Recs if you like The Sanatorium...

stuck on an island, snowed in, on a boat, aboard a moving train... this list is crime fiction -mostly murder mysteries- in which the characters are stuck in an isolated location and cut off from the outside.

disclaimer: i haven't read all of these so lmk if a book doesn't fit, and feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!

... You're trapped here with me! The format: A group of people (could be strangers, or long-lost friends) are gathered or trapped in an isolated place together. Maybe it's a remote island. Maybe a cozy cabin during a blizzard. Someone is killed. The killer is obviously among them, but who?! Submissions welcome because this is my favourite mystery sub-genre at the moment, and I can't wait to discover more!

Books with short chapters!!! I started a challenge where I read a super long book a chapter-a-day and annotate it using a study guide! I found that annotating short chapters is super accessible and not overwhelming at all for me, so I wanted to share this list with anyone that wants to start over-analyzing their books :) I included a variety of stories because HOW you read is as important (if not more) than WHAT you read!!!!

Each month Reese Witherspoon picks books she loves with a woman at the center of the story.

reese's complete picks- trying to read as many of these as i can... but we shall see

We think of summer as the season of light, but shadows are longest when the sun is highest. It is the time of the year when the woods grow too thick to see through, the water grows too dark to see into, and the heat makes the mind play tricks. From the rotting porches of the South to the blood-stained cabins of the North... We call them the Summer Nightmares.

Wintery Weather Thrillers! Suspense for a Snowy Day!

There’s something unsettling about being cut off and not knowing who to trust. These thrillers lean into that tension, where secrets build, danger lingers, and nothing is quite what it seems.

Books with winter, snowy, or frozen settings. Usually suspenseful, thriller, or horror. The weather or temperature as a secondary character.

Books to read when you're snowed in and want the vibes to match (and keep your blood pumping)

by reese witherspoon

*not including YA picks

A list of books where a select group of people or friends are trapped together and they slowly start dying off