Books like The Winter List

This book is a glorious exhortation to live, even when—especially when!—death is lurking. It takes place in the plague of 1666. I used to have a bizarre fear of the bubonic plague (like I imagined it was in my closet and, if I opened the door, it would escape out into the world), so it’s strange how much I love this book.

I think it’s because Anna, the main character, is such a force. She repeatedly reminds me to connect with the natural world and myself and then to stretch and reach beyond what I thought I was and who I thought I could be. It's magic.

Barbara is a train wreck in motion. A dumpster fire of a woman.

But she is also a smart, hard-working, talented detective. Which is why in the midst of the Detective Lynley series, she emerged to become the main character of her own book. Here she takes over the spotlight with her usual stubborn refusal to play by the rules, her adherence to comfort over style, and her abrupt—some would say rude—demeanor.

Yet in this book, we see not only her professional acumen but also her tender heart, as she falls in love and races to protect those she cares about most. She is always a work in progress, but in this mystery, we get all the best parts of her.

After life as an unpaid servant to her clergyman cousin, Annabelle Archer’s ecstatic to win a scholarship to Oxford from the National Society for Women’s Suffrage—even if accepting means participating in the group’s political campaigning. A drive to sway influential gentleman to the cause lands Annabelle and her new suffragist friends at a house party given by the haughty Duke of Montgomery, a man far more interested in winning back the family properties his father lost gambling than in debating married women’s property rights. Until he starts debating with Annabelle…

A familiar story, plot-wise. The joy here comes from Dunmore's lovely writing, deft characterizations, and the palpable tension she creates between two people on opposite sides who fall into desperate, exhilarating, and completely unwanted love.

One of my biggest influences, John le Carré, has supplied a whole generation of readers with (mostly) Cold War-era thrillers that proved sharp, incisive, minutely constructed, and often fun (in a quintessentially British manner). 

A legend of the craft, le Carré fathered a child, Nick Harkaway, who happens to share the same predisposition for precise and compelling espionage stories with memorable dialogue. For those of you familiar with le Carré’s work, you’ve heard of George Smiley, one of his most recognizable characters—an anti-James Bond with a self-effacing persona and an unassuming stature who is, in fact, lethal and highly effective.

Karla’s Choice is his last adventure, penned by the master’s son himself. It is a tour de force in characterization and the relentless dissection of human nature and its unpredictable wanderings. Some of the best dialogue and tradecraft you’ll ever read, set against the backdrop of a developing Cold War… show more.

Alternate history has always fascinated me, and the speculation about what the world would’ve been like without the American Revolution is one of the most intriguing concepts out there. Two hundred years ago, the coming together of the two Georges—George III, King of England, and George Washington, Commander of the Continental Army—inspired the creation of a painting showing how the British Empire and the American Colonies worked out their differences.

Now, that painting has gone missing just before the visit of King Charles III, and the thief has plans of his own to reignite the fight. What was most intriguing to me was that the fight wasn’t for the liberty I imagined but rather looked to trade one master for another.

Laetitia Rodd is the kind of detective I wish we saw more often—an older woman whose intelligence and social skills make her a force to be reckoned with. I was completely charmed by her quiet determination and ability to navigate the constraints of 19th-century England while solving a deeply intriguing mystery.

This book made me feel like I was stepping into a world of candlelit corridors and whispered secrets, and I loved every moment of it.

Menewood, the name of the valley where she builds her personal stronghold, picks up where Hild ended. I simply had to find out what happened next! It was a riotous journey of violence, hunger, and work, yet also the raw beauty of her world: trees, birds, valleys, and hills. Her language continues to be rich and abundant with details, good and painful.

The political complexity and even savagery of her time echo our own. Yet Hild remains a unique and complicated woman who is heroic in every sense of the word. Again, the actress who read the book does a stunning job, especially pronouncing some very foreign Saxon names. I look forward to the next book, which I insist must be a series. After all, Hild will become a powerful abbess at Whitby. 

Another classic that’s hard to argue with.

Quite simply, Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian is an extraordinary read. O'Brian doesn't simply tell a story; he immerses you in the life of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, where every maneuver and shifting wind carries life-or-death consequences.

What captivated me most was the remarkable friendship between the bold, charismatic Captain Jack Aubrey and the thoughtful surgeon and natural philosopher Stephen Maturin. Their wit, loyalty, and contrasting personalities give the novel its heart amid the naval action.

The authentic sailing details never felt overwhelming because they served the story, making every battle more gripping and every voyage more immersive. By the end, I wasn't just invested in the adventure; I was eager to set sail with Aubrey and Maturin again.

This book introduced me to the magnificent John le Carré and his grey man, George Smiley. The atmosphere is cold and heavy, the hero is unassuming, and the light he holds against the darkness is small and flickering.

To unravel the truth, Smiley focuses on one piece of information that doesn’t fit. He doesn’t stop until that last piece falls into place and presents him with a wrenching choice.

Book two of the Game, Set, and Match trilogy is the spy splot that I wish I could write. While the plot is global in scale, with characters crisscrossing continents, what grabbed me was the blending of international espionage with the domestic life and troubles of lead character Bernard Samson. To me, it felt a lot closer to the truth than the plastic, all-action creations of other spy writers.