Six books for the first cold weekend

A sea novel, a cookbook to read in bed and a very long Russian classic for anyone who wants to disappear until Monday.

A steaming cup of tea beside an open book on a bed

The first properly cold weekend of the year is for staying in, and staying in is for reading. These are the books I would put on the bedside table this Saturday.

A novel about the sea

“The Lighthouse at Morrow” by Esther Vance, a novel about three generations of lighthouse keepers, which is about loneliness, and weather, and is very good on both.

A cookbook to read, not cook from

“Salt and Smoke”, the memoir and recipes of a Lowmarsh fishing family. Half of the recipes call for a smokehouse. Read it anyway.

Something long

Pick the long book you have been meaning to read for ten years. Start it on Friday night. Do not check your phone.

An open book on a table
Harbor Books, on the corner of Harbor Street, opens late on Fridays in winter. Photo: Alejandro Escamilla / Unsplash

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