Book Your Holidays

With holiday cheer, hot cocoa, and sparkling lights, one thing can complete the holiday season, a good book. A book is a great source of holiday-themed entertainment especially over winter break with newfound free time. Sit by the fire and cozy up to enjoy some of these festive reads.

Christmas at the Shelter Inn is a contemporary romance with a rating of 4.1 on Goodreads. This book is a dual point of view of Natalie Shepherd and Griffin Taylor, the two love interests. Natalie grew up at the Shelter Inn Hotel where her family experienced a path of loss. Because of the memories, when she graduated, she swore to never return. However, Natalie’s sister, Mckenna, is pregnant and on bed rest, and needs assistance with her children and running the inn during the busy holiday season. Natalie agrees to help and returns to the Shelter Inn where she runs into her late brother’s best friend, Griffin. This small-town Christmas full of adventures and traditions pushes Natalie and Griffin together, but they have to overcome their grief to look to the future.

A Cross-Country Christmas is a contemporary romance with a rating of 4.02 on Goodreads. Lauren Richmond is not a fan of Christmas, so she never goes home for the holidays. However, this year, her brother and his wife are expecting a baby. He arranges a road trip home for her with his best friend, Will. With Will’s flirty personality and Lauren’s opposite reserved one, this forced proximity leads to new discoveries and adventure. 

Murder on the Orient Express is a classic holiday murder mystery with a rating of 4.27 on Goodreads. The author, Agatha Christie is deemed “the queen of crime” with many classic mysteries. After Midnight, the infamous Orient Express stops on its track through the snowy Balkan mountains, andn the morning, an American Tycoon lies dead in his compartment with multiple stab wounds. One of the passengers is detective, Hercule Point, who must identify the killer in the crowded Orient Express before they can do further harm. 

A Christmas Carol is a classic historical fiction with a rating of 4.07 on Goodreads. The author, Charles Dickens is a famous classic writer with hits like The Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities. In Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is bitter and miserable, thinking of Christmas as just another day. However this year, he is haunted by the spirit of Christmas past, present, and future, and his past business partner warning him to change his ways before it is too late.  This novel is a holiday classic, as Scrooge must explore his past and undergo a personal journey of self-redemption.

The Key to My Heart is a contemporary romance novel with a rating of 4.02 on Goodreads. Natalie Fincher has it all, a husband, a house, and a chance to tour alongside the musical she spent years writing. Suddenly, her husband dies and all her hopes and dreams are gone. Two and a half years later, during the holiday season, Natalie is lost and hopeless. She can only bring herself to play piano at the London train station where she can be anonymous. However, when someone begins to leave sheet music of her husband's favorite music, Natalie feels hope for once. She seeks the person who is doing this while journeying to find love in herself and her life. 

This range of classic, romance, and mystery stories are highly-rated, entertaining, and best of all- festive. Make the holidays merrier with these cozy reads.