Chilling Stories Display
There's nothing like a thematic read to get you into the mood of a season. Since winter is a time of natural hibernation, it's the perfect season for reading! And while you might not want to read outside in the cold, you can curl up inside with a hot beverage, a cozy blanket, and a book that features a chilling title or setting. Check out some of these wintery reads today:
If you haven't read the wildly popular "Beartown" by Fredrik Backman (and I'm looking in a mirror here...), now is your chance to dive into this series. "Winning a junior ice hockey championship might not mean a lot to the average person, but it means everything to the residents of Beartown, a community slowly being eaten alive by unemployment and the surrounding wilderness. A victory like this would draw national attention to the ailing town: it could attract government funding and an influx of talented athletes who would choose Beartown over the big nearby cities. A victory like this would certainly mean everything to Amat, a short, scrawny teenager who is treated like an outcast everywhere but on the ice; to Kevin, a star player just on the cusp of securing his golden future in the NHL; and to Peter, their dedicated general manager whose own professional hockey career ended in tragedy. At first, it seems like the team might have a shot at fulfilling the dreams of their entire town. But one night at a drunken celebration following a key win, something happens between Kevin and the general manager's daughter--and the next day everything seems to have changed. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. With so much riding on the success of the team, the line between loyalty and betrayal becomes difficult to discern. At last, it falls to one young man to find the courage to speak the truth that it seems no one else wants to hear."
In "A Killing Cold" by Kate Marshall, a woman invited to her wealthy fiancé's family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret - and that she's been there before. "When Theodora Scott met Connor -- wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family -- she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he's brought her to Idlewood, his family's isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood. Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone has a shocking secret they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything."
"Heart of Winter" by Jonathan Evison is a heartwarming novel about a married couple in their eighties, flashing back to tell the story of their lives across their courtship, marriage, children, and long-standing, opposites-attract love. "Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together-at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a seventy-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and out of their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged. But when Ruth's loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they've created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other. In this big-hearted and profound portrait of a marriage, Jonathan Evison explores 70 years of big moments in subtle ways, elegantly braiding the Winters' turbulent history with their present-day battles, showing us how the oddly paired college kids became parents, fell apart and back together, and grew into the Abe and Ruth of today. Endlessly heartwarming and moving, 'Heart of Winter' is a reminder that true love lives in small, everyday moments."
"The Lost House" by Melissa Larsen is the mesmerizing story of a young woman with a haunting past who returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a gruesome murder in her family. "Forty years ago, a young woman and her infant daughter were found buried in the cold Icelandic snow, lying together as peacefully as though sleeping. Except the mother's throat had been slashed and the infant drowned. The case was never solved. There were no arrests, no conviction. Just a suspicion turned into a certainty: the husband did it. When he took his son and fled halfway across the world to California, it was proof enough of his guilt. Now, nearly half a century later and a year after his death, his granddaughter, Agnes, is ready to clear her grandfather's name once and for all. Still recovering from his death and a devastating injury, Agnes wants nothing more than an excuse to escape the shambles of her once-stable life-which is why she so readily accepts true crime expert Nora Carver's invitation to be interviewed for her popular podcast. Agnes packs a bag and hops on a last-minute flight to the remote town of Bifröst, Iceland, where Nora is staying, where Agnes's father grew up, and where, supposedly, her grandfather slaughtered his wife and infant daughter. Is it merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes arrives? Suddenly, Agnes and Nora's investigation is turned upside down, and everyone in the small Icelandic town is once again a suspect. Seeking to unearth old and new truths alike, Agnes finds herself drawn into a web of secrets that threaten the redemption she is hell-bent on delivering, and even her life-discovering how far a person will go to protect their family, their safety, and their secrets." This is a chilling and razor-sharp thriller packed with jaw-dropping twists that will leave you breathless!
You'll find these and other frosty titles in our "Chilling Stories" display. For additional title suggestions, see the lists below:
