Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Wintering


I'll probably post next week sometime about books this year and reading in general, but today I want to recommend a book that I recently finished. It's called Wintering by Katherine May. I know that several of you are already reading it, but it struck me as so appropriate for this year and this time of year that I'd like to tell you a little bit about it in case it's not already on your radar.

We've had our first significant snowfall and temperatures have been in the single digits overnight, so this seems like a most appropriate time to read Wintering. The US subtitle of Katherine May's unique book, The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times shows that this book is appropriate for readers living in any sort of climate as we are all living in Very Difficult Times. May defines winter as "a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider." It is a lucky person who has not experienced this, and in this book, the author recounts her own personal winters and what she did to actively accept the sadness. Cooking, bathing in the Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik, reading by candlelight, using the sauna, exploring the behaviors of bees in cold weather, and experiencing the winter solstice at Stonehenge are all things that May describes both seriously and with humor, in beautiful language.

I was prepared to not like this book as I thought it might be self-indulgent and privileged, but I did not find it so. For me, it was a hard-to-classify combination of memoir, nature writing, and philosophy, and well worth reading, especially with May's sublime writing. The subtitle for the UK version may be even better: How I Learned to Flourish When Life Became Frozen. The author says that "Happiness is the greatest skill we'll ever learn," but she understands that it is also important to learn about "the active acceptance of sadness."
 

I fell completely under the spell of the author's beautiful words and finished this short book (250 pgs, ~ seven hrs in audio) in a day. I count myself as lucky when I stumble upon the right book at the right time, and Wintering was certainly that for me. Katherine May has written other books, both fiction and non-fiction, that I think I may search out in the coming year. She also has a podcast called The Wintering Sessions in which she speaks with other writers about the winters in their lives. I haven't listened to all of them, but the link is on her website if this might be of interest to you. 

I hope this season of winter, solstice, and restrained holidays is a time of rest and renewal for you. 

11 comments:

  1. What a lovely sounding book, Bonny! I have placed myself on the wait list at my library! And thank you for the website link! :)

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  2. This sounds like such an interesting read! Winter has always been a hard time for me, in large part because of the cold and the dark. This year, because it seemed like the pandemic would make it so much worse, I resolved to try to look at the season differently. I will definitely be looking into this book because I think it could help me with changing my perspective.

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  3. I will probably finish this book this evening. I bought it as a Christmas gift to myself and I am so glad I did because it is just what I have needed. I've been reading it at bedtime and really savoring it. It seems to help me change my mind about certain things and look at this season and this time we're living in in a different way. I'm really enjoying it.

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    1. I found it interesting, and the author writes beautifully. While there is hope on the horizon in the form of vaccines, they are realistically six months or more away before many of us can receive them, and we all have to make it through winter first. I think the author looked at the idea of winter as a time for rest and renewal, and it certainly was the right book at the right time for me!

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  4. Thank you for this recommendation, Bonny. I will have to put it on my Amazon wishlist. My library seems to have stopped buying many books (perhaps financial constraints?), but it has become clear to me that I am going to have to get back into buying books. I think this book looks perfect for a lot of reasons this year. Anything that will help me get through the winter is welcome!

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  5. I have that book on hold and I'm patiently waiting! That's a LOT of deer in that photo, wow!

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  6. First - where are all those deer? And I've been seeing Wintering all over Instagram love that it's being lauded by many voices I admire. yours among them. I'm planning to give myself the book for a post-New Year treat.

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  7. THe cat and the deer are a magical scene! WOW. I will check out her post. Not reading anything right now

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  8. Love that picture Bonny! I am now subscribed to Katherine May's newsletter and am on the wait list (believe I am #38!!) for "Wintering." Sounds marvelous - thank you for sharing.

    Also, though I don't comment on IG, I saw your "man sized" granola bars for Justin and they look great. Fletch asked me to ask you for the recipe:)

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  9. sounds like a book I would like! It also seems that you have all the deer that usually hang out in my yard! Beautiful scene!!

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  10. I saw this book mentioned somewhere else - maybe a short review in The New Yorker? I am glad to read your thoughts about it. I plan to find a copy. The audio sounds lovely. Beautiful winter scene with all the animals. I have always loved the idea of winter as a fallow time for rest.

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