One of my favorite Christmas traditions is pulling out all the Christmas decorations. There's something special too when I get to the Christmas books tote. It is so nostalgic and magical to pull out my favorite titles from childhood along with some nostalgic classics. At this point I've built quite the collection, so I'm going to share more about that tradition with you while shamelessly asking you to share your favorite Christmas books so I can add them to my list. 🙂
Every Christmas my family has an event called, 'Hanging of the Greens'. We use it to kick off and celebrate the Advent season and my mom began the tradition of every year we would get a Christmas book or movie along with treats and an ornament and then we would decorate our tree and home for Christmas. I'm carrying this tradition on and love adding my own decorations every year, along with a book or two.
If you don't have family books to start with, Thrift Books is an awesome source for used books, or local library sales. But by adding 1-2 titles a year you can spread out the cost and really focus on a story or two at a time. There are so many things to get caught up in during the holidays so reading a cozy Christmas themed book is an accomplishment of it's own!
Here are my lists and ideas to get you started so you can start your collection!
Looking for gift ideas? Check out our holiday gift guide for the whole family!
The Classics
These are the titles that we all know and love! And that yes, they do have movie versions. 🙂 Classic Christmas stories have been told and retold but are so nostalgic and magical each year. A few go-to's to get you started are:
- Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol
- The Night Before Christmas
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Charlie Brown's Christmas
- Skipping Christmas
Another way to build a collection over time is to include a book in your Christmas morning gifts. I love the rhyme of 4 gifts, " Something you want, something you need, something you wear and something you read."
Kiddo Christmas Books
Having a toddler lets you see the holiday season through new eyes. Introducing my son to Christmas books for kids has been so much fun. Here are a few titles that can help get you started or give you ideas on books to get the kiddos in your world.
- Elf
- Little Blue Truck's Christmas
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- The Polar Express
- You're My Little Christmas Cookie
- Pete the Cat Saves Christmas
- That's Not My Reindeer, and
- The Jolly Christmas Postman.
Some Personal Favorites
Here are a few of my favorite titles, including some of my favorite cozies. I love a good cozy mystery, and most of my favorite authors have at least one Christmas novel in their series.
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas A Christmas mystery featuring Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective. The first 'cozy' that got me hooked on the genre.
- Letters from Father Christmas,
- Mistletoe and Murder (the Daisy Dalrymple series is one of my all time favorites)
- The Autobiography of Santa Clause, (it's a witty and historically educational trilogy)
- Shepherds Abiding
- Murder on a Midnight Clear (this whole series is wonderful!) and
- A Vintage Christmas. A Vintage Christmas is a collection of short stories, I highly recommend it!
Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite titles! I would love to hear what Christmas books you pull out every year in the comments.
xoxo,
Claire
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