Pre-Christmas Reading List
Happy Friday!
This week has flown by and I am so ready for the weekend! It’s been a crazy week and I can’t wait to relax and enjoy the nice weather and read lots of books!
I have really been missing my family and friends lately. I think it’s because the holidays are coming and that always makes it harder to be so far away. And it’s getting warmer here, and I don’t care, but Christmas in the summer doesn’t feel like a real Christmas.
To keep myself from getting too homesick, I’m trying to embrace my Christmas spirit. That usually means watching all the cheesy made for TV holiday movies I can find (thank you Netflix!). But this holiday season I am taking it to the next level - I’m reading all the cheesy Christmas books I can find.
I found these by googling Christmas books and then checking what was offered at the library. Some of them sound a little ridiculous, and I’m sure there will be some duds in there, but I can’t wait! I am hoping for a little bit of love, some family drama, maybe a murder or two, a lot of Christmas magic, and some good holiday fun :)
Here are seven books on my pre-Christmas reading list (all descriptions from Chapters.ca):
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (YA)
“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” 16-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on her favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. Dash, in a bad mood during the holidays, happens to be the first guy to pick up the notebook and rise to its challenges. What follows is a whirlwind romance as Dash and Lily trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations all across New York City. But can their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions, or will their scavenger hunt end in a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak
Only the most extraordinary circumstances can reunite the Birch family for the holidays… It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter--who is usually off saving the world--will be joining them at Weyfield Hall. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. She's just returned from treating an epidemic abroad and has been told she must stay in quarantine for a week...and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity, and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of first-world problems. As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive…
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt
Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he's happy-eager, even-to take the case that's just come his way. Andy's long-time friend Martha "Pups" Boyer takes in stray puppies and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires her work. With Christmas just around the corner, one of her neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws. Andy happily takes Pups's case. Who could punish someone for rescuing puppies, after all, especially at Christmas time? But things get a lot more complicated when Randy Hennessey, the neighbor who registered the complaint against Pups, turns up dead. All the evidence seems to point to Pups as the killer, and suddenly Andy has a murder case on his hands. As he starts digging deeper into the truth behind Hennessey's murder, Andy may find himself facing a killer more dangerous than he ever imagined.
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
Christmas Eve, and the Lee family’s reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man. . .
The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
The Deal of a Lifetime is a profound and moving novella set on Christmas Eve. It tells the story of the intertwining destinies of a man who has built a global business empire but lost his family in the process and a courageous little girl fighting for her life, and it asks the question: if you had the chance to change your legacy, would you take it?
The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan
In the snowy Highlands of Scotland, Suzanne McBride is dreaming of the perfect cozy Christmas. Her three adopted daughters are coming home for the holidays and she can’t wait to see them. But tensions are running high… Workaholic Hannah knows she can’t avoid spending the holidays with her family two years in a row. But it’s not the weight of their expectations that’s panicking her—it’s the life-changing secret she’s hiding. Stay-at-home mom Beth is having a personal crisis. All she wants for Christmas is time to decide if she’s ready to return to work—seeing everyone was supposed to help her stress levels, not increase them! Posy isn’t sure she’s living her best life, but with her parents depending on her, making a change seems risky. But not as risky as falling for gorgeous new neighbor Luke… As Suzanne’s dreams of the perfect McBride Christmas unravel, she must rely on the magic of the season to bring her daughters together. But will this new togetherness teach the sisters that their close-knit bond is strong enough to withstand anything—including a family Christmas?
Decked with Holly by Marni Bates
Spending Christmas vacation on a cruise with her two cousins from hell isn't Holly's idea of a good time. And when in a moment of seasick-fueled desperation she lurches into an open suite--she's greeted with an eyeful of pepper spray. The culprit? A gorgeous guy calling himself Nick. But when Holly goes to make her exit, she gets the shock of her life: a corridor crammed with screaming teenage fans. Because Nick just happens to be Dominic Wyatt, drummer for ReadySet--one of the hottest bands in America. Suddenly rumors are swirling, and Holly's face is captured on countless phones and plastered all over the Internet. But the band can't risk a scandal destroying their family-friendly image, so Dominic convinces Holly to be his fake girlfriend--just for two weeks. How bad could it be to be fauxmantically involved with one of the cutest rockstars on the planet? Holly's about to find out. . .