Wintering

Bookseller recommendation

“Katherine May uses 'winter' as a metaphor for life’s darker seasons in this poetic memoir about retreating from the demands and expectations of a pressuring society. She encourages the reader to explore the quiet and restorative moments in life that help us to grow, relax, and heal from difficult times. Lyrical, reflective, and comforting; this book is paired best with your coziest blanket and a hot cup of tea.”

— Courtney • Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers

Bookseller recommendation

“When we all started our own ‘winters’ in March, some of us were more prepared than others. May writes delicately of the struggles of life and the ways we may be able to prepare ourselves for such times, something I feel we all need to learn in order to survive the emotional winter that is a worldwide pandemic. Grab a cup of tea, find a cozy blanket, and burrow into this book of thoughtfulness and comfort.”

— Emma Warren • Oblong Books & Music

Bookseller recommendation

“When Katherine May set out to write her book, Wintering, she could not have foreseen that it would be published in the middle of a pandemic, nor that it would be so beautifully suited to our current circumstances. Wintering is the author's account of how she made it through unforeseen difficult times and depression (emotional winters). Gentle, understanding, hopeful, and empathetic, this is a book you will listen to and then want to buy a copy of, just so you can have it nearby for difficult times.”

— Mary • Skylark Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“This was the perfect listen at the right time. Memoir, mythology, and meditations on an ever ignored fact that we must change our lifestyle in order to adapt to this sometimes brutal season. I will definitely come back to this one many times.”

— Nichole • The Yankee Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“I listened to Wintering with one foot in November and the other in December, just as winter weather was arriving where I live, and arguably the best time of year to read this book. In my circle of mentally ill friends and family—myself included—it seems like people have been preparing for winter more than usual this year (2021), trying their best to stave off seasonal depression and holiday overwhelm. I read this book in the hopes that it would help me face a particularly difficult winter, and it’s certainly got me thinking about the season in a new, more appreciative way. Katherine May talks not only of harsh winter weather, but of personal winters—dark seasons of life brought on by illness, tragedy, unexpected change. When we realize that our lives are cyclical much like nature and the lives of wild animals, it becomes easier to accept the seasons as they come rather than to fight against them. With Rebecca Lee’s sublime narration, May takes readers on a journey to the arctic and back, learning as much from herself as she does from others.”

— Mary • Raven Book Store

Bookseller recommendation

“Listening to Wintering during these COVID-19 times was a balm to this reader's soul. A beautiful meditation on the benefit of rest and healing during the inevitable and necessary barren times of our lives. I loved how Katherine May wove literature, mythology, and science together with personal memoir. This is one that I know I will return to again.”

— Jessica • Main Street Books Davidson