Skip to main content

In which I require a holiday read

I love the line in 84, Charing Cross Road where Helene writes to Frank telling him,
I require a book of love poems with spring coming on.
Do you ever feel that way? You can feel a particular season or time approaching and you start to itch for a certain read you always associate with that time or season. It happens to me regularly and last night I realized I require a holiday read with Christmas coming on. I evaluated my shelves and discovered that I don't have a specific book I read every Christmas season or even every winter. This is clearly Not Okay. And so I'm putting the question out there, asking for your recommendations. What are you favorite holiday reads? Because I'm craving a good one.

Comments

  1. Well, there's this old one "A Dog Named Christmas" I read in fourth grade...lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. Willowby's Christmas tree: http://www.amazon.com/Willowbys-Christmas-Tree-Robert-Barry/dp/0385327218

    It's one of the books I always associate with Christmas - even if it's not a big novel, I LOVE IT!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:37 PM

    I need some suggestions too! I totally know what you mean though. Sometimes I get cravings for books depending on the season/weather. I'm the same way with music.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's not a holiday read as such, but if you haven't read The Secret of Dragonhome by John Peel, do. I think you'd really like it. I must reread my copy soon, it's been about a decade.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Dark is Rising!

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Kringle" by Tony Abbott. Would make a great movie!

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439749425/ref=s9_simp_gw_s0_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1NNDXRY1BZEMBSWWANAS&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

    Laura Hartness
    http://CalicoCritic.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Dark is rising, The Hogfather and I think I'll re-read Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myacle this year. It was very christmassy and made me want t teacup pig :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kind of cheesy, but I always read Skipping Christmas by John Grisham this time of year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I always read Rumer Godden's "The Story of Holly and Ivy". It's a dear book, about a little orphan girl and a doll that doesn't get sold for Christmas. That sounds a bit precious, but it's really a wonderful book. And if you can find a copy, Julie Lane's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Wonderful stories and absolutely beautiful woodcuts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I don't really like holiday reads, but I do always feel the need to listen to Christmas music in December.

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are such wonderful suggestions, you guys. Thank you! And they definitely do not have to be holiday-themed. Just ones you, for whatever reason, enjoy re-reading this time of year.

    THE DARK IS RISING is such a great suggestion! And it occurred to me the 2nd Julia Grey novel is a great Christmas read. I'm definitely looking up the picture books you've all suggested. They sound magical.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Maybe it's just cause the movie is such a tradition in my family, but a couple of years ago I finally picked up "A Christmas Story" in book form by Jean Shepherd. It's to die for. You can just hear his narration throughout and all the back story on the characters was wonderful. Lots of laughs and "illuminated sex in the window"

    ReplyDelete
  14. For some reason I gravitate toward the classics around the Holidays. I just finished Little Women and will be starting Jane Eyre.

    ReplyDelete
  15. s I always associate with Christmas - even if it's not a big novel, I LOVE IT!

    Work from home India

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

This book has made the rounds and no mistake. I started seeing early reviews awhile back and read a few delightful interviews with Leanna Renee Hieber and found myself intrigued to read her first novel-- The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker . I was, therefore, tickled to receive a copy for review from Ms. Hieber and quickly set about settling in. I knew it was a Gothic paranormal mystery of sorts, featuring (among other things) a group of loyal comrades, a private London academy, a bit of magic, an albino, and a swoon-worthy broody professor a la Richard Armitage in North & South . *moment of silence for the awesomeness of The Armitage* And that was the extent of my pre-reading knowledge. That and the fact that I loved the cover with its simple yet moody, midnight blue and its slightly off-kilter, scripty title. Miss Percy Parker is about to embark on an adventure, albeit a much larger one than she imagines. Leaving the convent--the only home she's ever known--a...

Review | The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vols. 1 & 2 by Beth Brower

I feel a bit giddy finally talking to you all about this series. If you'll remember, I fell madly in love with The Q  when it came out a few years ago. Now, Beth Brower is writing The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion — a series of novellas set in London in 1883. Each volume is an excerpt from the incorrigible Emma's journals, and the first two volumes are already available with the third on the way soon. I think they'd make rather perfect pandemic reading. Humorous and charming down to their bones, they're just what the doctor ordered to lift your spirits in this uncertain time that just proves to be too much some days. If you're experiencing one of those days, I suggest giving Volume 1   a go (it's only 99 cents on Kindle, $4.99 for a trade paperback copy). It will surprise exactly none of you that I own print and digital editions of both volumes.  Miss Emma M. Lion has waited long enough. Come hell or high water (and really, given her track record,  both a...

Bibliocrack Review | You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, I've done a shamefully poor job of addressing my love for Cat Sebastian 's books around these parts. I've certainly noted each time her beautiful stories have appeared on my end-of-the-year best of lists, see:  The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes ,  basically every book in  The Cabots series , and of course  We Could Be So Good .  And the pull is, quite simply, this: nobody is as kind and gentle with their characters and with their hearts than Cat Sebastian. Nobody. I haven't always been one for the gentler stories, but I cannot overstate the absolute gift it is sinking into one of Sebastian's exquisitely crafted historicals knowing that I get to spend the next however many pages watching two idiots pine and deny that feelings exist and just  take care of each other  as they fall in love. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Not this one or any other.  Only two things in the world people count b...