Chapter 50 - The Twelve Days of Christmas

Unlike what many businesses seem to think, The Twelve Days of Christmas are the days between Christmas and Epiphany on January 6. Epiphany is the day when the wise men brought gifts to the Christ child. While in Elizabethan England a royal celebration might go on for all twelve days, today that is probably not do-able. One of the more imaginative ways of celebrating these cold, gray days of winter is to give a gift for each day. What could be better than giving a book for each day? A used book store is the way to go if you are thinking about this as the books will be much less expensive that way.

Here is a list of genres and books to share for the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Day 1 - Historical Fiction - There are so many books to choose from here but let's go with the Elizabethan theme and grab The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory. It is a book of court intrigue, mystery, and murder.

Day 2 - Literary Fiction - Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf. Haruf's books take place in fictional Holt, Colorado and while he is best known for Plainsong, a finalist as a National Book Award, this book is sweet, poignant and short. It will compel you to read more Haruf.

Day 3 - Memoir - It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs. I first learned of this book this summer as it was in a curated group of paperbacks sent by our book distributor. Later, I came upon a hardback copy and decided to read it. Jacobs received a strange email telling him he was someone's eighth cousin. That started him on his journey to uncover his genealogy. His experiences are both amusing and revealing.

Day 4 - Historical Fiction - Yes, I know I used this category before but...there is just so much good Historical Fiction out there and this book takes place in a totally different time period. The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman takes place between La Belle Epoque and World War II as the book moves seamlessly back and forth between the two.

Day 5 - Suspense - The Other Woman by Sandie Jones. Emily thinks she has found the perfect man in Adam but his mother hates her. Emily is as determined to keep Adam as his mom is to get rid of her. Who wins? You need to read the book to find out.

Day 6 - Mystery/Thriller - The Dry by Jane Harper. Aaron Falk goes back to the town where he grew up because his best friend and his family were murdered. While there, Falk, an Australian federal agent, is asked by the family of the victim to help the local police investigate. This book is a great start to a series by Harper.

The next six books to finish out the twelve days of Christmas will be in next week's blog. Until then you can purchase these or other books at www.bookendsonline.com.