Our daylight is waning, and while November has kindly treated us to mild temperatures, the chill of winter is lurking, readying to encourage our retreat inside.  Capitalizing on the moments we’ll spend mostly indoors these next few wintry months, I’ve compiled a list of literary libation combinations to enhance the season’s aesthetic.  Each pairing is sure to warm even the chilliest of nights.

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Purchase the books reviewed in this list here!

 

The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, by Mira Jacob

The literary: A profound story of a family’s journey from India to New Mexico and the emotional evolution as an immigrant family coping with tragedy and change.  Mira Jacob’s storytelling is captivating; she encourages your early investment in each character’s dynamic contribution to the familial chaos.  Though the tale spans geography and generations, a single, triumphant theme persists: while you fight hardest with the ones you love, you fight hardest for them, too.

The libation: A hot toddy, best enjoyed while making a toast at your dysfunctional family holiday party.  Of course, I’d recommend you read the novel pre-party, as to maximize not only your appreciation for your loved ones, but to also serve as a reminder that we’re all driving each other crazy out of love.

 

The Lost Tornado, by James Dean Divine

The literary: In his debut novel, The Lost Tornado, James Dean Divine invites us into his humble childhood; one spent navigating a series of self-inflicted misfortunes and socioeconomic hardships.  The result is a laugh-out-loud funny tale that has you cheering for this cheeky yet charming boy through his journey towards adulthood.  The stories he spins are as colorful as the characters he encounters.  He wins his audience over with each narrowly escaped antic and heart-warming account of his impoverished youth in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.

The libation: No matter the season, Scotland’s weather is famously unpredictable; hail one minute and sunshine the next.  A dram of Scotch whisky, while cozied up next to a roaring fire, will provide sufficient warmth and satiate your thirst as you giggle and guffaw alongside young Divine.

 

The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain

The literary: Meet Hadley Richardson; Mrs. Hemingway, the First.  McLain details the journey Hadley and Ernest took from the onset of their budding romance in Chicago to the bohemian party scene of Paris.  She drew inspiration from the couple’s written exchanges and Hemingway’s acclaimed memoir, A Moveable Feast, encapsulating his simple and clean prose to spin a story of their life together; one intimately intertwined with the literary greats, and their admirers, that frequented the salons and cafes during that era.  This fictionalized account details Hadley’s rise and fall as a first wife, making the reader wonder if she ever stood a chance against the whirlwind life Hemingway, his mistresses and his cohorts, all pursued with abandon.

The libation: Pour yourself a glass of fine Bordeaux and wrap up in your favorite woolen knit scarf to ward off the wintry cold while strolling McLain’s Parisian streets.

 

10:04, by Ben Lerner

The literary: Lerner’s strong storytelling elicits a feeling that you’re living each moment of the novel in real time, as if the protagonist is a stranger whispering the narrative in your ear as you squeeze past him to disembark the subway.  As the author, both in the book and of the book, concedes, the tale flickers between fiction and nonfiction, aptly inspiring the reader to draw his or her own parallels along the blurred lines of life and art.  10:04 is a meta-novel; stylistically of the future and concurrently unfolding as you devour it.

The libation: Lerner’s novel actively distorts the essence of time in the city that already doesn’t sleep, not even in the depths of winter.  Consuming a hand-crafted cocktail in one of Lerner’s dimly lit, exposed-brick establishments will provoke that back to the future feeling he’s searching for.

 

Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes

The literary: Catch this book before the movie so that you can fall in love with Moyes’ characters at least once before they hit the big screen.  I hesitated reading Me Before You because I shy away from contemporary chick-lit; but oh, what a colossal mistake that would have been.  You fall in love, you seethe with frustration, you laugh and cry; the powerful and unlikely intimacy these characters build between them demonstrates the risk we take loving someone despite breaking your own heart.

The libation: Beefeater Gin and tonic, with lime. Moyes sets the opening scene in the heart of London, and though Britain is home to delicious ales and ciders, I think you’ll soon see why I recommend a spirit just a shade stronger.  

 

Through her love for travel, and an enchanted six months in Edinburgh, Scotland, Amanda discovered her calling to story tell.  Combining her 8+ years of corporate recruiting experience with her passion for writing, she launched Amanda Wowk Creative to offer a myriad of career and creative writing services directly to clients.  You can learn more about her writing and editing services, and follow her blog at www.amandawowk.com.  

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