***About 20 minutes shy of posting this, I had to close up shop and head home. In that time after, I got sick. I have been out for over a week. Let’s pretend like I posted this before then.***

Ya’ll. I know you understand how busy the holiday season can be. Also, I spent the last week of November hanging on for dear life as I finished up my Nanowrimo word count. The last day, I wrote over 6,000 words (which is a count I don’t know if I’ve ever hit in a day. I know I’ve gotten to 4,000 and possibly 5,000). Then it was like, hey, look at my house and my life and my schedule; those are all things that need to be addressed, as well as, like, all the holiday things. The point is, I am posting the What to Read in December on December 8th, and that is not cool of me. But it’s what happened.

But perhaps you were never gonna get around to your December reading until holiday break? Then this list might be helpful. I mean, obviously you don’t need to start over with a new TBR on the first day of every month. But there are a lot of holiday recommends, here, as well as things that have just popped onto my radar since the last What to Read. Don’t do what I do, and take a chill pill, picking and choosing what might increase your holiday joy–or rumination–from the ideas below.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is still the only strong, Christmas novel recommendation that I have; it’s the only strong, Christmas novel recommendation I have had for years, even though I’ve been reading Christmas/holiday books every Christmas/holiday season. It’s short. It’s classic. It’s part ghost story and part witnessing the making of a holiday. And I enjoy a re-read, even though so much of it has permeated our culture.

Honest Advent by Scott Erickson is my favorite advent book, which if you don’t know, means that it is a daily contemplation book meant for Christians to welcome the season and look forward to the big to-do on Christmas Day as a meaningful celebration of the birth of Christ. I have also read several of these, and only discovered this one last year. It is by far my favorite. The readings begin on December 1, but you could always get it now and start on it (again) next year; it can be a part of an annual tradition, easy.

Image from Amazon.com

As for children’s literature this time of year (which I keep on the coffee table for anyone to pick up and have a moment), my favorite is still Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with second place going to The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburgh (which has very little to do with the movie, even though it was the inspiration for it). These classics either stand the test of time or I just love them because I’m being nostalgic. I look forward to continuing to read more of these books, too, as the years go by, and I’ll let you know if I ever come across one that fills me with holiday wonder like these two do.

Image from Penguin

I have read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, but not in so long; I have not reviewed it here. It’s not exactly a Christmas book, but I found it on lists of Christmas reads because there is at least one pivotal scene that takes place at Christmas, giving the reader a sense of Christmastime for the little March family during the Civil War in Massachusetts. There are also plenty of wintery scenes. A semi-autobiographical novel, it is very vibey, even if not everyone loves the way it ends, and is beloved by millions of readers over generations. There are also two movies based on the book that are really great, including the recent 2019 version (and 1994). I will be giving it a re-read this year.

Image from Target.com

The Christmas Pig by J. K. Rowling is the Christmas picture book I’m going to give a look-see this year. I enjoy Rowling’s writing when she is in the magical space of writing for kids (and teens), so I am hoping to like this little book. When a little boy loses his favorite pig stuffie on Christmas Eve, the Christmas Pig shows up to help him find it, and magic and adventure ensue. Illustrated by Jim Field, it gets great reviews, too.

Even though I have found an advent book that I really like, I am still happy to keep trying others (maybe in tandem). This year I was going to read On This Holy Night: The Heart of Christmas, written by a compilation of authors featuring Max Lucado. I am behind. But I am still planning on getting a copy and reading it either in its entirety at a faster rate, or just jump in on the day I get it for that day’s reading. Though it came to me highly recommended, it is maybe out of print and not that easy to find. This is when Ebay shines (though I like to buy used books there all the time).

Image from Amazon.com

I also try out a new cookbook every year for Christmas, and this year I’d like to recommend we try Christmas with Kim Joy by Kim Joy of Great British Baking Show fame. I follow Kim Joy, who appears to be a wonderful human being who has struggled somewhat under the public eye but whose baking is always, always joyful and whimsical. Full of cartoonish designs and cats, no doubt, this book is more likely to give us design ideas and bakes that if we follow carefully and spend time on them will seriously impress our friends and family. Are they going to be super practical? Perhaps not. (To be fair, some of the bakes look pretty doable.) But eggnog late cupcakes dotted with pigs and polar bear marshmallows? Nothing more whimsical and sure to bring a smile to your nephews’ faces.

Image from Amazon.com

Getting away from the holiday (but not totally), I have been shopping around for a new Bible, specifically one that I can carry with me without it looking like I’m going to thump other coffee shop patrons on the head with it. I have landed at the ESV Single Column Journaling Bible, Artist Series. My personal preference is the Ruth Chou Simons cover, but there are several artist versions that range from floral to graphic to pop art, and they all have a vintage-book feel on the outside. Also, the ESV is one of my favorite translations and I am always going to love a Bible that leaves me room to think and doodle in the extra-wide margins.

