Nicole’s Book Nook: winter fireplace reads
I tend to pride myself on my ability to withstand the unrelenting hyperborean weather, as any born and bred Montanan ought to, but this year the temperature is more biting than a three-dog night.
Lately, I’ve found that the best way to thaw myself after nearly freezing to death on my drive home from work is to brew a warm cup of chamomile tea (the drizzle of honey is mandatory), curl up under my weighted blanket and enjoy some exciting new reads, as well as my old standbys.
In this issue, I’ll have one new read to recommend as well as a few classics that will hopefully be new to you.
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
This is an intriguing sci-fi thriller that fascinates as much as it frightens. This novel follows a group of four women on a mission to explore Area X, a mysterious and top-secret locale completely overtaken by strange and unpredictable natural phenomena. Our protagonist, the unnamed biologist of the team, must fend off the dangerous wildlife within Area X and even the members of her own expedition. I’ll admit that it took me a while to get invested in this story, as I found most of the dialogue unnaturally stiff and none of the characters particularly interesting. However, if you can stick with it, you won’t be able to put it down. While I was originally bored with the main character and narrator of the story, she slowly reveals more and more about herself, becoming just as interesting as the plot itself. If you feel like mother nature is punishing you this winter, this book might put things into perspective.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
I thought I’d try something new this week and recommend two books that I believe would pair very well with one another, like cheese and wine. Or peanut butter and chocolate. Or coffee with even more coffee. Their Eyes Were Watching God follows protagonist Janie Crawford as she attempts to find love and self-fulfillment throughout her three marriages. It’s a beautifully crafted novel that never fails to make me cry. On its own, you’ll find plenty to love. However, I think it pairs quite nicely with Two Old Women, a retelling of an Athabaskan folk tale in the form of a short novella. This tale of endurance and survival is set in the Alaskan wilderness and follows two old women (duh) who are abandoned by their tribe during a famine and must prove to themselves and their tribe that they have the will and the wisdom to survive. Their story may be especially poignant for first-years who crawl up Guad hill in sub-zero temperatures; we all have our battles. These two stories share many common themes: not only do they feature WOC protagonists (African American in the case of Their Eyes Were Watching God and indigenous in Two Old Women), but they both focus on themes of aging and self-sufficiency. I think you’ll find a lot to love in these stories.
Dubliners by James Joyce
I don’t have a list of short stories for you today, but something even better. As you may already know, Dubliners by James Joyce is a series of modernist vignettes set around Dublin (double duh). Dubliners heavily reinforces the sense of paralysis and complacency that Joyce saw encompassing his homeland. Each protagonist experiences some sort of epiphany by the end of the story, which, more often than not, ends with them realizing the futility of their choices and existence in general. My personal favorites are “Eveline,” which follows the titular protagonist as she struggles to leave her abusive father for a better life abroad, and “The Dead,” which is technically classified as a novella. I think it’s best to go into “The Dead” with as little knowledge as possible because it’s fun to explore on your own.
No matter the weather, these recommendations should give you plenty of enjoyment during our upcoming break. And hey, if you find yourself in blizzard conditions on your drive back home, these books will always double as firestarters. Just promise me that it’ll be your last resort, okay?
