“This book technically falls in the middle grade category (ages 8-12), as opposed to young adult (12-18), but there's still something for adults to love. When my niece read the Little House series, she raved about it, except for one volume: The Long Winter. 'It was a loooooong winter,' the 8-year-old offered me by way of a review. It’s true, not much happens in this account of the Ingalls family snowbound from October to May, twisting hay into 'logs' when the wood runs out and subsisting on parsnips and wheat milled in a coffee grinder. And yet a few years later, when my own daughter and I read this wonderful series, this book was by far my favorite. The family and their neighbor's ingenuity, togetherness, and bravery in the face of their hardship is instructive for children but also utterly inspiring for adult readers who might be feeling overwhelmed by modern life. Thanks to the Long Winter, whenever anyone complains about anything at my house, all I have to say to turn it around is, 'Oh yeah? Well, Laura Ingalls ate parsnips for seven months straight!'"—Sara Austin, Executive Editor



To buy: $7; amazon.com.