Trapped in Ice

Published on January 14, 2025

By Carrie S.

January can be tough. The holidays are done, my bank balance is a horror story, and my vitamin D deficiency is really coming into its own. 

I often find myself reading seasonally, and the new year is a time for casting off the festive romances. Be gone with your cute hats and cocoa kisses; romance has left the building. Snow no longer seems picturesque and fluffy; it has now morphed into the very bane of my existence. January is the time to wrap up warm and embrace snowy desolation and deep trauma because if I’m suffering, quite frankly, I want everyone else to suffer too! Avalanches? Yes please. Murder at a snowy retreat? Absolutely. Arctic expedition goes awry? Tell me more. Snowy specters? SIGN ME UP!

We can certainly pretend it’s not 30 below and icy pellets aren’t slamming us in the face. We can even try to escape with a beach read, but I am a January realist. No number of resolutions, new hobbies, or positive affirmations will distract me from the fact it is Hoth-cold, and spring feels like it’s 27 months away.

Misery loves company, so don’t let your fingertips succumb to frostbite. Hurry home, batten down the hatches and ski jump into a world where someone is having an even colder and frostier time than you are. Here are some bleak winter library picks to get you through.

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

In a remote spot high in the Swiss Alps stands an imposing, old, abandoned sanatorium. Obviously, the only thing to do is renovate it into a five-star resort, because what could possibly go wrong? When a guest disappears and the hotel is cut off by a fierce winter storm, it’s a claustrophobic race against time for detective Elin Warner as it all begins to unravel.

The Terror: a novel  by Dan Simmons

The crew aboard the HMS Terror are having a hard time. On a scientific voyage to search for the Northwest Passage, they now find themselves stuck in the ice with a dwindling food supply and a diminishing coal store. Something is also stalking these men; an unseen monstrous predator lurks in the darkness. A perfect choice for sci-fi lovers looking for some mid-winter hopelessness.

Light Boxes by Shane Jones

This is a beautiful and strange fable about a small town stuck in a perpetual February (a feeling we can probably all relate to). Children disappear and adults fall into a deep depression in days of unending cold and darkness. Hope lies in a small contingent of townsfolk who decide to wage war on the godlike spirit responsible for their suffering.

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

A wintry slice of post-apocalyptic horror. Something catastrophic has happened and the members of a small, remote Anishinaabe community receive limited information from the outside world. This award-winning allegory explores how we might rebuild if the unthinkable happens.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Now you might think this is an odd choice, but do not let the cute illustrations fool you. This book is a traumatizing glimpse at isolation and near-starvation during the pioneer heyday. It feels like we’re one snowy step away from Donner party territory in this Little House installment.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

This supernatural page-turner has some very definite Pet Sematary vibes to keep you up on those long January nights. Let the wind howl outside as you unravel this Vermont-set mystery.

One by One by Ruth Ware

I promised you an avalanche and I’m not one to disappoint. In this icy thriller, a group of coworkers get snowed in at a corporate retreat when an avalanche cuts them off from the outside world. Unfortunately, it also appears a murderer is in their midst! A twisty whodunnit, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.

In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides

I did not forget about the nonfiction lovers among you. You’re going to need a few extra blankets before you dive into this one. Explore the ill-fated 1878 journey of the USS Jeannette. Equipped for scientific study and planning on being the first vessel to reach the North Pole, it sadly got stuck in the ice for 21 months—an astonishing amount of time which probably feels on par with the average January in South Dakota.