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Recommended Reads: Books with snow in the title
For the sake of New England skiers and winter readers, bring on the snow!
As an avid New England skier, I’m very aware of the winter weather. To me, February is the best time of year to ski because of all the snow! So, for this February, I’ve created a Recommended Reads list that highlights books for all ages with “snow” or variations of “snow” in the title. This includes some of my favorites, across genres.
Digital book (DB, DBC), braille (BR), large print (LT), and audio described video (DVD) copies of these titles are available from Perkins Library or the Worcester Talking Book Library. Please contact Perkins Library to order any of these books.
Prepared by Alex Means, Reader Advisor, Perkins Library
Snow Falling on Cedars
by Dave Guterson
DB 40688, BR 11904, available as BARD download
Set on an island in Puget Sound shortly after World War II. Carl Heine has drowned, and Kabuo Miyomoto, a fellow fisherman, is charged with Heine’s murder. Covering the trial for the local newspaper is Ishmael Chambers, who was the first love of Hatsue, the defendant’s wife. As the trial gets under way, the courtroom and the entire once peaceful community are tense with suspicion and prejudice. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 1994.
The Snowman
by Jo Nesbø
DB 73460, BR 20142, available as BARD download
Oslo detective Harry Hole is tracking a serial killer who leaves snowmen at murder scenes. Hole’s new young colleague believes there is a link between the crimes and a long-missing cop from her town. Originally published in Norwegian in 2007. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2010.
Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats
DB 43471, BR 10045, available as BARD download
Young Peter is thrilled to wake up to snow piled high. He spends the day crunching, sliding, building a snowman, making snow angels, and having a great time. For grades K-3. Caldecott award winner.
Katy and the Big Snow
by Virginia Lee Burton
DB 52335, BR 13606, available as BARD download
Katy, the red crawler tractor, is big and strong. When the entire city is buried under a blizzard and all the other snowplows break down, the people count on Katy to save them. For grades K-3. 1943.
Moon of the Crusted Snow
by Waubgeshig Rice
DB 95719, available as BARD download
A small Anishinaabe First Nation community loses contact with society at large. As they struggle to maintain order while supplies diminish, a refugee who’s escaped from a crumbling society appears. When more people arrive, the community must turn to tradition in hopes of survival. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Download Moon of the Crusted Snow, DB 95719
Snow
by John Banville
DB 101040, available as BARD download
DI Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family. In 1957, the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist, and Protestant Strafford faces obstruction at every turn, including heavily accumulating snow. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson
DB 57673, available as BARD download
Hiro Protagonist, swordsman and freelance hacker, delivers pizzas for a Mafia-owned distributor until he loses his job. Broke and unemployed, Hiro visits the virtual-reality realm known as the Metaverse. There he encounters “snow crash,” a computer virus and designer drug capable of destroying systems and users. Strong language. 1992.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
DB 60738, BRG 2789, DVD 964, available as BARD download
Nineteenth-century China. A matchmaker pairs young Lily and Snow Flower in a lifelong friendship. For years they communicate using a secret code written on a fan, sharing their joys and sorrows until a misunderstanding threatens to destroy their bond. Descriptions of sex. Bestseller. Commercial audiobook. 2005.
Snow in April
by Rosamunde Pilcher
DB 42485, available as BARD download
Caroline Cliburn is supposed to be married in a few days. But first she and her brother Jody are determined to find their vanished brother Angus, who is working in Scotland. They only expect to be gone for a few days, but when a spring snowstorm hits and they have a car accident, they end up at the home of Oliver Cairney, a charming bachelor.
Snowblind
by Ragnar Jónasson
DB 109348, available as BARD download
Siglufjörður, an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland where no one locks their doors—accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavík—with a past that he’s unable to leave behind. When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theater, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one and secrets and lies are a way of life. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts as Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness—blinded by snow and with a killer on the loose. Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent.
Translated from the original Icelandic edition. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
by Ernest Hemingway
DB 20451, BR 12314, available as BARD download
The title story portrays a thwarted writer dying on an African plain and composing in his mind all the stories he will never live to tell. The other nine stories in the collection include several about Nick Adams, an autobiographical character.
Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
DB 14615, available as BARD download
Account of a journey that began in September, 1973, when the novelist-explorer set out with field biologist George Schaller to the Crystal Mountain across the Himalayas on the Tibetan plateau. Schaller wished to observe the rutting of the blue sheep, and Matthiessen, a student of Zen Buddhism, hoped to find the Lama of Shey. 1979.
