My alma mater was books, a good library…. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.

Malcolm X

I’m in my holy crap I am burned out from work and all I want is to sit in a cozy spot with a blanket, my pets, and escape into a good book era. Luckily, it’s that time of year that fully embraces that mentality. The abundance of warm blankets, cooler weather, hot chocolate, and twinkling lights make the ambience a reader’s paradise.

I tend to lean into spooky season more than I do Christmas, but there’s nothing like a good book that’s perfect for the time of year you find yourself in. The books below are all centered around Christmas or winter in general. Some are favorites of mine. Some are ones that I can’t wait to read on my shelf. Others are ones I really would love to find and read soon!

Go grab your book and get comfy. It’s time for a great book and these recommendations can absolutely help you get in the holiday spirit!

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Laurie is convinced love at first sight doesn’t exist until she falls for a man as her bus pulls away. After spending a year searching for her missed connection, Laurie gets the surprise of a lifetime. Her missed connection is dating her best friend.

Why I Love It: The second chance at love trope is done so well in this without sacrificing friendships or being petty. It’s a genuine story of sacrificing for your best friend and then discovering a deeper level of friendship, what honesty really means, and that true love will find a way.

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

Charlie is having career troubles on the set of her baking show when a concussion leaves her with no sense of taste or smell. Cass needs a break from her hometown, bakery, and a persistent ex who won’t take no for an answer. Good thing they’re identical twins in the same line of work. What could go wrong if they switched lives for 10 days?

Why I Love It: Baking shows give me life and romantic comedies are one of my all-time favorite genres. Squish them both together in a light-hearted book perfectly centered on Christmas without beating you over the head with the season and you’ve got a recipe for a great read.

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

Twelve clues and keys for the twelve days of Christmas. Family competition is taken to a whole other level as cousins compete for the ultimate prize, the deed to the Armitage family home. As the stakes and tensions rise, how many people will die before a winner is declared?

Why I Love It: Most Christmas books are romantic comedies or romances. While that’s great and I enjoy them, I’m also the person who thinks Die Hard is a Christmas movie and will read thrillers even on Valentine’s Day. It was a clever and suspenseful modern whodunnit that put the holiday season in a new light. Christmas thrillers just might be a new favorite.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

A woman moves to New York City to restart her life and quickly realizes it isn’t the fairytale she expected. Her best friend helps her explore the city and discover a Gelateria with a secret family recipe only the owner is supposed to know. But Iris knows this exact recipe from her mother. What secrets will this expose and how will it change her life?

Why I Love It: Romance, whimsy, gelato, and mystery all rolled into one? Count me in. I haven’t read this one yet, but I adore this author and she’s the master of creating realistic romances with so much heart, so I’m excited to dive right into this one. Plus it’s not your typical NYC holiday romance book that’s been done and done and done…which I greatly appreciate.

A Cat Cafe Christmas by Codi Gary

Christmas, coffee, and cats. What more could a person need? Vet and animal lover, Kara, is struggling to make her newly opened cat cafe a roaring success and may be forced to close before the holidays. Her enemy, marketing extraordinaire, Ben, may be the only person able to help her keep the shop open. Working closely together could either spell disaster or the start of something purr-fect.

Why I Love It: It’s kind of a dream to open a bookstore cafe that also had adoptable animals running around inside. This book combines everything I love in a romance: enemies to lovers, animals, books, food, and so much more.

Santa Claus: A Biography by Gerry Bowler

Santa is one of the most well-known fictional characters of all time. He’s known by children across the world, he’s in the DC universe as one of the most powerful superheroes, and he’s inextricably attached to the holiday that gets the most attention globally as well. But where did he originate? How did his character evolve into what it is today? Where the heck did elves come into play? This book covers it all in a social and cultural lens that will leave you more than intrigued to keep learning more.

Why I Love It: I love me a good origin story and I adore history, especially history that isn’t super well known or mainstream. Add in the cultural elements with how Santa changed over time and is perceived in different cultures? I’m so ready to read this book!

The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil by Al Ridenour

At first glance, Krampus seems like an evil creation spawned from the mind of Hollywood writers. While Krampus does not have as wide an audience or as much documentation as Santa, there’s so many interesting facts/myths/etc to discover about this foreboding side of the holiday season.

Why I Love It: We’re going for a ride into the past through Medieval folklore and the graphic history of a not-so-iconic but intriguing character. It’s the darker side of the sugar-coated holiday that gets me excited. After all, there’s always at least two sides to every story and not all of them can be wrapped in a bow. Why not add another to my list to read!?