Books to Get You in the Christmas Spirit
- Becky Olson
- 1 day ago
- 11 min read
Time off around the holidays doesn't always make us feel as free as we'd like. You might be lucky enough to take a proper vacation with plenty of book reading downtime. You might also be cooking, cleaning, shopping and entertaining ... But taking time for yourself (hot bath, bath salts or oils, and a good book) makes a merrier holiday for you and everyone around you. Here are some books, of all genres, some are classics, some are new, some might be new to you—hopefully they spark some holiday joy this season.
Let us know what books get you in the Christmas spirit!
I am not paid to promote any of these recommendations.
Book Genres
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Personal Picks
Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
Harriet York, a sweet but people-pleasing antique shop owner, who gets haunted by Nolan Callahan, the charming, centuries-old Ghost of Christmas Past, who's sent to guide her through her past, but they discover a deep, forbidden connection and shared hurts, leading to a heartfelt romance as Christmas Eve nears and they question the rules of life, death, and moving on.
Christmas Fling by Lindsey Kelk
Laura, who, while flat-sitting for a stranger named Callum, gets mistaken for his girlfriend by his parents and gets whisked away to spend Christmas in the Scottish Highlands with his family, leading to a fake-dating scenario that heats up as her own friends arrive, making her question if the romance is real or just an act.
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
ACOTAR fans will love this novel that bridges the events between A Court of Wings and Ruin and A Court of Silver Flames, focusing on the Night Court's rebuilding after the war and the characters' healing during the Winter Solstice.
The Christmas Swap & The Christmas Trip by Sandy Barker
Follow Chloe, Jules, and Lucy in this Christmas romance series. These three lifelong friends met at a resort in Hawaii when they were eleven. Now, twenty-some years later, none of them are expecting the hilarity and romantic escapades that will ensue in each holiday adventure.
Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop by Tricia O'Malley
Magical things happen when an unexpected inheritance has gifts an American girl Roise with owning a charming bookshop in small-town Scotland. But the gift comes with a surprise – Highland Hearts bookshop has been running an underground magical matchmaking service. Tag along as she has her own doubts about love and competes in Christmas window decorating competition with the help of a local bird nerd and Scottish hottie, Alexander MacTavish .
The Bright Side of Christmas by Morgan Elizabeth
Wren, the perpetually cheerful town sweetheart, loves organizing Christmas events, and clashing with her grumpy new neighbor, Adam, a songwriter who hates Christmas. Their forced proximity as neighbors, combined with Wren's quest to decorate his house (and him) against his will, sparks a festive feud that slowly reveals deeper issues with Wren's people-pleasing burnout and Adam's writer's block, leading them to learn from each other and fall in love.
The Christmas Castle in Scotland by Julie Caplin
Izzy McBride had never in a million years expected to inherit an actual castle from her great uncle Bill but here she was, in the run up to Christmas, Monarch of her own Glen – a very rundown glen in need of a lot of TLC if her dream of turning it into a boutique bed and breakfast was to come true.
But when Izzy’s eccentric mother rents a room to enigmatic thriller author Ross Adair and the Scottish snow starts to settle like the frosting on a Christmas cake, it’s a race to get the castle ready before they’re all snowed in for the holidays.
Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman
Grace White and Henry Adler both lost their spouses. Now, nearly a year later, the first holiday season since their “Great and Terrible Sadnesses” approaches. Although their mothers scheme to matchmake the two surviving spouses, it’s clear that neither is ready to date again. Yet no one understands what they are going through better than each other, and a delicate friendship is born. Is their bond merely the result of loneliness and shared circumstances, or have they found something that’s worth taking a shot at… again?
Romance & Lighthearted Fun
The Christmas Wedding Guest by Susan Mallery
Somerville sisters, Reggie and Dena, live in the charming town of Wishing Tree. As they navigate unexpected holiday romance during their parents' Christmas vow renewal, Reggie finds her first love Toby back in town, sparking old feelings, while Dena, a single mom-to-be, connects with a grieving, handsome songwriter at her inn, both discovering that love can arrive with the season.
