The only thing cozier than curling up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly night is curling up with a good holiday book and a cup of hot chocolate! It's never too early to get a jump start on that holiday reading list, which is why we rounded up 16 picks featuring a variety of holidays — from Christmas to Hanukkah to Diwali. Whether you're buying a copy for yourself or your best friend, let's get reading!
One Day In December ($13, was $17)
Laurie is a firm believer that love at first sight isn't real. That is, until she looks out a bus window and sees locks eyes with a man she instantly knows is the one...but then her bus drives away. Laurie spends the next year looking in all of the London bus stops and cafés she passes, hoping to find him. When her best friend Sarah introduces Laurie to her new boyfriend, Laurie realizes it's Jack, the man she's been looking for. Over the next ten years, this trio must deal with friendship, heartbreak, and fate.
'Twas The Night Before Christmas ($12, was $20)
This classic poem (which was actually originally published anonymously as A Visit From Saint Nicholas) is the perfect way prepare your kids, or even yourself, for Santa's arrival! Follow along with a family who's getting ready for bed when their evening is interrupted by a very jolly man with a red suit.
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares ($7, was $10)
16-year-old Lily is sick of being single, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She leaves a red notebook full of dares for the right guy to find on her favorite bookstore shelf. Dash is in a very bad mood, but when he happens to find Lily's book, he decides to rise to the challenge. The duo begins to share not only dares in the notebook, but also their dreams and desires, as they pass it back and forth around New York City. However, there's a catch: they still haven't met in person yet.
A Holly Jolly Diwali ($15, was $17)
Despite loving music and art, Niki has always preferred a stable life. But when she's laid off she realizes that all of her practical decisions have amounted to nothing and decides to book a last-minute flight to India for her friend Diya's wedding. She arrives just in time for Diwali, the festival of lights, and is immediately drawn to Sameer, a London musician. Their connection deepens on Diya's group honeymoon, where Sam helps Niki connect with her creativity and her Indian roots. And when she gets a new job offer back home, Niki finds herself at a crossroads that will determine the rest of her life.
The Holiday Swap ($14, was $17)
Life as a chef is going great for Charlie, until she hits her head on the set of her reality baking show and loses both consciousness and her ability to taste and smell. Her identical twin Cass is busy trying to run their family's bakery, deal with the ex that won't leave her alone, and hold her own life together. That's when Charlie asks Cass to switch places so they both can escape from reality. But when firefighter Jake and physician's assistant Miguel get mixed in the girls' scheme, things might get more complicated than they bargained for.
The Christmas Bookshop($15, was $17)
When Carmen gets laid off from her job, the last thing she wants to do is spend Christmas with her sister Sofia, and her perfect life, perfect house, and perfect children. Sofia doesn't exactly want Carmen there either, but she has another baby on the way and a client who needs help refreshing his old bookshop in historic Edinburgh. Plus their mother really wants the girls to get along. Carmen agrees and gets more than she bargained for when a well-known author takes an interest in the bookstore and in her. This title will be released on November 16, 2021.
A Christmas Carol ($7)
Greedy Ebenezer Scrooge is focused on nothing except making money until he's visited by the ghost of his late business partner who warns him to change his ways. Horrified and confused, Scrooge finds himself face-to-face with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. They lead him through his life and show him parts of the world he's refused to see before.
The Matzah Ball($14, was $16)
Rachel has a secret: For a decade, she's hidden her love for Christmas and her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her Jewish family. Her love stories have become bestsellers, even as her chronic illness has kept that kind of magical love from being a reality. Then Rachel's publisher asks for a Hanukkah romance and she immediately gets writer's block. Determined to come up with another bestseller, she goes to the Matzah Ball on the last night of Hanukkah, even though it means spending an entire evening with her childhood enemy Jacob. But as the evening goes on, she realizes that maybe Hanukkah, like Jacob, is more than meets the eye.
Royal Holiday ($13, was $16)
Even if Vivian's daughter wasn't going to England for the purpose of styling a royal family member, Vivian would definitely tag along. She expects the holiday to be filled with sightseeing and sweets, but instead finds herself attracted to Malcolm, the palace's royal secretary. Malcolm also finds himself drawn to Vivian and even offers her a personal, private tour. The only hitch? Their holiday romance can only last until New Year's, but the closer they get to January, the more they like each other.
The Twelve Dates of Christmas($13, was $16)
Kate Turner, 34, would rather focus on her career as a designer (and her side job of baking for her friend Matt's neighborhood café) than relationships. That is, until her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help her find love by Christmas. 23 days and 12 dates sounds like good odds until each date proves to be more disastrous than the one before. Oh, she's also being watched by the entire town.
Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe ($11)
Darcy is beautiful, successful, and smart. She's never fallen in love, refuses to deal with drama, and avoids her hometown of Pemberley, Ohio like the plague. When her mother falls ill, however, she comes home to spend Christmas with her family. That's where she meets Luke, a carpenter who's never left home and never plans to. When they spend the night together after one too many eggnogs, Darcy realizes it's more than another one night stand when she can't stop thinking about him.
A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories ($20)
This collection of stories — originally published in African American newspapers and journals from 1880 to 1953 — features writers like Pauline Hopkins, Langston Hughes, and John Henrik Clarke. The short stories and poems reflect Christmas experiences from holidays past and explore love, faith, racism, and poverty, and are a must-read this holiday season.
Seven Spools of Thread($8)
Seven brothers live together in an African village, but they constantly fight, making their family miserable. After their father's death, they learn that his will instructs them to make gold out of seven spools of ordinary thread or they'll have to live as beggars. Using the seven principles of Kwanzaa, called Nguzo Saba, the family pulls together for the greater good.
In A Holidaze ($12, was $17)
Life is holly jolly for everyone except Maelyn. Not only is she living with her parents and working a dead-end job, but she's having a hard time accepting the fact that this is the last Christmas she'll spend at her family's snowy Utah cabin. She makes a wish for happiness as she drives away from the cabin...and suddenly crashes her car, waking up on the airplane bound for Utah to begin the holiday over again, and again, and again.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe($8, was $9)
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are evacuated from London during the Blitz. Staying with a professor in the countryside, his boring old house seems ordinary at first glance. That is, until Lucy finds a wardrobe that transports them to a snowy wonderland with talking animals and magic. It doesn't take long for the siblings to learn about the evil witch trying to take over, and that one of them has betrayed the others.
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