I’m not much of a winter fan, much to the chagrin of my snow-loving partner. Too much sleet! Too much hidden ice! Even the pigeons under the bridge around where I live are shivering! The only way I can convince myself to go outside between November and February is helping out at my local park.
But what I do know, is that this season is one of the best times of year for new holiday releases, and what better way to stick it to Jack Frost then be curled up inside with a good book? So, I offer you three holiday titles I’ve read recently that piqued my interest, and I hope they pique yours too!
Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake
Charlotte Donovan considers the month of December cursed: red wine spills on white blouses, elevator breakdowns, and relationship detonations always seem to haunt the normally festive season. The holidays were never kind to Charlotte to begin with, with a distant mother and a penchant for watching Meet Me in St. Louis alone in the dark. Combine that with being left at the altar on a Christmas Day wedding, and Charlotte has plenty of reasons to dislike the winter months (and who can really blame her!). Now, as a classically trained musician and the de-facto leader of the Rosalind Quartet living in Manhattan, Charlotte is fine (that’s what she tells herself) with spending the holidays alone. That is, until she’s convinced (cajoled) into spending Christmas at her bandmate and friend’s Colorado home — where she comes face to face with Brighton, the woman who broke her heart five years prior, and Brighton’s date. Feelings bubble up faster than over-shaken champagne as the exes try to navigate around having to explain what broke them apart in the first place. If you are musically inclined and have a soft spot for sardonic and sapphic main characters and second-chance romance, Make the Season Bright is perfect for those who never got to experience a Hallmark movie love story of their own. Check it out here!
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
I must truly have a sweet spot for black cat/golden retriever relationships and difficult family dynamics, because we find another such case in Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot. Abby Cohen, owner and proprietor of a Vermont cafe (and, as anyone who knows, owner of some nerves of steel after working in customer service), is trapped in a predicament. As the sole Jewish person on the tourist board of her small town, she is tasked with bringing a Hanukkah Festival to fruition. So, she sends out feelers to ask for help, and who should arrive to her rescue but Seth Abrams, a perennial cafe customer who always greets Abby with a “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” (It normally isn’t, and Abby hates hearing it coming out of Seth’s irritating mouth anyways.) Seth isn’t necessarily coming to help Abby out of the kindness of his heart, however. He has a proposition: come with him to New York City as his fake date to please his nosy family for Hanukkah, and he’ll work some schmoozing magic to get Abby the vendors she desires for the festival. Abby just needs to make sure not to kill him first, which will prove more difficult than expected. Fake dating for the holidays, anyone? Elliot writes a sweet Hanukkah romcom that would sweep even the coldest person off their feet! And also, the food descriptions are to die for, which I always find to be most important in holiday fiction. Check it out here!
Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler
Here we have something different: a holiday mystery anthology of 13 stories, curated by and created for New York City’s favorite mystery-specific bookstore The Mysterious Bookshop (which I didn’t even know existed, but I’ve since added to my NYC itinerary). According to the OFFICIAL BOOKSTORE MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY RULES, each story requires three things: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind (could be alleged crime), and that it be set (at least a little bit) in the The Mysterious Bookshop. From a bottle of cognac that gets re-gifted after everyone’s taken a sip (and then filled up with water), to a nonfiction author whose mob father shows up at his book signing (what a supportive dad…), to a bunch of authors getting cursed after trying to finish Charles Dickens’ great unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood, each story isn’t just a love letter to mysteries or the holiday season, but a love letter to books and writing itself. Some are silly, some are dead serious, but there should be something for everyone! My personal favorite was “The Christmas Party“ by Jeffrey Deaver: Martin has had his septuagenarian uncle John placed under his care, who is rapidly declining but still holding on to a large amount of money. Martin and his wife Emily request John’s caretaker Carmen put him out of his misery, to…unexpected consequences. If you’re looking for a collection of holiday mysteries to grab a hold of, make sure you check it out here!
Check out these other holiday reads that have just landed in our catalog:
Need more recommendations, or wondering what other delights lie in store in our Holiday collection? Stop by the Information Desk at either of our locations or go online to cooklib.org/bookies to receive your own personalized reading list! And don’t forget to check the Library’s newsletter for all sorts of great events to keep you reading all season long.
Discover more from Cook Memorial Public Library District
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Books and More