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
Minnie Cooper and Quinn Hamilton are two people born minutes apart on New Year's Day in the same London hospital, forever linked by a mix-up where Quinn got the cash prize and the name Minnie was meant to have. Thirty years later, their lives couldn't be more different, but they keep crossing paths, with Minnie blaming him for her bad luck while he seems to have it all. As they navigate their thirties and personal struggles, a slow-burn romance develops, exploring fate, second chances, and how their unexpected connection might just be what they both need
One Day in December by Josie Silver
Laurie sees a mysterious, handsome man (Jack) through a snowy London bus window and feels love at first sight, only for the bus to pull away. Over the next decade, their lives intertwine in unexpected ways, especially after Laurie's best friend, Sarah, introduces Jack as her new boyfriend, leading to a complicated, decade-long love triangle filled with missed chances, heartbreak, and destiny's twists as Laurie and Jack navigate friendship, life changes, and their undeniable connection.
Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
Laurel works as a social media manager. She is most definitely not an owner of a farm...but one tiny misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to think she owns her twin sister's farm. She must keep the rouse going when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for a big holiday dinner. Max Beckett, her attractive by hated nemesis, is also attending. He will be posing as Laurel's husband just for the evening, but when a snowstorm traps them all, Laurel is going to have to figure out how to survive with her job and dignity intact.
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Tricia O'Malley
Kate is ready to say "Bah, humbug" to dating. But Kate's found fulfillment in her career and in her side job baking for her old friend Matt's café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twelve dates with twelve different men. Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before—Kate must remind herself that sometimes love shows up where it's least expected. And maybe it's been right under her nose all along.
In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
This is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since. As she drives away for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.
The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again and again. Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.
The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman
Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah’s parents died, and Finn’s disowned him when he came out. Their tradition of offbeat holiday adventures only grows more outrageous with time. But now, when Finn announces a move to L.A., this Christmas may be their last. Hannah is terrified of losing the family she’s built for herself, even as her boyfriend nudges her toward commitment. Meanwhile, Finn struggles with the things he’s about to leave behind—namely, his unexpressed feelings for Theo.
Feel All the Feels
The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
If you like heartfelt, many call this a modern holiday classic. Richard, a busy and preoccupied father, discovers a Christmas box full of love letters from an old woman to her dead daughter and, with the help of an angel, begins to learn the true meaning of Christmas.
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
12-year-old Nicky Dillon and her grieving father discover an abandoned baby in the snowy woods of rural New Hampshire, triggering a journey into loss, responsibility, and unexpected family as a troubled young woman, Charlotte, appears, connected to the baby, forcing them to confront parallel heartbreaks and find redemption through difficult choices and unexpected bonds.
Christmas By The Book by Anne Marie Ryan
Nora and her husband, Simon, have run the book shop in their small British village for thirty years. But times are tough and the shop is under threat of closure—this Christmas season will really decide their fate. When an elderly man visits the store and buys the one book they've never been able to sell, it gives Nora an idea. She and Simon will send out books to those feeling down this Christmas. Maybe they can't save their bookstore, but at least they'll have one final chance to lift people's spirits. After gathering nominations online, Nora and Simon quietly deliver books to six residents of the village in serious need of cheer.
The 13th Gift by Joanne Huist Smith
After the unexpected death of her husband, Joanne had no idea how she would keep herself together and be strong for her three children--especially with the holiday season approaching. But 12 days before Christmas, presents begin appearing on her doorstep with notes from their "True Friends." As the Smiths came together to solve the mystery of who the gifts were from, they began to thaw out from their grief and come together again as a family. This true story about the power of random acts of kindness will warm the heart, a beautiful reminder of the miracles of Christmas and the gift of family during the holiday season.
Classics & Historical Fiction
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
An enchanted look at Santa's origin story, beginning with his adoption as a baby by immortals in the magical Forest of Burzee, where he's raised by wood-nymphs. Upon encountering human suffering (poverty, war), young Claus dedicates himself to bringing joy, creating the first toys (starting with a carved Blinky cat) with help from fairies and pixies, explaining traditions like stockings and Christmas trees. This classic is by the author of The Oz series.
The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories Edited by Jessica Harrison
This is a collection of the most magical, moving, chilling and surprising Christmas stories from around the world, taking us from frozen Nordic woods to glittering Paris, a New York speakeasy to an English country house, bustling Lagos to midnight mass in Rio, and even outer space.
Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
Like "Die Hard," it has been debated if Little Women is a Christmas book or not. For this post, it is. If you’ve never read this classic—it’s time. Follow the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March—as they grow from childhood to womanhood during the American Civil War. Loosely based on Alcott's own family, the story explores themes of love, hardship, ambition, and societal expectations through their experiences with poverty, family duty, and personal growth. It makes a great gift for younger readers as well.
