pesky white walkers, Chelsey and Alexandra are here to talk to you about their top five favourite wintry reads!
These are the books that remind you of the cold when you think of them. They might take place in lands of eternal winter or spend a certain amount of time traveling to the great white north. So grab your winter jackets, your hot chocolate and let’s dive right in!
Top Five Wednesday is a book tag started by GingerReadsLainey. Join the goodreads group to get each week’s topic and participate yourselves!
5. HIS DARK MATERIALS – PHILIP PULLMAN
We were trying to think of books that take place in wintry areas. This book takes the cake because the characters are headed to the north and they ride polar bears. What could be more wintry then that? This series is so much more than riding polar bears though. This story is an in depth analysis on theology and religious belief disguised as a children’s series. In this trilogy, Pullman manages to break down complex ideas theories so they’re easy to comprehend which I’m both super grateful of and very jealous.
That being said, the series isn’t weighed down by all of this theology and still has a fun and heartfelt story filled with amazing characters. My favourite character from the series is the balloon pilot Lee Scorseby. Chelsey on the other hand is very fond of Lyra.
Not to mention this was the first book that introduced me to the steampunk aesthetic.
Check out our review of the first book in the trilogy The Golden Compass here.
4. WINTERSPELL – CLAIRE LEGRAND
This book was marketed as being inspired by The Nutcracker. It is not a direct adaptation, so if that’s what you’re looking for this is not the book for you. The novel takes place in winter-y type of land at Christmas time.
Winterspell had a lot of things that we both had problems with, but overall we found ourselves liking it. The main character starts off weak but grows on you. The main villain is probably the best part of the story. She’s complex and you can’t help but liking her, even if some of the things she does are absolutely horrible. The romance is okay but nothing special. It’s the world building that stands out though. The detail and thought that goes into this fantasy world was amazing and messed up and made us both slightly uncomfortable. Which of course means it made us love it more.
If you’re looking for something a little different, Winterspell is a book for you.
Check out our review for Winterspell here.
3. THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – C.S. LEWIS
Chelsey has never read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe or even seen a film adaptation. Do I even know her?
The Narnia books can be a bit problematic as this tumblr post points out:
But I still love them. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is so much fun and so Christmas-y. There are talking animals, an evil witch to be defeated but best of all: Santa shows up to gift the children with weapons.
As everyone knows I’m a hardcore Tolkien fan, and since Lewis was Tolkien’s best friend I felt that I needed to check out the Narnia books. It’s cool to see the parallels between the two series and yet how completely different they are.
Also, on a related note. When I finally got around to trying Turkish Delight I realized it was pretty good but not sell your family to Satan good. Come on Edmund. Use your brain.
2. THE RIDDLE – ALISON CROGGON
This books goes way back into Chelsey and my reading lives. The Riddle is the second book in the Books of Pellinor series. Chelsey finished the series and wasn’t a fan of the ending. I never got around to it (I need to add them to my ridiculously out of control TBR pile). For the both of us, this book stands out the most in the series.
This book messed with my perceptions on relationships. The Riddle is similar to Winterspell because the main character is living with the villain. In The Riddle the main character Maerad has to deal with the Winterking, who is technically the villain of book two but who she is developing an emotional attachment too. This was one of the first books that showed me that relationships between heroes and villains don’t have to be straightforward and at the same time, just because you care for someone doesn’t mean that person is right for you.
Chelsey and I don’t remember what time of year it was when we originally read this series, but we both know we felt really cold when we did.
1. A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE – GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
This one is pretty obvious.
Really though, this series has been promising winter forever and when it finally comes everyone is going to be doomed. While everyone is distracted by the squabbling over the throne, the white walkers are going to swoop down bringing a world of hurt and frostbite. Will Dany and her dragons be able to save them? Maybe?
Only time will tell.
So those our our top five wintry reads! What are the books that make you think about winter? Tell us about them in the comments below? What are your Game of Thrones theories? My money is on the Greyjoys or Littlefinger.
Until next week and next Wednesday, happy reading!
And remember:
errrr… well… it’s already here…. You get the point.
