Read It: Brrr...

Stories for the season.

CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER

By Ann Beattie

Back in 1976, when this book was first published, men were men, winter was winter and you could actually go 10 minutes without hearing the phrase �global warming.� Or so we�ve read. On the other hand, people still listened to disco and wore bell-bottoms. Charles, the central character in Beattie�s debut novel�which launched her illustrious career�suffers more from the ambivalent ennui of the �70s than from its musical and fashion disasters, as he navigates heartbreak through the coldest months of the year.

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

By CS Lewis

Always winter and never Christmas. Sounds like January to us. And what better way to spend a cold night by the fire than reading this classic book (particularly if you�ve only seen the movie) and being swept away into the magical Narnia landscape of frozen rivers, animals turned to stone and Turkish delight?

TROUBLING A STAR

By Madeleine L�Engle

L�Engle�s death, last September, may have prompted fans worldwide to clutch their copies of her Newberry Medal-winner,

A Wrinkle in Time

, a little tighter. Now is a good time to re-read (or have a young friend read for the first time)

Troubling a Star

, in which one of L�Engle�s serial heroines, Vicky Austin, travels to Antarctica where, caught in the middle of an international conflict, she ends up abandoned on an iceberg. And you thought you were cold!

THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN�S UNION

By Michael Chabon

Where better to set a gritty fantasy noir story than a fictionalized version of Alaska? Chabon, who won the Pulitzer Prize for

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

, has done just that with this 2007 novel in which Jewish refugees have settled in Alaska and created a strange and new life. Chabon�s imaginative story may even distract you from the frozen pipes and wailing winds of our all-too-real winter.

Letters to the Editor

Mail letters to PO Box 4910 Santa Fe, NM 87502 or email them to editor[at]sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

We also welcome you to follow SFR on social media (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and comment there. You can also email specific staff members from our contact page.