I saw this over on Turn Another Page, who I believe got it from Hailey in Bookland’s channel. It looked like a lot of fun (though a bit of a challenge!) so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m trying to only pick “seasonal/wintry” books, so some will appear multiple times!
A book set during Christmas
Being someone who rarely reads seasonal books, there’s only one I can think of, and that’s DASH AND LILY’S BOOK OF DARES, by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan. I read this most years because it’s just so adoreable and feel good.
Now on Netflix, this book follows two teenagers who exchange a notebook full of dares that send them chasing over New York over the holiday season. As they do so, they fall in love, but what happens when they meet in person? Are their real selves anything like the written versions they’ve been falling for?
Five books that have “cold” words in the title
- THE WAY PAST WINTER (Kiran Millwood Hargrave)
- THE WINTER DUKE (Eliza Claire Bartlett)
- A SNOWFALL OF SILVER (Laura Wood)
- FROSTHEART (Jamie Littler)
- SNOW LIKE ASHES (Sara Raasch)
A red and green book cover
If I’d let myself go with a cover that was just red or green, this would have been a lot easier, but I didn’t. And I guess I’m slightly cheating with the fact that this book is more green and pink than green and red, but it’s a seasonal book, and I really enjoyed the book, so I’m chuffed by my choice and allowing it.
ESCAPE FROM AURORA, by Jamie Littler, is the second book in the FROSTHEART series. As you can probably tell from the title, it’s set in an ice-locked world. Sleighs, songs, under-the-ice worms.
A character with a festive name
Marley is a character now synonymous with the festive season, even if the name itself isn’t very festive. Yes, that’s scrapping the barrel for a tenuous link, but I couldn’t think of any names that wasn’t just pinching from Emma.
THE MIRACLE ON EBENEZER STREET, by Catherine Doyle, is a Christmas Carol retelling (potentially also a Miracle on 34th Street retelling, but I haven’t seen that), so naturally there is a character called Marley in it. It’s a vibrant interpretation of the well-known story, that only uses the original as an inspiration for talking elves and purple reindeers.
A festive object
I have a lot of hand-made Christmas decorations up in my room right now. My mum had a foot op, so spent November unable to do very much, so she spent the time making bunting as presents. The theme is the Nutcracker ballet, which features a lot in our family’s Christmases. From books to decorations, to seeing it a few times.
A book with baking in it and a book cover with a wintry scene
This self-imposed “wintry book ” caveat is really not making it easy. Thus, I am combining too prompts and returning to DASH AND LILY’S BOOK OF DARES, by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan. (And yes, I suppose I now HAVE to make sure I read the book this Christmas holiday so that it is finally reviewed on here given how much I’ve been talking about it recently.)
Lily does a lot of baking during the book – both for presents and as activities with her family – and the cover is undeniably a wintry street with that snow.
A book cover with silver and gold
I will have to break my “Seasonal” condition for this one. I’m writing this post from York, so I have a very limited pool of books to look at, plus any covers saved on my laptop. As such, trying to find a gold and silver cover was hard. So have a book with gold and silver foiling: VIPER, by Bex Hogan.
The first book in a UKYA trilogy set on the high seas, this series will utterly destroy you, but at least there’s not too long left until the finale is published. VIPER sees Marianne fighting against her privateer father, and the king allowing him to act unchecked.
A book that was a gift
I rarely ask for books themselves as gifts, but last year I asked my sister for THE STARLES SEA, by Erin Morgenstern. As I then read it over New Year, so this book feels very wintry to me. I am not sure if this is my memory being corrupted by this, but I think the book is set during winter? I seem to recall one of the characters walking in a snowy American city before they headed underground?
It’s a more literary book than I usually read, and did feel like the style was being prioritised over the substance of the book at times, but that’s certainly a matter of taste.
A title that describes how Christmas shopping feels
This is a rather tenuous link/response (I was struggling to find a book that said “HARD” and “BORING” because I hate trying to find presents given my family aren’t the biggest/fastest readers and so are getting a book snowed under with books), and will need some explanation, but here’s THE HARM TREE, by Rose Edwards.
This is not about the shopping itself, but a consequence of the shopping for present is that they are often the wrapped with a lot of paper. The process of creating wrapping paper requires cutting down trees, and the harms trees. *cringes*
Spell Santa Claus using book titles
I’ve had to abandon my “it’s a wintry book” for this as it was SO hard.
- S (A) SNOWFALL OF SILVER (Laura Wood)
- A ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME (Roshani Chokshi)
- N NEVERNIGHT (Jay Kristoff)
- T THRONE OF GLASS (Sarah J. Maas)
- A ACE OF SHADES (Amanda Foody)
- C (THE) CROWN’S GAME (Evelyn Skye)
- L (THE) LAST OF AUGUST (Brittany Caravallo)
- A A WINTER’S PROMISE (Christelle Dubos)
- U UNDER A DANCING STAR (Laura Wood)
- S (THE) STARLESS SEA (Erin Morgenstern)
I tag anyone who wants to take part!
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 