Amid the joyful chaos of the festive season, it’s good to have some quiet time and enjoy a festive book. Here are a few of my favourites.
For reading again and again
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a brilliant reminder that Christmas is not just about presents! This has been made into several movies but I think the book is still the best.
I have a beautiful cloth-bound edition of A Christmas Carol which makes reading at Christmas even more special.
For sharing with family
A great read to share with kids is T’was the Night Before Christmas. It’s also known by its original name, A Visit from St Nicholas. Either way, it’s by Clement Clarke Moore. Rhyming poems are particularly popular with little ones and especially joyful at this time of year.
For slowing down
If you prefer a slightly more grown-up poem, Snow by Walter de la Mare is a wonderful read. It’s also short, which makes it perfect if you are too busy to read much this month. Don’t forget you still need to make time for yourself, even when you have a Christmas-sized to do list!
For mystery lovers
Murder Most Festive by Ada Moncrieff, and The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict, are brilliantly Christmassy murder mysteries. The plots of both these books are so enmeshed in the festivities, they absolutely live up to their titles.
If you’re pushed for time, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie is a fun and festive short story. This is another one that’s been renamed. It’s called Christmas Adventure in the anthology Midwinter Murder.
For distracting
If you don’t celebrate Christmas, need a break from festive overwhelm, or are avoiding it for any other reason, books are a great way to get away from it all. Stick to those that don’t have Christmas, Festive, or Merry in the title, and you should be OK.
How do you feel about Christmas books? What do you like to read at this time of year?
Enjoyed this post?
If you would like to see quotes from the stories and poems mentioned in this post, they all feature in my literary advent calendar on Instagram this year. Find my advent calendar posts here.
You might also like: 10 Reasons to Give a Book this Christmas.
Why not check out my travel mystery series on Amazon. Or follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads or Bookbub.
Deborah Grant-Dudley 
Old favourite, the surreal Children of Green Knowe, a Christmas like no other, seven year old ‘ alone, as usual’ and his great grandmother – and their mysterious child ancestors. Or a good murder, of course…
Never the Little Women Christmas – even though we’ve made an informal low key presents pact this year,.
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Thanks for sharing this. Sounds like an interesting one! We are also doing low key presents this year.
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