Iceland has a beautiful holiday tradition called Jolabokaflodmeaning “Christmas book flood.” It began during World War II when paper was one of the few things not rationed on the island, so people gave books as Christmas gifts. Now, Jolabokaflod marks both the period where the Icelandic book industry publishes most of its titles in the lead up to Christmas and the tradition of gifting books on Christmas Eve. The image of reading a book by the fire bathed in the lights from the tree is romantic and cozy but for those who can’t wait that long, these 10 books will keep you going all season long. Readers of all kinds can find something to curl up with—hot chocolate optional. —Alexandra Turner
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
This historical fantasy novel is set deep in the Russian wilderness, where you can feel the cold down to your very bones. A young woman fascinated by the pagan folk tales her grandmother tells by the fireside must protect her family from an evil creeping in from the surrounding forest, while also contending with her new devout stepmother who’s forbidden the household from honouring their ancestral spirits. The whole book feels like drinking mulled wine on a cold winter night.
The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary
This year British author Beth O’Leary released a new Christmassy enemies-to-lovers romance set at a struggling hotel. The cutesy plot sees rivals Izzy and Lucas competing to return a collection of wedding rings left in the hotel’s lost and found to their rightful owners in the hopes it will drum up more business.
It Happened One Christmasby Chantel Guertin
This one’s for the Hallmark fans. You couldn’t get more quintessential Christmas rom-com than a big city movie director trying to convince a hot grumpy small town mayor to let her film in his idyllic hamlet. It’s the grocery store sugar cookie of books, and sometimes that’s what you’re craving.
The Christmas Bookshop/Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
Set in an ancient Edinburgh bookshop over the holidays this duology of books by Jenny Colgan follow Carmen Hogan a down on her luck singleton, thrown into the dusty, disorganized, but charming world of Mr. McCredie’s. She works to breath new life into the business while navigating family drama and romance.
The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
Some people love Christmas and horror, so why not combine the two? The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson is a grim gothic novella set in a Cotswold manor house. An American art student is invited to spend the holidays with a classmate at Starvewood Hall, but things are not as they appear as secrets unravel and the village’s history is revealed.
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
Christmas meets Agatha Christie in this humorous whodunit novella about the Fairway Players theatre troupe. As the cast prepare to put on their Christmas play in the village of Lower Lockwood, a body appears on stage. Lawyers Femi and Charlotte work to identify the victim and killer by investigating Christmas letters, examining emails, and poring over police transcripts. Throw in amateur theatre enthusiasts with petty rivalries and a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and you’ve got a feel good holiday romp.
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
In a Holidaze is a zany Groundhog Day-style Christmas story full of holiday cheer and was even nominated for best romance in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards. Christina Lauren–the combined pen-name of best friends and writing partners Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings–always delivers on quirky characters and tender romance which is what readers can expect from his holiday novel.
Maelyn Jones is living with her parents, stuck in a going-nowhere job, and devastated to be saying goodbye to the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born. Following a car crash Maelyn finds herself back on an airplane headed to Utah. Again, and again. As she relives the same Christmas with two other beloved families, she must find a way to escape the time loop and get the guy she’s been in love .
Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien
This Christmas anthology would make a great gift or book to read to the kids on Christmas Eve. Every December Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, would send letters and hand drawn illustrations to his children from Father Christmas at the North Pole. The letters would tell stories of reindeer getting loose and causing chaos, accident-prone polar bears falling through the roof, and troublesome goblins living in caves beneath Father Christmas’s house.
Compiled into one book of stories, this edition is the perfect fireside read for the whole family.
The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrick Backman
Fans of best selling author Fredrick Backman should definitely cozy up with this novella this holiday season. Backamn employs his trademark humour and compassion to tell the bittersweet story of a father and son seeing each other for the first time in years. The father has a life changing choice to make that will affect both him, his son, and a young girl dying of cancer.
We recommend the audiobook. Have the tissues at the ready.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
Before Christmas with the Kranks starring Tim Allen and the incomparable Jamie Lee Curtis became a holiday classic, there was the novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. The author best known for suspenseful legal dramas, published this short comedic holiday story in 2001, introducing the world to Luther and Nora Krank, a weary couple in the suburbs who decide to skip Christmas.
A simple premise with hilarious and chaotic implications.
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