Summer Lovin’: the Wishful Cooler Thinking Edition

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I’m once again channeling my inner Nancy Pearl with a list of books I’ve read and loved that fit into a summer reading theme. Last time, I reached out to beach bums with a nautical list, and this week I thought I’d reach out to all of those who spend the summer inside, running the air conditioner or fans and trying to avoid the extreme heat. Working on the idea that reading about cold weather is the best antidote, I offer you books set in cooler climes.

If you just fancy a quick break from the heat, you can’t go wrong with Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants. Originally published for World Book Day, it tells the story of young Odd, a Viking boy who must help Loki, Odin, and Thor retake Asgard in order to stop the world from plunging into endless winter. It’s a charming, funny story suitable for readers of all ages, and if you enjoy audiobooks, treat yourself to Gaiman narrating his own book. Alternatively, visit Russia with Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander, another slim story that plays on legend…in this case that of the Romanovs. Told through the eyes of a young servant (now a nonagenerian emigrant), you’ll travel from glittering St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg, on the edge of Sibera. Alexander adds a lot of little touches to bring revolutionary Russia to life, and there’s an opportunity for the reader to see through parts of the narrative and guess the final twist.

If you’d like to enact your own version of the Trans-Mongolian Express, you can follow up your visit to Russia with some time in Mongolia thanks to Galsing Tschinag’s autobiographical novel The Blue Sky. Follow a young Mongolian boy as he and his family eek out a living as traditional sheep-herding nomads on the broad steppes in this marvelous coming-of-age tale. He’s particularly tested during a difficult winter, so there’s plenty and snow and wind in the book. Tschinag has an eye for detail, and as a reader you’ll feel as if you’re on the steppes as well. While self-contained, this is the first in a projected loose trilogy about Tschinag’s life; I for one can’t wait to read his follow-up!

I would be remiss not to include the nonfiction book Cold by Bill Streever on such a list. As a hybrid of popular science and travel literature, Cold includes everything from scientific explanations of the human body’s reaction to low temperatures to stories of a frozen mastadon unearthed in Siberia’s permafrost to Streever’s personal inclination for cold weather activities, including a swim off the Alaskan coast north of the Artic Circle. ;) While the book has a bit of a random feel to it, that only increased my enjoyment; it was like chatting with a kooky friend you haven’t seen for awhile who just spent a year exploring the idea of ‘cold.’

Speaking of Alaska, before there was Deadliest Catch, author Sherry Smith wrote Lucy the Giant. Lucy is a young teenage girl in smalltown Alaska, whose unusual height comes in handy after she runs away and joins a crab fishing crew. Smith deftly brings to life the difficulty of being on a ship in such a hostile environment, and my hands almost grew chillblains just in sympathy with Lucy. While the setting is marvelous, it’s really the characters who shine; Smith is a gifted author who knows how to bring them to life through their flaws. By the final page, you might find yourself shedding a tear or two, but they’ll be accompanied by a smile for Lucy’s strength and passions.

Of course, winters are nothing new, and if your tastes run towards the classics you’ll be able to find some marvelous books. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton revolves around winter in a small New England town, but its chilliness isn’t confined to the weather. The relationship between the characters has enough iciness to cool down the hottest of summer days. While this isn’t the happiest book on this list, it remains one of my favourites and was the first one that jumped to mind when I decided to explore this theme. For those who prefer their classics on the chunky side, allow me to suggest Norwegian Sigrid Undest’s Kristin Lavransdatter (originally published as a trilogy with The Wreath, The Wife, and The Cross). I highly recommend the Penguin edition with Tiina Nunnally’s marvelous translation. While the focus on Kristin’s internal anguish and struggles might not be for everyone, I adored this book for not only bringing medieval Norway to life in all of its details but also for its examination of religion and social change in such a tempetuous period. You’ll learn about longhouses, the work upperclass women like Kristin were expected to perform, political intrigue, and of course the influence of the church as it was overtaking earlier, pagan beliefs. But most of all, you’ll come along for the entire ride of Kristin’s life, from a young girl to a young bride to a middle-aged woman and beyond. And after you turn the final page, Kristin will stay in your mind, as well as the men in her life.

Moving from the Artic Circle to the Antarctic, Sarah Wheeler’s travelogue Terra Incognita details her two trips to the frozen continent. Mixed in with her own experiences, and the life stories of the people she meets (an eccentric crowd, to say the least), are accounts of the historical explorations of the South Pole. This travelogue is thoughtful, literary, evocative, and truly educational…what more could you ask for? It’s quite amusing to see Wheeler’s (British) thoughts on the Americans, Kiwis, and Italians she meets during her first trip, while her later trip to the British outpost gives her time to reflect on gender relations, a subject near and dear to my own heart. The book moves from laugh-out-loud funny to thought-provoking within a few paragraphs, which is a rare treat. By the time you finish, you’ll know much more about Western Civilization’s fraught relationship with Antarctica, past and present, particularly from the British angle.

Finally, Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber is a difficult book to categorise: it’s definitely literary, and has a bit of a thriller/mystery feel to it, but the book is primarily about Lena, our narrator, and her mental instabilities. No matter what you call it, it’s full of cold: set in upstate New York during winter, you’ll freeze along with Lena whenever she goes outdoors, and you should keep a stache of hot chocolate on hand for a particular blizzard scene, written so well it will make you check your own windows for snow. Lena is rare for a main character, in that she hardly knows herself at all and it’s often up to the reader to see past her narrative voice and figure out what’s truly going on. There were definite flavours of Ishiguro in Abu-Jaber’s writing, although I wouldn’t say she’s at his maestro level (yet). As Lena begins to question her own sanity, the reader is right there along with her, which makes the book all the more thrilling. An unusual read for me, but one I’m very glad to have experienced.

Do you guys have any ‘cold’ books of your own to recommend? Or did some of these titles catch your eye? What should be the theme for my next booklist?

P.S.: My computer started acting up last night, so if I’m not around much over the next couple of days, that’s why. *shakes fist at Windows*