Snow in August
by Pete Hamill
DB 45815, available as BARD download
Brooklyn, 1947. Eleven-year-old Irish Catholic Michael Devlin and Rabbi Judah Hirsh, a refugee from Prague, become friends. Michael teaches the rabbi about America and baseball, and Judah teaches the boy Yiddish phrases. When religious prejudice sweeps the community, Michael faces a difficult choice between his neighbors and his principles. Some strong language. Bestseller.
A Breath of Snow and Ashes
by Diana Gabaldon
DB 61201, BRG 2282, available as BARD download
Jamie Fraser and his time-traveling wife, Claire, are caught in the conflict between Great Britain and its American colonies. Jamie knows from Claire that Britain loses, but he tries to keep North Carolina loyal. Sequel to The Fiery Cross (DB 53366). Descriptions of sex, violence, and strong language. Bestseller. 2005.
Waiting for Snow in Havana
by Carlos Eire
DB 57745, available as BARD download
A Yale historian recalls his privileged childhood in Cuba, where his eccentric father was a Havana judge. Author describes living through the revolution, losing everything, and escaping with his brother in 1962 to exile in Miami. Some violence and some strong language. National Book Award. 2003.
Snow Queen
by Michael Cunningham
DB 79320, available as BARD download
While walking in Central Park, Barrett Meeks feels the need to look to the sky and sees a vision. Searching for meaning in the vision, he discovers a call to religion. Barrett’s brother Tyler struggles to write a love song for his soon-to-be-wife Beth. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2014.
Black Night, White Snow: Russia’s Revolutions 1905-1917
by Harrison E. Salisbury
DB 14994, available as BARD download
Tells the story of the fall of the Romanov dynasty and the triumph of revolution in Russia. Using primary sources and interviews with survivors, the author provides a comprehensive history of the period beginning with the 1882 execution of Lenin’s older brother and ending with the 1918 murders of the Tsar and his family.
Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic
by Marla Cone
DB 64219, available as BARD download
Environmental journalist describes five Arctic countries where communities are heavily exposed to toxic pollutants called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Praises the traditional survival skills and technologies of Arctic inhabitants and chronicles the damage inflicted on wildlife by the spreading of contaminants around the globe. 2005.
Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska
by Miranda Weiss
DBC 7090, available as BARD download
A young woman who grew up in a landlocked eastern U.S. suburb moves to Homer, Alaska where “the days are quartered by the most extreme tides in the country, where the years are marked by seasons of fish, and where the locals carry around the knowledge of fish, tides, boats and weather as ballast.” At first, she struggles, but she learns to make her way and survive. She describes the beautiful landscape, the people and the initial culture clash.
Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales from around the World
by Heidi Ann Heiner
DB 82947, available as BARD download
With over seventy stories, this collection of tales focuses on sleeping beauties, including Snow White and Sleeping Beauty herself. Several variants are compiled, including tales dating back to ancient Greece and medieval times. Stories of sleeping heroes are also included. Violence and some descriptions of sex. 2010.
Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835
by Jefferson Morley
DB 119808, available as BARD download
Portrays how the 19th century struggle against slavery erupted in Washington DC, thrusting the ambitious District Attorney Francis Scott Key into a uniquely American battle for justice. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
Snow: A Scientific and Cultural Exploration
by Giles Whittell
DB 97985, available as BARD download
Author of Bridge of Spies (DB 82337) presents a natural history of snow. Topics covered include a snowfall in a community that is situated in an oasis on the edge of the Sahara Desert, the depiction of snow in paintings, and the ways humans have adapted to living in snow. 2018.
Snow Blind: Recovering After the Random Shooting, a Memoir
by William M. Johnson
DBC 6481, available as BARD download
Bill Johnson spent a good part of his career as a management consultant until a random shooting on a business trip changed his life forever. Faced with new challenges in a sightless world, Bill was determined not to let sudden blindness hold him back from living life on his terms. With a positive attitude, determination, and humor, Bill embraced his new life and began putting the pieces back together. Adult. Some strong language.
Black Snow: Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atomic Bomb
by James Scott
DB 110970, available as BARD download
Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: “If we lose the war, we’ll be tried as war criminals.” James M. Scott reconstructs in granular detail that horrific night, and describes the development of the B-29, the capture of the Marianas for use as airfields, and the change in strategy from high-altitude daylight “precision” bombing to low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing. Most importantly, the raid represented a significant moral shift for America, marking the first time commanders deliberately targeted civilians—which helped pave the way for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki five months later. Drawing on first-person interviews with American pilots and bombardiers and Japanese survivors, air force archives, and oral histories never before published in English, Scott delivers a harrowing and gripping account, and his most important and compelling work to date. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
Download Black Snow, DB 110970
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