Ah, it’s that time of year again. Dinners with three kinds of dessert, parties, dressing up, decking the halls, and shopping! Don’t know what to get for that friend, relative, co-worker? B&N Gift cards, baby. And while you’re there at the book store, it’s a good time to have a latte and curl up in a cozy corner with a book for yourself because holidays are hectic and a good book can be your best friend.
Best of all, unlike parties full of fat-laden treats and dinners with three kinds of dessert (and how rude would it be not to try ALL of them?) books will not make you fat. Load up, go back for seconds and thirds, go to the library for an all-you-can-read buffet.
I love all the holiday-themed books that come out this time of year. Stories that celebrate the insanity and the beauty of the season, stories that make us laugh or sigh. I’m a sucker for anything with mistletoe or turkey on the cover; in fact, a recent release at Cerridwen Press caught my eye because of the title, “Cold Turkey”. (It’s a holiday murder mystery) I’m hot for Santa Baby by Lori Foster and Jennifer Crusie, and I will go back and re-read my holiday romances and anthologies from the ghost of Christmas book shopping past.
Past, present or future, what are your favorite holiday reads? What do you re-read and what new book are you looking forward to this holiday season?
[...] Edited to add: I forgot I’m at RTB today. I can be forgiven for forgetting, considering the month we’ve had. [...]
by Writers Blog » Novel Spot reviews Wolf In Shining Armor! November 30th, 2006 at 7:17 amI have a collection of holiday books that I add to every year and display during the season. Some of my favorites are “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss and “The Crippled Lamb” by Max Lucado. For grownup reads, I love “The Christmas Tree” and “A Christmas Carol”. If you don’t think you can get through Dickens (he is rather wordy :shock:) try listening to it on audio–we did this last year driving to the relatives for Christmas and it was awesome!!
by Elizabeth K November 30th, 2006 at 7:37 amElizabeth, I love Dickens’ Christmas stories! The whole collection, not just A Christmas Carol. Wonderful reading. And the Grinch is a Christmas classic! We actually bought a Seuss audio book for the kids that had a hilarious rendition of The Grinch from Audible.
by Charlene Teglia November 30th, 2006 at 7:45 amBeing a mommy, I put in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and then collapse in exhaustion.:roll: Seriously, though, I squeeze in reading anywhere I can, but it ain’t easy this time of year, lemme tell ya! I would seriously love a B&N gift certificate for Christmas though and I’ve made sure everyone knows it!:lol:
by Kimber An November 30th, 2006 at 7:47 amB&N gift cards rock, Kimber An. Hope Santa brings you a couple of them.
by Charlene Teglia November 30th, 2006 at 9:43 amCold Turkey is a great read! I read it through the Thanksgiving holiday last week. Was Thanksgiving really only last week? Wow! Now I’m reading Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgeway.
by Heather Hiestand November 30th, 2006 at 12:11 pmI love book tokens for Christmas and I adore Christmas themed books
by nell dixon November 30th, 2006 at 12:52 pmI thought Santa Baby was great too! I love holiday books, and seem to keep them more than other stories…that’s why one of my goals is to some day have a Christmas tree cover.
by Jenna Bayley-Burke November 30th, 2006 at 4:36 pmHeather, I still need to read Cold Turkey! We ended up getting stormed out from Thanksgiving on.
Weather, grrr.
by Charlene Teglia November 30th, 2006 at 4:52 pmNell, I love holiday themed books in general, but Christmas is my favorite.
by Charlene Teglia November 30th, 2006 at 4:53 pmJenna, I thoroughly enjoyed Santa Baby! I bought it for Hot Toy, but it’s a fun anthology. I keep more Christmas stories than Valentines or Halloween, although I seem to have a lot of those, too.
by Charlene Teglia November 30th, 2006 at 4:54 pmAbsolutely!!!!! I am totally with you. I’d rather get a Borders gift card than anything else.
by Jennifer McKenzie November 30th, 2006 at 7:27 pmI have a tough time Christmas shopping for others there because I rarely get out without a “little something for me”. Selfish, I know, but it’s my weak spot.
I love Christmas books. One thing about knowing other authors is getting to buy their Christmas releases. Gets me into the Christmas spirit.
I just bought Evanovich’s Visions of Sugar Plums. I’m looking forward to it!
And curling up in front of the tree with a book, during Christmas break? Ohmigod, I’ve been looking forward to it for months.
by spyscribbler November 30th, 2006 at 10:11 pmGift cards for the book store, yes! We don’t have a Borders in my town, though. So I buy a book at Walden’s and sit in the food court while my kids oo and ahh at Hot Topic.
I picked up Santa Baby tonight!
by Becca November 30th, 2006 at 11:13 pmWaldens often seems to have a better selection! Enjoy Santa Baby, Becca.
Spyscribbler, I really enjoyed Visions of Sugar Plums. Sounds like a good way to spend a break.
Jennifer, that’s the thing about book shopping for others. There’s always something you have to pick up for yourself.
by Charlene Teglia December 1st, 2006 at 12:14 amLOL
by Liz Denler December 1st, 2006 at 3:48 amI prefer to read Christmas books in July in August. Especially now that I’m snowed in I want to read summer books.
I can’t wait for Harmony’s Way by Lora Leigh its on my Christmas list so I can’t but it.
I try to get around to reading either A Christmas Carol or Little Women this time of the year. I also recently picked up some recent series romance releases with holiday themes and may get one in before the month slips by. I also get feelings of guilt when I go shopping this time of year. I feel like eveything should be for somebody else, but the thing is this is when the stores seem to have a better selection of just about everything than any other time of the year. Why would anyone want to pass that up? My income is such that I cannot buy for everybody, but I do try to least cover my parents and my niece and nephew. Luckily, the kids devour books like I do so there’s a good excuse to hit the bookstore.
by Sam December 3rd, 2006 at 9:10 pm