Chapter 51 - Home for Christmas

I love Christmas books at Christmas. I don't start in November, I don't read Christmas books in July (don't laugh, I know people who do). Give me cold weather, a nice fire, and a glass of wine or cup of coffee and ta-dah, I am a happy girl.

So many Christmas books are romance based which is probably my least favorite genre so I tend to stay away from them. I do like character-driven books, however, and here are some of my favorites.

The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank - What a gift Frank left us in this small but poignant book about a dysfunctional Southern family at Christmas time. The only thing matriarch, Theodora, wants is to have a Christmas like the ones she remembers from her youth. When her maid has a family emergency and sends in a relative to help out, Theodora notices her uncanny resemblance to a maid, Pearl, she had growing up. Will her feuding family, with Pearl's help, give Theodora a Christmas as she remembered?

Christmas in London by Anita Hughes - Hughes has written many Christmas books but this is one of my favorites. A unlikely but fortunate series of events lands a Manhattan baker in London to be the host of a taped Christmas baking show from London and so Louise Graham ends up spending Christmas in London. This story is a feast of food and fun!

Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan - Jenny Colgan also has quite a few Christmas books to her name but this was quite a best seller. The small Cornish coastal village which is the home to the Little Beach Street Bakery is all ready for Christmas. Ready that is, until a storm comes and cuts off the village from the mainland. Now everyone in the village must work together to make a happy holiday.

The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman - Every year at Christmas Marnie and her friends mark their calendar for their annual cookie exchange. This year it is the stories rather than the cookies which take center stage. Add to the mix some newbies to the group and this heartwarming book is sure to become a Christmas favorite.

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson - I am usually not a Patterson fan but I grabbed this one in the store one day and finished it pretty much in one sitting. Gaby Summerhill, a widow, has asked her children to join her for Christmas so they can attend her wedding. The children have no idea who their mother is marrying and she has told them they won't find out until the wedding. This is a book of family, friends, and the magic of Christmas.

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci - Journalist Tom Langdon travels from Washington to Los Angeles in time for Christmas. Forced to travel by train, he begins a journey of rude awakenings, thrilling adventures, and holiday magic. He has no idea that the characters he meets along the way will help him to heal from his own past.

Do you have a favorite Christmas book? Let me know.

Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday! I am taking off next week to enjoy my family but I'll write again January 6. Happy Reading!