Wintery Reads Staff Picks (12/14/23)

As the weather gets chillier and chillier, we’re snuggling up inside with some cold-weather themed novels. Embrace the season with these winter reads!

AMANDA’S PICK: DEEP FREEZE BY MICHAEL C. GRUMLEY

This brilliant near-future thriller is the first installment in a new series. When an Army veteran is in a icy crash that sends his bus sinking into a frozen river, his life comes to an end. But he wakes up beneath hospital lights, with doctors telling him everything’s normal, even though he’s struggling to move and breathe. As he recovers, he realizes his doctors are lying to him and things are not at all what they seem; critical information is being kept from him. Can he keep himself alive long enough to uncover the truth and figure out why it’s being hidden from him in the first place? Fans of C.J. Box, James Rollins, Gregg Hurwitz, John Scalzi, and Sarah Gailey will love this chilly sci-fi/thriller crossover.

Available for download on Edelweiss and NetGalley.

EMILY’S PICK: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS BY MARY KAY ANDREWS

This sweet holiday rom-com from Mary Kay Andrews is all about celebrating the magic of Christmas and second chances. Kerry Tolliver is in desperate need of a second chance, so she moves back home to her family’s Christmas tree farm in North Carolina. But she soon ends up in New York City, helping her brother sell trees to the residents of the East Village. It’s there that she meets Patrick, a recently divorced single father searching for a second chance of his own. Surrounded by the incomparable magic of the holiday season in the city, Kerry might finally get what she needs to find herself, and maybe even love. I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for a heartwarming story to curl up with during this holiday season.

MICHELLE’S PICK: THE FOX WIFE BY YANGSZE CHOO

In early 1900’s China, the mysterious death of a woman leads a detective named Bao on a wild chase. At the same time, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can’t escape a curse where their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. All the while, there is suspicion that magical fox gods have something to do with these deaths, as they are rumored to have the ability to transform themselves and lure people into danger. Enter Snow, a servant and a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child. Hunting a murderer, she will venture from Manchuria to Japan, while Bao follows doggedly behind. Both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur. Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. Epic in scope and full of unforgettable characters, this is a stunning novel about old loves and second chances, the depths of maternal love, and ancient folktales that may very well be true.

Available for download on Edelweiss and NetGalley. LibraryReads votes due by January 1st.