“‘Things flourish in cold in a way they never do in heat.’ Another sentence, casually uttered, that careened around in my head long after it was spoken.”

As I’ve mentioned before, CAN’T STOP WON’T STOP reading about Antarctica! This memoir was such a great addition to my usual diet of exploration stories. The author is a writer who was accepted into a fellowship that sent artists of all kinds of Antarctica for the primary purpose of making art about their experiences. She wasn’t a scientist on base or a tourist on vacation but something else altogether, and I really appreciated her perspective. I loved how she started each chapter with a name and definition of a type of ice (like: sea smoke, rime, and brash ice) and wove in her actual diary entries and memories of growing up in Canada. Her stark descriptions and thoughtful reflections resonated with me, and I didn’t even mind lingering in the cold Antarctic setting because spring feels very reluctant to come to my region. Let’s all be cold together, shall we? If you liked Lab Girl by Hope Jahren or H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, I recommend that you give this book a try, too. Ice Diaries isn’t exactly the same, but they all feel similar to me with their straight-forward tone and introspective nature. I definitely want to find and read the author’s other books. Thank you to my dear friend Chelsey for sending me this beautiful, thought-provoking book for my birthday!