Good Snowy, Winter Reads

Contributed by Bettina Miller, Hive Overland Park

---

Don't miss a thing with The Hive Women and Buzz from The Hive!

CATCH THE BUZZ

---

Please be sure to click on the ORANGE  book link to order. A portion of any commissions earned by The Hive on your orders will be donated to charity. Social, with a purpose! Thank you.

All the snow and cold that has ushered in with the new year had me thinking about some snowy, winter (but good) reads...

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

This novel is set in a small town in Maine along the Kennebec River in 1789.  The story revolves around what happens after a body is found during winter in the frozen river.  The main character, Martha Ballard, is a midwife and healer who knows a lot about most everyone in town – and she keeps a daily journal recording various events. She ends up digging into the details of what might have happened to cause the death and we learn about her family and the many people in town she helps as well as mysteries she solves. While this book is historical fiction, Martha was indeed a real person, and the story is based on her life during that time. It’s a simply fascinating read.

In An Instant by Suzanne Redfearn

While not an uplifting story per se, it’s an interesting perspective into relationships and how individuals deal with grief.  Two families are driving together in the mountains heading to a ski vacation when their RV goes over the edge of a mountain. Finn Miller is the 16-year-old main character who dies in the crash, but remains suspended between life and death. We see things from her perspective as she floats between her family members and friends as they first try to escape from the crash and then learn to live with life after the accident. Finn needs to move on to her afterlife as well, but struggles to do so with her family in pieces. Despite the grim plot lines, it’s an interesting story about love and the meaning of family as well as moving on.

One by One by Ruth Ware

A group of employees connected to a dot-com music company are at a retreat staying at a ski chalet in the mountains where they discuss the pros and cons of a buy-out and what that means to each of them. An avalanche occurs while there and they end up trapped in the chalet under many feet of snow.  Cut off from help, a board member ends up going missing in the snow. Tensions run high among the group as they are split on what to do about the buy out, and then start to wonder if the disappearance was actually a murder. It’s hard to know who to trust when trapped together with no easy way out. It’s a story of corporate greed, personal betrayal and mystery. A good read for curling up in front of the fire on a snowy day.

Let us know your favorite read in the comments.