I love Katherine May's writing; she resonates with me, I find all kinds of similarities, then suddenly, she is totally different to me, and I wonder at her strength and the fortitude of those around her. Wintering is beautifully sad yet manages never to be miserable. A very positive book.

I really enjoyed this book. I think the best way I can describe it is this is a proper book of hygge - not one telling you to wear fluffy socks and light candles, but one which explains how the writer uses winter to start looking after herself, having suffered from sudden illness within her family and the sense of confusion and seclusion she had after this.

There are some wonderful stories, making me laugh (her Finnish friend who is surprised at UK schools closing for snow, although admitting that the children get to play indoors if the temperature drops below -25C); some quite emotional (the comfort she was able to bring her sister following a death); making me cringe (lying on the floor of a gym changing room in just her undies due to feeling faint, then all of the staff run in to assist in the ‘medical emergency’) and so many that resonated with me (the stress that causes early morning worries encroaching on much needed sleep and leaving you feeling anxious, sick and paranoid).

As someone who loves the autumn and winter months, the cool to cold weather, the enforced self-care and need to hibernate that the dark brings, I devoured this book.

I have never in all my six decades as an avid reader come across a book that resonates with me as this one does, so I feel that I must address my review to the author rather than to other readers.

Thank you, Katherine May, for so eloquently describing MY thoughts on so many topics, some of them very active, others which have been hovering below the surface and are now out in the open. I've been nodding in agreement almost from the first page to the last.

I too love cold, dark and solitude. I venture far north every winter to get my fix of snow and ice and that lovely dry Arctic chill, and it's wonderful to encounter an author who would completely understand my joy on landing in Greenland to be told 'it's a beautiful sunny day, minus 26 degrees'. I just couldn't wait to get off the plane. Usually when I describe this moment I'm met with 'you must be crazy' looks, and mimes of shuddering/shivering, so reading Wintering made me feel normal rather than eccentric.

Your prose flows seamlessly between accounts of your personal challenges and fascinating stories of dormice, Halloween, bees, knitting, Sylvia Plath, singing, Under Milk Wood and so much more. Sometimes I had to turn back the page to see how we'd got from A to B so effortlessly. And I'd like to say a special thank you for dealing with the subject of alarm clocks; they trouble me in just the same way!

I truly think I was meant to find this book, as I've been thinking lately of taking up knitting again after a long gap, and have been craving a month in a cabin in Finland. I really must do something about both.

I love your writing style. It must have been amazing to find your time of night when thoughts flow freely. You waste no words, but bring scenes vividly to life, engaging all of the senses, and that's a difficult skill to master.

I'm going to wait a little while for Wintering to settle in my mind, and then read it again as there are so many great quotations that I would like to take from it. Thank you so much, Katherine!

I'm so glad I read this book.

How to describe it? It's a series of linked essays, alongside a personal story. It looks at different aspects of winter - darkness, cold, hibernation, stocking up - and explores their obvious meaning, but also what these things mean at a deeper level. This means it moves from dormice to community celebrations; from cold water swimming to the Northern lights. Along the way, Katherine May meditates on what it means to winter psychologically - those times when we withdraw from the world, when we lie fallow - why do we need to do that? How do we move on from our personal wintering? And what work are we doing as we winter?

It's an interesting premise, and it felt true to me. In a world where we are constantly exhorted to "live, laugh, love" it can be difficult to be sad, to pause, but maybe we need to accept sadness and learn from it.

I want to press this book on various people. I hope lots of people read it.

Katherine May uses 'Wintering' as a metaphor for depression. She describes how depression is something she has regularly experienced and, as she feels the next one coming, she aims to prepare for it in the same way that people in Norway prepare for actual Winter. She also compares how creatures like bees prepare for winter.
Despite talking about interesting traditions in other countries and describing the Northern Lights in fantastic, captivating detail, this was not a great read for me. I suspect that other people will love it, it's just not really for me. The two stars are for the parts that I found interesting and engaging. I am into the idea of preparing for depression and preparing for winter to give ourselves the best chance of survival. However, I was not fully immersed in a 'can't put it down' fashion, and actually felt quite low while reading the book (because of the book), and found myself constantly checking for how long I had left.

Take away message is, if you currently feel like the world is getting darker round the edges, or you are struggling to see the sunshine through the clouds... if you are struggling with life at the moment give this book a read. It might help you create some tools to pull yourself through; but please also visit your GP because this book alone is company rather than remedy. If you are not feeling like that right now don't bother with this book. There are better books to read if you want an account of the Northern Lights or want to learn about Bees.

Thank you to #NetGalley which is where I got a free, pre-release copy of the book #Wintering in exchange for an honest review

I was lucky to receive an ARC from NetGalley for this book, and I really, really loved it. It touched on so many themes I have been interested in recently - the cycle of the seasons, cold countries, grief and anxiety, swimming, mental health, finding meaning and ritual in daily life. There is a lot on accepting trying periods in life as part of a natural cycle - knowing that summer will likely follow, and that there is maybe some beauty and poetry in times of hardship and scarcity. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and I loved the format - not quite essays, but not quite a memoir either despite being very personal. I think when the book comes out, I will go and buy a hard copy and carry it around - it is the kind of book where you want to highlight every other sentence and copy paragraphs into a notebook.

This is not a travelogue to the world's remote regions as the title potentially suggests. Instead, 'Wintering' is a poignant, very personal memoir about some of the darker moments of the author's life and circumstances. A good read for fans of the memoir / biography genre, though it's a tad heavy-going and repetitive at times.