Top Ten Christmas Books I Want to Read
(mirrored at my Wordpress blog)
This week at That Artsy Reader Girl is the thankful/Thanksgiving freebie week, and traditionally for this week I talk about the ten books I’m most grateful to have read or acquired in the last year, but this year I’ve already read 200 books* and I’ve bought just as many. Those numbers are a little overwhelming to sift through. (I still have NO idea how I’m going to pick my ten or even twenty favorites this year…)
*no time to celebrate even though that’s only the 2nd time I’ve done it in my life; we’re already barreling toward our Secret Goal of “224 for 2024.”
So instead, I bring you this! In the last 2 years I’ve read all of four Christmas-themed books, after years of not reading any, but I’ve been slowly but surely accumulating a small tower of ones I want to read. Also this year, I’ve been really excited about Christmas, more and earlier than I usually am (maybe a subconscious reaction to Thanksgiving being so late), to the point that I’ve already read one such book this fall - and now I want even more.
I don’t, realistically, think I will manage more than half of these, but I still love options!
1. Bright Lights, Big Christmas - Mary Kay Andrews: I had such a fun time with The Santa Suit last year that I wanted to try this one next - siblings sharing a camper to sell Christmas trees in NYC - but I wasn’t able to get it in time because the library competition was fierce. It still is a little bit, but I’ve tossed my hat into the ring anyway and think I’ll be able to get it by mid-December.
2. The Christmas Dog (novella) - Melody Carlson: published in conjunction with Guideposts magazine, I fully expect this short novella to be a cheesy-as-can-be 3-star time, but the cover was so cute that I couldn’t pass it up at a book sale.
3-4. Christmas at Corgi Cove OR Christmas in Blue Dog Valley - Annie England Noblin: The latter sounds slightly better (big city vet transplanted to a small Wisconsin town!) and was published first, but I own the former, so I’m not sure which one I want to pick. I feel like I’ll really only have the brainspace for one of them. (I’ll give you pretty good odds that the real answer is “neither because I spent too long debating.”)
5. Christmas At Silver Falls - Jenny Hale: this is technically on my read-it-or-unhaul-it list for the year, but I miiight still give it one more chance if I don’t get to it. I bought it immediately after watching Falling For Christmas (the Lindsay Lohan romcom) on Netflix and this was a similar premise of “family-owned inn vs. Big Corporate Developer” but with genders reversed.
6. Christmas By the Book - Anne Marie Ryan: also supposed to be a read-or-unhaul-it…and honestly I think I’ll love the cover more than the contents. I do think it will still be a decent feel-good story though.
7. A Magical New York Christmas - Anita Hughes: An impulse buy earlier this year that I’m not quite as excited for right now, but I still think I could be very into a holiday romance at the Plaza Hotel with a “handsome British visitor.”
8. 26 Ways to Come Home for the Holidays - Jennifer Joy: I mentioned this on my fall TBR since it’s a “Thanksgiving-to-Christmas novella.” It’s finally in my hands; still very excited to experience the job of window dressing in a 1942 department store!
9. Once Upon a December - Amy E. Reichert: Speaking of magic…how about a Christmas market that only exists in December, jumping forward in time every four weeks. This looks like a really sweet romance.
10. The Christmas Dress - Courtney Cole: Spoiler alert… I can guarantee this one is finally getting read, because I’m already 25% into the audiobook. :)