Snowy Listens

Oh, winter. We’re in it now. The snow can be a charming experience if you’re clad in fuzzy socks and clutching your morning coffee while you watch the flakes dance down; the snow is less thrilling when you are forced out into a frosted aerial assault. The thought of trudging through to get to your car, as your boots fill up and soak your socks can make you curse your very existence.

That’s why we’ve curated a list of audiobooks all about surviving dismal winters and coming out on top of the cold. Listen to these tales of survival; stories of winning against almost unbeatable odds and maybe just maybe, they will summon just enough inspiration to go snow-blow your driveway. We here at AudiobookSTORE.com are rooting for you.

I Am Still Alive – Kate Alice Marshall

It’s common knowledge that Canadian winters are intensely cold and desolate. But you know what can really get that blood a’ flowing again? Burning anger/crafting a revenge plot against the men who murdered your estranged father. Oh, and having said men burn down your cabin after said murder, we imagine that would get pretty toasty.

This is teenager Jess’s tale of grief, betrayal, survival, and vengeance, with the harsh winter she must endure as the ultimate metaphor for everything she must work through to come out on the other side. Will she make it to summer and succeed in avenging the father she barely knew?

Also, someone please listen and report back if Bo the dog makes it to the end. Thanks.

Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival

– Bernard Heinrich

So, we were today years old and 30 TikToks deep when we discovered that contrary to what we learned in 3rd grade, hibernation does not in fact mean the animal sleeps through the entire winter.

Shock. Horror. What else don’t we know? Clearly, we have learning to do, which is why we are suggesting giving this book a listen. Animal adaptability is truly wild (we had to); did you know some insects contain a natural form of antifreeze? Lucky. From bugs to bears, find out how they do it in some of the harshest environments in the world.

Have a listen and learn with us as our jealousy grows over the fact that we’ll never have the chemical compounds necessary to withstand the cold as ants do.

Alone on the Ice – David Roberts

Too cold? Douglass Mawson doesn’t know the meaning of the words. He eats icicles for breakfast. He was born a snowman, and his dad is Jack Frost. He laughs in the face of hypothermia. He bites frostbite.

Not really, but he is a renowned polar explorer/ the OG survivalist when things went very wrong on his 1913 expedition.

The man had to be his own snow dog since the originals were gone*, he barely clung to life long enough to hoist himself back onto a very unsteady snow bridge, and toward the end, he had to crawl his way back to safety because his skeletal frame couldn’t handle walking. He still pulled the sled of supplies the whole time. You can shovel the driveway.

*Please report back and define “gone”, we are concerned.

The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah

Moving to the Alaskan wilderness will definitely save Leni’s parents’ marriage while it cures her dad’s PTSD from the Vietnam War, right? RIGHT?

Nope. Things for the small family disintegrate faster than their sorry share of supplies meant to last through the winter. Leni and her mom realize they’re on their own if they want to see spring, but the man of the house is determined to take them down with him.

While hard to listen to at times, this one is ultimately a love letter to the beautiful yet brutal Alaskan wilderness, as well as a testament to the resilience and the strength of womanhood.

Also, thankfully, there are no dogs to keep track of.