Happy Top Ten Tuesday everyone! I wasn’t originally going to post today, as I didn’t have a post ready, but it’s been so long I participated in Top Ten Tuesday I thought… better late than never!
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and you can find all past and future prompts on her blog! This week the prompt is: a holiday freebie!.cold
Sometimes, authors are really good at describing surroundings. So much so, that I start to feel whatever is going on in the story. That’s why for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday Post, I’ll list some books that at some point, made me feel all chilly!
A Game of Thrones
By George R.R. Martin
Actually this whole series made me feel cold. Did I ever tell you all I hate the cold? Not sure why I chose to fall in love with Winter sport… Anyway, especially the scenes behind the Wall just completely chilled me. It’s great when authors can portray a scene so well that you start to feel part of it, but this was for sure a miserable kind of cold.
Kingdom of Ash
By Sarah J. Maas
If I remember correctly, this book starts off with scenes of battle and campgrounds. I also remember that everything was wet, muddy, and cold. It made me appreciate that I live in the 21st century, and that I will likely never experience something like that except through the pages of a book. Thankfully, there were also parts in this book that were not cold.
Wintersong
S. Jae Jones
With a title like that you’d expect to encounter a lot of wintery scenes. And you’d be correct! This book also largely takes place underground, in the kingdom of the Goblin King. I didn’t entirely enjoy the story, but the wintery scenes did make me feel cold a couple of times!
The Silvered Serpents
By Roshani Chokshi
In case you didn’t know yet, this book takes place in Russia. Specifically, Siberia, which is known to be very cold in the Winter. Even better: there is a gigantic ice palace. If you’re not cold just by reading that, then I don’t know… you probably just never feel cold. As a side note, I absolutely loved this book, so take a chance on this series if you can!
The 7.5 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Stuart Turton
This book didn’t really make me feel cold because the scenes were wintery, but because the weather was just overall described as gray and dreary. If there’s something I hate even more than cold, it’s cold rain. Plus, the main characters find himself outside quite a few times. The day always starts sunny, but by the time it’s noon the sky is completely overcast. Brrr.
House of Salt and Sorrows
By Erin A. Craig
Here’s another one with weather descriptions that would chill you to the bone. House of Salt and Sorrows takes place close to the sea, and if you’re thinking of white beaches and palm trees I’m going to have to disappoint you. This is all loud winds and cold rain. This book has the added bonus that it’ll chill you because it’s creepy.
The Creeping Shadow
Jonathan Stroud
This is the fourth book in this awesome middle grade series, and it’s all about ghosts. In more than one book you can read that ghosts negatively affect temperature, but this one for sure takes the cake for me. The main characters accidentally end up in the spirit world, and those scenes made me feel so cold! Remind me to not die, so that I won’t have to be a ghost stuck in that kind of cold forever.
Spinning Silver
By Naomi Novik
Okay, so I never actually finished this book, whoops. But, I did get about halfway through and remember feeling cold literally the entire time. The main character sorta gets kidnapped by a literal ice king. I think I’d like to finish this book one day, but at this point I’d have to start over from the beginning and for now I’m not in the mood for that.
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
It’s pretty obvious that this world is based on Russia. So… cold in the Winter. I remember some scenes from when Alina had not yet discovered her Grisha powers, and she was sent to the Fold. It made me feel so cold. I think that anything battle related makes me feel cold, to be honest. It just happens so often that the battles I read about take place in miserable weather circumstances!
Frostblood
By Elly Blake
Title gives it away again, this book involves a lot of coldness. In Frostblood, the main character actually has the power to command fire, which is forbidden. Everyone else is ruled by frost. I really enjoyed the first two books of this series, and it certainly doesn’t remain cold forever. I still have to read the final book, though… Maybe I can still finish it before the year ends!
And that’s it! Writing this post also made me feel cold… Honestly, as soon as the weather here gets colder I don’t get warm again until like April. I should learn how to hibernate so I won’t have to suffer. Are there any books you read that made you feel cold?
Find more of my Top Ten Tuesday posts here!
I’m so curious about House of Salt and Sorrows.
My post.
Author
I loved it! Perfect combination of creepy and mysterious
Spot on choices! Personally I would not survive the cold, ughhh I hate it. Btw I LOVE the snowflakes animation on the website, so cool!
I did my own take on the TTT, and made a list with “winter” themed books: https://jawahirthebookworm.com/2020/12/08/ttt-top-10-books-for-winter/
Author
Thank you!! I hate the cold too lol. I love the look of snow and pretty cozy clothes, but I hate going outside in the cold and I always end up wearing leggings and a hoody 😂
ooh, Shadow and Bone is on my TBR, might read it next as it’s a wintery one!
Author
It for sure is! I think the whole trilogy fits with a Winter theme. And the Six of Crows duology as well!😄
Game of Thrones (the whole series, really) are VERY brr-y!
Author
So true! There are not a lot of POVs that take place in warmer places 😂
Very true! When I was reading DRY by Neal Shusterman – a dystopian novel about an awful drought in California – I could not drink enough water. Shusterman described everything so well that I felt thirsty throughout the entire book!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Author
Isn’t it so awesome when authors can make us feel the same way as their characters only using words?😄
A Game of Thrones makes me feel cool, too. How can it not with “Winter is coming.” constantly being said! 😉
Author
That is very true 😂
Awesome list! I’m intrigued by just the title alone of The 7.5 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle!
My TTT: https://memorymeetsimagination.wordpress.com/2020/12/08/top-ten-tuesday-wintry-reads/
Author
Thank you! The 7.5 Deaths was awesome. It involves a murder mystery, and also some light fantastical elements. I seriously had no idea where it was going until the very end, which is a positive of course 😂
Well, this was a pretty cool post. The Creeping Shadow looks really interesting. I’m not familiar with the series, but I’m going to grab the first book. Thanks for putting it on my radar!
Author
Thank you! I loved the Lockwood & Co. series, I hope you do too!😄
I’m a huge SFF fan, so I’ve loved all of these books, agree with all of your choices. Well, except Silvered Serpents, which is new to me but your post makes me long to read the series. And Game of Thrones book series is called Song of Ice and Fire, so another very winter-appropriate chain, eh? Thanks for a great post. Merry TTT
~Top 10 Tuesday Post @Lexlingua
Author
SFF is my favorite too! The Gilded Wolves series is lots of fun, and the Silvered Serpents is one of my favorite books of the year! So I definitely recommend the series!😊
I agree about A Game of Thrones. That book made me feel cold too. I wouldn’t want to live in that world!
Author
Me neither! I’d be dead within 30 minutes 😅