I am a self-proclaimed book nerd, and as such, consider me your guide for what to read this holiday season! Here are five books that will get you through all those awkward family moments over Zoom during the holiday season! (Because obviously we are all staying safe and not getting together during a pandemic)
- Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
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This is a bind-up of three stories about three teenagers who experience a huge snowstorm around Christmas. It is the kind of story that makes you want to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa while it’s snowing. It always makes me feel cozy and immediately in the holiday spirit!
- Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levitahn
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This book is set during the Christmas season in New York City and follows two fellow book nerds Dash and Lily who pass a notebook anonymously to each other with dares for the other one to do until one day they end up meeting. It’s a whirlwind romance full of quirky characters, and trust me, even if you don’t like Christmas, you will love this book. It keeps you captivated the whole time you read it while making you feel like you’re in New York right alongside them!
- The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
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This book actually is quite interesting because it is another take on the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In this reimagining of the classic tale, the rich, spoiled teenager Holly is visited by the three ghosts (Past, Present and Future) who could not convince her to be a better person before she died a week later. Instead of being whisked off to whatever afterlife she could enjoy, she becomes one of the Ghosts of Christmas Past to convince a teenage boy to be a better person. One teen who is alive, another who is a corporeal ghost, both falling in love. What could possibly go wrong? If you love the classics, romance and Christmas, this is a cocktail you will definitely enjoy.
- Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone
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We all know the story of Harry Potter, and it is a tradition for so many Potterheads to read this book every single year around Christmas because it just makes you feel warm and fuzzy while you follow Harry as he navigates his newfound identity as a wizard in Hogwarts (and while you’re at it, you can pretend She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named didn’t write the book that likely consumed your childhood).
- Landline by Raindow Rowell
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This is one of my favorite books, and it is one of the most challenging in terms of the blurring of lines between reality and fantasy. It follows Georgie McCool, a thirty-seven-year-old woman out to save her marriage and keep her career intact when she discovers her landline in her childhood home allows her to call her twenty-two-year-old husband, transcending both space and time. After thinking she wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with her husband and family, Georgie McCool is out to save her marriage and her future with this landline. This is an adult book about what it takes to save your marriage, and how hard it is to balance your career and your family. If you are looking for a tear-jerker that will captivate you from page one, this is the book for you.