Image from Amazon.com

I am late to the party in wanting to read (and drawing your attention to) Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. It is the first book in a wildly popular and well-reviewed, fantasy-romance series. Iron Flame, number two of the Empyrean series, just dropped in November, but another book is supposed to be on its way sometime. Featuring LGBTQ+ characters and relationships, it apparently gets pretty steamy, but not so much that it couldn’t have been YA, though it sits on the edge between YA and adult and is likely to be found in the regular ol’ speculative fiction section of your bookstore. Like every bookstore near you. I’ve heard it’s not without its cheesiness, but people are going nuts over it. So we’ll see. Sounds like good fun, anyhow, and a TV series is already in the making (though happening this soon into the series seems like a kinda poor idea to me; maybe it’ll work out).

So I hardly read anything during Nanowrimo (November), actually. It wouldn’t be surprising, especially with me hosting 21 people for Thanksgiving and having my daughter’s birthday, etc., but it is surprising because it’s me. Still, I managed to read paragraphs at a time here and there, and made my way completely through one book, which I would recommend. So…

I read The Truth About Horses by Christy Cashman as an ARC. It was published in August, and the reviews have been really good. I’ll have a review to you really soon. It sits on the border between middle grades and YA, with a recommended read age of 7-9th grade or age 13-18 (which do not coincide, I know). I think many middle grades kids would not be ready for this book. But I also think there are themes and moments that are a little irrelevant to late-highschoolers. Still, it’s not one of those books that can’t be read by adults, because it totally can, which is obvious from the other reviews. It is a coming-of-age, tough-times novel about a girl who is mourning (largely through anger) the loss of so much in her life and who loves horses, misses her life as the daughter of “horse people.” If you enjoy reading about teens finding their way and you want a mild tear-jerker with a Hallmark feel, then it’s a good book and worth the read.

Here are some of the Christmas/holiday movies that I have not yet seen (or not in so long that I can’t remember them) that I will be trying to weave into my traditional watches, this season:

Office Christmas Party (2016), rowdy comedy featuring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman

Just Friends (2005), rom-com with Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart. Not totally sure how it relates to Christmas, but I’m guessing that’s the time period during which they re-meet-cute.

The Holiday (2006), another rom-com, features a huge, all-star cast (Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law…) and a slightly more serious vibe. I believe this one also takes place over the holidays.

The Santa Clause (1994) is a family, feel-good, comedy that is a part of many families’ holiday nostalgia, but I barely remember it. Think I’ll give it a re-watch and a review. Perhaps I won’t continue on to The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) is a more hard-boiled rom-com and I don’t know what it has to do with the holidays, but it was on at least one of the lists. Robert Downey Jr.

Olive the Other Reindeer (1999) is an animated, musical, children’s film. Actually, I have been unable to figure out where to stream it, but it looks so cute.

Full disclosure: I’ve already been watching a number of holiday rom-coms (and whatever) that have popped up in my streaming recommendations. These include Love at First Sight, Family Switch, Dash & Lily, Holidate, and Who Killed Santa?.

Other movies coming out this month (at the theater) that I am very much looking forward to:

Wonka (origin story for Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka with Timothee Chalamet)

Wish (Disney’s newest “princess” movie about a girl who is disillusioned about the founding monarch and how dreams are a part of us we shouldn’t dismiss lightly)

Poor Things (star-studded, quirky, fantasy, feminist movie starring Emma Stone)

American Fiction (2023 dramedy about being a Black author and/or making tough choices as an author between creative (and moral) honesty and what sells)

The Color Purple (based on the classic 1982 book of the same name by Alice Walker and the 1985 film, but with more music and some updating changes, about friendship between two Black girls/women in the South in the early 1900s)

I know that I said the only strong reading recommend I have for Christmas, so far, is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but I would also recommend (just not as strongly) Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory, Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story, Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary, Harry Potter, Beatrix Potter’s picture book, The Tailor of Gloucester, Kate Milford’s middle grades novel, Greenglass House, and the Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Prayer, which has holiday-specific readings.

For me, the holiday season is always a movie marathon, while I revisit all my favorite holiday movies. My annual views are Elf, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, The Muppet Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Christmas with the Kranks, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Anna and the Apocalypse, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Klaus, Arthur’s Christmas, and Spirited, in no particular order. I also recommend Last Holiday, Four Christmases, Edward Scissorhands, While You Were Sleeping, Scrooged, Rise of the Guardians, The Grinch, The Christmas Chronicles, Jingle Jangle, Last Christmas, and Violent Night (with reservations if you are freaked out by excessive violence).