A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd
Did you know the "A Christmas Story" movie was based on a book? I can't lie, this is not a movie I am drawn to, but I am curious to read the book. Young Ralphie Parker's fervent Christmas wish for a Red Ryder BB Gun in 1940s Indiana, navigating bullies, a grumpy dad, a leg lamp obsession, and a disastrous Christmas dinner while everyone tells him he'll shoot his eye out, culminating in a chaotic but ultimately heartwarming holiday with his quirky family.
The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin
In 1951 Connecticut, best friends and single mothers Audrey and Eve, are looking forward to celebrating Christmas. Their young sons are obsessed with the Sears Wish Book, prompting the moms to teach them the true, giving spirit of Christmas through service projects and focusing on the Nativity story, all while they heal from past hurts, find new love, and discover the unexpected gifts of faith and forgiveness.
A Quilt for Christmas by Sandra Dallas
It's 1864 and Eliza Spooner's husband Will has joined the volunteers to fight the Confederates, leaving her with their two children and in charge of their home. Eliza is confident that he will return home, and she helps pass the months making a special quilt to keep Will warm during his winter in the army. When the unthinkable happens, she takes in a woman and child who have been left alone, and she finds solace and camaraderie amongst the women of her quilting group. And when she is asked to help hide an escaped slave, she must decide for herself what is right, and who can she can count on to help her.
Mystery
Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
A tyrannical millionaire, Simeon Lee, gathers his estranged, resentful family for a Christmas reunion, only to be found murdered in his locked room with his throat slashed on Christmas Eve, prompting Hercule Poirot to investigate the dysfunctional family, uncovering secrets, old grudges, and hidden motives as he sorts through lies to find the killer who escaped the locked room.
Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
Amateur sleuth Ernest Cunningham investigates the murder of his ex-wife's philanthropist boyfriend, Lyle, during the holidays, getting drawn into a magician's world of tricksters and misdirection, where clues are revealed like an advent calendar and everyone seems to have a motive, forcing Ernest to solve the crime to clear his ex's name before Christmas ends. Many are touting this as “Knives Out” in book form.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Maggie Chase and thriller author Ethan Wyatt are invited to a Christmas party at a snowy English manor hosted by legendary author Eleanor Ashley, only for Eleanor to vanish from a locked room, forcing the rivals to team up, navigate witty banter, a locked-room puzzle, and suspects to solve the disappearance before they kill each other or the real danger finds them.
Murder on a Frosty Night by Verity Bright
In the winter of 1925, Eleanor and Hugh are decking the halls for their first married Christmas together when butler Clifford arrives with a mysterious telegram. A lucrative case awaits their new detective agency… but in the most remote county in England. The note insists they must be there by midnight to accept the job.
The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose
Molly Gray loves the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly’s mofinst joyful yet. But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential—and personal—mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?
Non-Fiction & Personal Essay
Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
Can you imagine writing to Father Christmas and actually getting a reply? For more than twenty years, the children of J.R.R. Tolkien received letters from the North Pole, from Father Christmas himself. They told wonderful stories of mischief and disaster, adventures, and battles: how the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place, how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas's house, and many others. These real letters are brought to life in this collection.
The Santa Claus Man by Alex Palmer
This true story tells the tale of charismatic John Duval Gluck, Jr. a 1920s entrepreneur, who saw an opportunity to save children's letters to Santa and created the Santa Claus Association. The effort delighted the public, and for 15 years money and gifts flowed to the only group authorized to answer Santa’s mail. Gluck became a Jazz Age celebrity, rubbing shoulders with the era’s movie stars and politicians, and even planned to erect a vast Santa Claus monument in the center of Manhattan — until Gotham’s crusading charity commissioner discovered some dark secrets in Santa’s workshop.
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
This is a poignant, autobiographical story about Capote's childhood in 1930s rural Alabama, focusing on his deep friendship with his elderly, childlike cousin, "Sook" (based on his real cousin, Jennie Faulk), as they joyfully create and share homemade fruitcakes and kites despite their poverty, highlighting themes of innocent companionship, fleeting joy, and eventual loss as their unique bond is severed when he's sent away, all viewed through a nostalgic lens by the older Capote.
Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris
Satarist David Sedaris recounts his experiences working as a Christmas elf named "Crumpet" in the Macy's department store "Santaland" display in New York City. The work is a sardonic and humorous exploration of the commercialism and chaos of the holiday season from a cynical, behind-the-scenes perspective.
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