Author: Katherine May
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa, Putnam Six Bookstore
Even though Wintering isn’t a new release – it’s been out for over a year – now is a wonderful time to read this book. Author Katherine May explores winter as both a literal season on the calendar and also as a figurative season of our lives – times of illness and grief, depression and despair. Wintering is a combination of self-help, memoir, and science, and readers should definitely have a notebook nearby or highlighter in hand.
For May, her husband was sick, her son was severely struggling in school, and she had had to quit her job. But through a variety of approaches, she learned to embrace this winter period of her life. She talks of the power of the outdoors and the power of song and music. She experiences lagoons and saunas in Iceland and visits Stonehenge at the winter solstice. She encourages cups of tea and getting lost in thick books. Rather than letting the darkness overcome you, May encourages readers to instead use wintering seasons as times to find true rest and to nourish and replenish.
Each section of this book is a different month, from the September prologue to the March epilogue, and each chapter within the sections is a different strategy or tool. This is perfect because this isn’t a book to read quickly just to get to the end; it’s a book where you read one chapter, sit with it and reflect, and then gradually move on to the next one. And as you make that progress, you travel through winter and to the bright spring – literal or figurative – on the other side.
Visit us in Sunset Plaza or call 580-297-5089 to get your copy of Wintering today!
