8 HISTORICAL HOLIDAY BOOKS TO READ THIS WINTER
At the beginning of 2020 I was so excited for the start of the year and the start of the new decade. LOL. Between the pandemic, election chaos, and freaking cancer I am very ready to curl up with a good low-stakes book with plenty of holiday magic.
Below I’ve got 11 book ideas for you to close out 2020 with maximum coziness. Eight of the books are historical, the other three are set in the modern era but are also fun. Please note that many of the books on here are romance-y and I make ZERO apologies.
Historical Holiday Books
I read this one last year as part of my research for the Storical series on Charles Dickens. If you are a massive fan of A Christmas Carol, as I am, you will LOVE this book. Dickens had a lot of angst around writing what became his best-known work (a lot of it much deserved). This book is the story of the writing of A Christmas Carol and kind of fills in the blanks for how the story and its characters were inspired. I highly recommend the audio version of this book as it has superb voice acting. Listen or read this and then check out my Storical series!
I read so many of Mimi Matthews’ books that I can’t remember the specific plot of this one, but every one of her books is delightful. She specializes in Regency and Victorian romance novels and all of them are sweet and clean. I am too much a prude for a bodice-ripper. I love Mimi Matthews so much and have been holding off on reading her newest books because I don’t want to be done.
From Goodreads: “A Courtship of Convenience
Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He’s grim and silent. A man of little emotion—or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months of courtship, she’s ready to put an end to things.
A Last Chance for Love
But severing ties with her taciturn suitor isn’t as straightforward as Sophie envisioned. Her parents are outraged. And then there’s Charles Darwin, Prince Albert, and that dratted gaslight. What’s a girl to do except invite Mr. Sharpe to Appersett House for Christmas and give him one last chance to win her? Only this time there’ll be no false formality. This time they’ll get to know each other for who they really are.”
YES.
The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter
Another Mimi Matthews! I haven’t read this one yet, it has been sitting in my TBR pile for a year so that I could have another magical Christmas read. Which worked out perfectly because I have my surgery the first week of December and have deemed this my recovery read. Read along with me!
From Goodreads: “A World-Weary Rake
After years of unbridled debauchery, Tristan Sinclair, Viscount St. Ashton has hit proverbial rock bottom. Seeking to escape his melancholy, he takes refuge at one of Victorian society’s most notorious house parties. As the Christmas season approaches, he prepares to settle in for a month of heavy drinking…until an unexpected encounter changes his plans—and threatens his heart.”
Recovery is going to be so great!
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories
The editors of this anthology scoured Victorian periodicals to find the very best Christmas ghost stories. Victorians loved their ghosts! There are three volumes in this series with authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, raging spiritualist, and Elizabeth Gaskell, writer extraordinaire and BFF to Charlotte Bronte!
Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker
Gregory Maguire is the author of Wicked and he’s back at it revamping classic stories with this take on The Nutcracker. I am a huuuuge fan of The Nutcracker Ballet, I 100% watched the New York City Ballet Nutcracker video that featured Macauley Culkin, on repeat. This sounds promising!
Who doesn’t love Hercule Poirot and Agatha Christie?! If you need a little murder with your holiday cheer, Agatha Christie has you covered. From Goodreads:
“the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder — and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.”
If you like war stories AND Christmas, then here’s a book for you. From Goodreads:
“August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…” dun dun DUN. It sounds like Evie and Thomas are ill-fated lovers but I haven’t read this one yet so I will have to see!
Georgette Heyer was an English novelist who was the Queen of Regency Romance novels which are my favorite thing this year because they are so wholesome and happy and I cannot stress this enough, LOW STAKES.
This is a collection of Regency stories including three that were discovered after her death. I haven’t read this year so I don’t know if it’s holiday themed but it has snow in the title so holiday it is!
Contemporary Holiday Romance Books
I liked this book because it featured an older woman finding love. Love is not just for the young! The main character accompanies her daughter to England as she’s been hired to do makeup for a Duchess. She then ends up having a holiday romance with the secretary to the Queen.
This was part of Reese Witherspoon’s book club last year and I enjoyed listening to the audiobook on a drive down to Portland. The main character falls in love with someone she sees outside as her bus is leaving. Over the course of 10 years they have lots of missed opportunities to get together. The premise is absurd, but I enjoyed it.
I don’t need to sell you on this one. The book is infinity times better/funnier than the movie which is also perfect. Do yourself a service and get the audiobook version narrated by Imogen Church. You’re welcome.
I have my surgery the first week of December, so I’ll definitely be sitting down with a few of these. Let me know which ones you’re reading!