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Just so you all know, I’ve been having trouble leaving comments on some WordPress blogs recently. They ask me to log in even though I’m already logged in, and then when I leave my comment it never appears on the post. If I don’t comment on your post, I am not ignoring you.
The photo I included in this post made me chuckle because the beaches in Ontario are often inaccessible in the winter.
Windy days are common here in Southern Ontario, and in the winter all of that wind can blow freezing water up the shore and onto any sidewalks or piers nearby.
So not only it is well below freezing for us then, the land next to our lakes is often coated in a thick layer of ice that can be incredibly slippery and dangerous.
I’m glad that people in some other parts of the world can take leisurely strolls next to their lakes or oceans in the winter without possibly slipping straight into the freezing water, though. It must be lovely, and I mean that sincerely if also slightly humorously.
With that mental image firmly in place, here are some books I’m looking forward to checking out this winter.
1. Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin
Publication Date: January 13
Why I’m Interested: Book bans are something I’m always curious to read about, especially from the perspective of a librarian who is fighting them.
2. How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days: Tales from Hawthorne Cottage by Jessie Sylva
Publication Date: January 20
Why I’m Interested: Honestly, the title is what drew me to this one. I love puns and cozy speculative fiction.
3. Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Publication Date: February 3
Why I’m Interested: Animal rescue is one of those topics that will draw my attention to all sorts of different books. There’s nothing like reading about an abandoned animal finding a happy new home.
4. The Daughter Who Remains by Nnedi Okorafor
Publication Date: February 17
Why I’m Interested: It will hopefully encourage me to finally begin this trilogy. I’m generally a fan of Ms. Okorafor’s work and the afro-futurism genre as a whole.
5. Onward: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope by Erin Entrada Kelly
Publication Date: February 24
Why I’m Interested: To be honest, climate change is not looking good at the moment. I worry about what the future may hold as the Earth continues to warm up. My fingers are crossed that this book will imagine some cleaner, cooler futures for us all.
I’ve read the first eight of these, and the rest are still on my TBR list. Snowy settings can be so interesting to read about, although I only enjoy heavy snowfalls in real life when I can stay home and don’t have to shovel snow or drive in it.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that happens during the same season of the year every year. The winter blues are a milder condition similar to this one that has some of the same symptoms and many of the same treatment options, although some people also use that term colloquially to refer to SAD.
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
It’s hard to tell which books will become classics. Not every bestseller is actually well written or will continue to affect readers in twenty or fifty years. Likewise, I have no doubt there are some true gems out there that may have had middling to poor sales but will eventually be rediscovered and taught in classrooms all across the world.
War isn’t something I like to read about, so this still fits the original “books outside of my comfort zone” theme as well!
Here are the Halloween posts I’ve written for Top Ten Tuesday in previous years: 
Jana wants us to talk about cozy stories this week.
As this week’s topic is a freebie post that can be about anything other than books, here are some of my favourite songs with Halloween themes or vibes.