WITH CHRISTMAS coming ‘round the corner, many are getting ready for the holiday season by buying gifts, setting up decorations, and making plans with their loved ones.
There are also others who want nothing more than to cozy up with a good book and read until the holidays are over, which is perfectly understandable.
If you’re looking for a good book to put you in the mood for some Christmas cheer, here are some that you may want to look into.
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
This fantasy novella is perhaps one of the most popular and one of the most beloved Christmas books of all time – and for good reason.
This was written by Charles Dicken all the way back in 1843 and tells a beautiful story centered around the importance of kindness, of living life with no regrets.
It follows the story of an old man named Ebenezer Scrooge, seen by many as cruel and mean-spirited.
One day, however, his life changes as he is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. They show him how his life has gone so far, taking him on a journey through the life he has led so far – as well as the end he will meet if he continues to live this way.
While other renditions of this book have grown to become rather famous, such as its film adaptation starring Jim Carrey released in 2006, not everyone has read the book itself.
So if you’re looking for a simple, heartfelt story with a positive message as well as one that’ll be a quick read, you can never go wrong with “A Christmas Carol”.
- Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan
If you’re hoping to delve into something more on the side of romance, maybe try perusing David Levithan’s novel, “Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares”.
Levithan’s work shows a story with two perspectives: one of bright-eyed, optimistic Lily who loves Christmas and everything related to it, and brooding misanthrope Dash, who hates it.
After Lily places a dare inside a random book at the bookstore, she is surprised to find a reply from a mysterious stranger named Dash. The two start talking to each other back and forth through the book, engaging in a series of dares that they give one another.
As they continue to learn more and more about one another, they discover a different side to themselves in the process. The only question now is: What happens when the two meet?
Will this golden retriever and black cat combination actually work in real life, or does the magic disappear as soon as they’re no longer speaking through the page of a book?
This, of course, is something that can only be answered by picking up a copy of “Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares”.
- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett’s novel, “Hogfather”, poses one question: What if Santa was actually Death?
“Hogfather” is the 20th novel in Pratchett’s series “Discworld”, but don’t worry! You don’t have to read any of the other books in the series for this one to make sense. All that you need to know is that all of these books are happening in the same universe.
In this book, Christmas is instead referred to as “Hogswatch”, and Santa, the “Hogfather”. Serving as the fourth book in the series to focus on the character of Death, it follows the story of Death, who soon has to take over for the Hogfather after he is killed.
Death then tries to get people to believe once again in the Hogfather, but as he tries to do so, he realizes that this task is not as simple as he’d initially thought.
As Death treks down this new path, he engages in several thought-provoking conversations, making several new realizations about life and the way the world works.
What is good, and what is bad? How does one define these two concepts? How does a person categorize humans as one or the other when, in reality, it is both that make them what they are?
These are just some of the questions you’ll find yourself asking as you flip through Pratchett’s work, and if you’re hungry for more, there are 40 other novels in the “Discworld” series for your perusal.