Snow Books a.k.a. A Book List that Snow-Balled

Hoeg creates cold and loneliness with his prose. This book makes one FEEL that they must follow Smilla through her obsessive search for a boy's killer through Denmark and Greenland. This is the most beautiful writing style I have ever seen applied to the thriller genre.

This novel is an unflinching, sometimes brutal portrayal of life for women in 19th century China. It's also the story of a friendship between women that must have been very rare in such a time. The novel depicts the mysterious ritual of foot-binding and the little-known tradition of women's "secret writing," called nu shu, and so opens the hidden world of these women. Yet despite all the restrictions on their lives — and despite their human flaws — these women survived and created intimate lifelong relationships with one another. Clearly, there's more than enough fodder for any book club to discuss and debate.

Until I read this book, I was not as aware of Japanese internment during WWII and through the story of children growing and learning about this I was made more aware of the situation. Also, I appreciated the writing, the story telling, and for me the title also describes the way the story falls from the sky, building and building.

Into the Himalayas with a writer and a biologist, both seeking the rarest of big cats, for different reasons. In that high-altitude Nirvana, Matthiessen learns he must also find peace within his home and family, back in America.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is my favorite poem. The mood of quiet evening and snowfall as a blank canvas, the poet considers what he might do if he didn't have "promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." Beautiful, hopeful, yet poignant and melancholy.

I think this is destined to be a classic. You'll think differently about pizza delivery after this.

This is a very funny book, and there's way more information about snowmen around than you would think. Lots of illustrations, especially of the Victorian era, but my favorite is a painting of a 1500s snowball fight.

A little boy has a fun day playing in the snow, and even tries to keep a snowball in his coat pocket inside! A strikingly beautiful 1963 Caldecott Medal winner.