And a holiday book in a pear tree…
By Makenzy Holm
One of my favorite activities to do in the winter is read holiday books. It doesn’t matter what the weather is doing; I am always in the mood to curl up in my bed with a good book. But sometimes, it’s a little bit difficult to know whether or not it is going to be worth my time, and I don’t want anyone else to go through the same thing. Because of this, I picked six different books in different genres to read and rate based on four categories: nostalgia, Christmas cheer, how easy it was to read and how well I thought the story was told.
A Christmas Carol
By: Charles Dickens
The first book I read was the original A Christmas Carol. Reading it for the first time brought back so many memories of watching the Disney version with my family every year next to the fully lit Christmas tree while eating candy canes. I really enjoyed working my way through the four different ghosts through Scrooge’s eyes, his past Christamases and watching what was happening then and what could have happened. It reminded me to take a step back and embrace the Christmas spirit.
That being said I give this book a 9/10 in nostalgia, 8/10 in Christmas cheer, 7/10 in readability and 10/10 in storytelling. This is definitely a book to read when you’re all warm and cozy next to a fireplace.
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares
By: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
This book took me through so many emotions and feelings and had me reading the whole thing in one day. The characters are rich and charming with a lot of depth, which is one of the most important aspects I look for in a good book. Dash and Lily were some of the most easily likeable people and extremely easy to sympathize with. All they wanted was to find someone who truly wanted to get to know them. I got so invested in their story that I once shouted “No!” in the middle of the classroom. What is really interesting with the layout, is that the chapters in Lily’s point of view were written by Rachel Cohn and the chapters in Dash’s point of view were written by David Levithan.is that Lily’s point- of- view chapters were written by Rachel Cohn, and Dash’s were written by David Levithan, which gave them more of a personality when exchanging the red notebook with each other.
This book deserves 7/10 in nostalgia, 8/10 in Christmas cheer, 9/10 in readability and 10/10 in storytelling.
The Christmas Thief
By: Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark
Although the fifth book in the series, The Christmas Thief has the ability to be read by itself. The story is told in third person omniscient and gives background on all of the characters so well that reading the previous four is not a requirement. It is a quick read of about 200 pages and kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. The plot was intriguing and allowed me to sympathize with all of the characters, by giving me access to all of their thoughts and feelings. This book definitely got me ready to put up my Christmas tree and even inspired me to do some research on how they pick the tree every year for the Rockefeller center.
I give The Christmas Thief a 6/10 in nostalgia, 8/10 in Christmas cheer, 9/10 in readability and 10/10 in storytelling. I would definitely recommend this if you are in the mood for a mystery set during the holiday season.
Let it Snow
By: John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
This book was written in three different parts with three different sets of characters that don’t line up until the end where it is revealed that all of the stories are somehow connected. Reading this made me think of how much I love snow, but of how scary it would be to be stuck in a snowstorm. It reminds me of how important it is to me to spend Christmas with my family, and how terrified I would be if I wasn’t with them. The three stories take place during the same Christmas and eventually come together where all the characters intersect and you realize that all the happy endings would not have been possible without the big snowstorm.
Due to the lovely stories that were told, this book gets 8/10 in nostalgia, 10/10 in Christmas cheer, 10/10 in readability, and 10/10 in storytelling.
Finding Her Edge
By: Jennifer Iacopelli
For variety, I threw in a sports book to read and review in case some people may not be completely interested in the straight Christmas stories. Finding Her Edge was an incredibly written example of a love triangle. I was surprised to enjoy it so much due to the fact that love triangles are not my favorite trope to read. It was also an interesting perspective on how different Olympic ice sports are viewed. While there are only characters who do some sort of ice skating with costumes and such, it was clear that some characters, especially in the main character’s family, found ice dancing to be sort of a joke and not a competitive sport.
All in all it was a beautiful and touching read and I give it 6/10 in nostalgia, 5/10 in Christmas cheer, 10/10 in readability and 9/10 in storytelling.
Love in Winter Wonderland
By: Abiola Bello
This one is by far my favorite read and definitely one I will be reading again next year as well. Love in Winter Wonderland whisked me away to Christmas in England where a locally owned bookshop is about to close. If you know me at all, you know that if books are brought into the picture, I am automatically intrigued. Reading this gave me an interesting perspective on how people react to being in love, and it offered up the idea that you can be in love in different ways. It is beautiful, charming and extremely romantic, and I love this one very much.
I give it 7/10 in nostalgia, 9/10 in Christmas cheer, 10/10 in readability and 10/10 in storytelling. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a lighthearted romance set around Christmas.