Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Top ten books set in a wintry landscape

Megan Miranda was a scientist and high school teacher before writing her first novel Fracture, which came out of her fascination with scientific mysteries—especially those associated with the brain.

Miranda has a BS in biology from MIT and spent her post-college years either rocking a lab coat or reading books. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as an MIT Educational Counselor.

One of Miranda's top ten books set in a wintry landscape, as told to the Guardian:
The Call of the Wild by Jack London

With the Klondike Gold Rush in full swing, there's a high price for sled dogs to guide men through the winter landscape. This is the timeless story of Buck, a dog who was stolen, sold, and beaten into submission in the Alaskan winter. But it is also the story of love, loyalty, and a new awakening as Buck feels the pull of both worlds: the bond between the man who saves him and the call of his roots, from the wild. This is a book that has stayed with me for nearly 20 years and will probably stay with me for another 20, at least.
Read about the other books on the list.

The Call of the Wild is one of Jill Hucklesby's top 10 books about running away, Charlie English's top ten snow books, and one of Thomas Bloor's top ten tales of metamorphosis. It appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best wolves in literature and Alice-Azania Jarvis's reading list on dogs.

--Marshal Zeringue