The first book that features Brian as a character is "Hatchet". The premise of that book is that Brian is the victim of a plane crash somewhere in Canada. He is lost in the wilderness and in order to survive he learns how to hunt and fish. At the end of the book, I'm not going to tell you how, he is rescued. This book, "Brian's Winter" is based on the question, "What would have happened to Brian if he hadn't been rescued?" 

I really love these books, they make me miss Minnesota and winter. If you enjoy survivalist stories, this is definitely worth a read. If you've ever had a close encounter with a moose or a bear, this is worth a read. If you like making things, this is worth a read. They're short books and they're fun. My one issue with this particular book is: after living for months in the wilderness, surviving off of mostly meat, that kid would totally have scurvy. 

This is a short review, but I don't really have much to say about it. I love these books, they're easy and fun to read, and they remind me of Minnesota. 

Because of the nostalgia, I felt like a couple pictures of snow would be appropriate. 

I finished this book months ago, and for some reason have been putting off writing the review. Without further ado, the review is here! 

I was recommended this new author, Joe Hill. It's not that he is new to the writing game, but he was new to me. 

The story is about a man named Ignatius Perrish. He was accused of murdering his girlfriend, but they couldn't make the charges stick. One evening, on the anniversary of her death, Ig gets hammered and does some stupid stuff. When he wakes up, he has horns. I keep wanting to say that the horns let him hear people's thoughts, but that's not right. The horns compel people to tell Ig their deep dark secrets, but they also give him some form of persuasion over other people. Example, Ig's girlfriend (not the dead one), on the morning Ig grows horns, she confesses to him that sometimes she wishes she could just pig out on a whole box of donuts. Ig, still bothered by the night before, just dismisses her and says she can do whatever she wants. Ig leaves and his girlfriend plows, face first, into a box of donuts. That's kind of how the horns work. People keep asking Ig for permission to do things, and if he says they should or can, then they do. 

The book is separated into the "present" and the "past". It's like a frame story, but it's the same characters. The frame is time. 

I was enthralled with this book when I started it. It has been a long time since I have been that involved in a book. About halfway through the book, I started to get bored. I gave it a few chapters after that, and it started to pick up again. I was enthralled once again. That being said, it was the "present" parts of the book, or the frame that I liked the best. 

Joe Hill, isn't as well known as I think he should be. I recommend this book to people all the time and I am looking forward to reading his Locke & Key graphic novels. My main issue with his writing is that I can never tell how old someone is. It took me a long time to figure out that Ig was in his 30's. I thought he was in his early 20's. I read a short story by Joe Hill, and I had the same issue with it. It's frustrating to me, as someone who reads a lot, to be wrong about someone's age. It's like reading The Lord of the Rings and in The Two Towers you discover that Gandalf is not a man in his 30's, but rather a man of age with a full, grey beard. It changes things. 

Beyond that, I really enjoyed this book and I will continue to seek out things that Joe Hill has written. 

Out of 10, I would give it a 7. It's worth a read, but I'm not going to put it on my list of absolute favorites.