I’ve finished two books on my holiday TBR! The first was this one:
A sleeper train full of passengers heading home for Christmas… the trail gets derailed, stranding them in the snow, and there are one… two… and then three dead bodies. Ooh!
I enjoyed this. It was a fun mystery, the writing was fine, and the characters were interesting. My only complaint would be, because these people are ON A TRAIN, there’s actually not a lot of Christmas-y activities. Like they’re obviously not decorating trees and baking cookies. Hoping for a little more details on Christmas festivities, I moved on to this:
Sophie Appersett is the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, and her parents are hoping for her to marry Ned, a wealthy merchant. The problem is, they don’t like each other… OR DO THEY? Ned is invited to Appersett House for Christmas, to see if the couple can learn to like each other.
It’s a romance, so gee, I wonder what’s going to happen??? As you may know, I never read romances, but my goal was to read one this year- mission accomplished! This book was just fine. I liked it! There was lots of decorating for Christmas, snowy walks, and of course, mistletoe. The only thing is- wouldn’t it have been even better if someone had been found stabbed to death in the library? Then Sophie and Ned could have solved the murder together! Ha ha- I’m glad I read this, but I’ll stick to mysteries from now on.
Speaking of which! Next up:
And, I’ve put two more books on hold at the library- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (although Nicole warned me it’s sad) and another book by Alexandra Benedict, The Christmas Murder Game. These shorter, lighter books are really working for me right now- I just don’t have the brainpower to read anything complicated in November.
Do you have any recommendations for my holiday TBR?
Top photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash
25 Responses
I’ve never done holiday reading, what a great idea! short stories would work for me as I just don’t have more than 20 min to read now. please share if you find one that you like.
There’s a whole book of short Christmas mysteries- I almost bought it last time I was in Barnes and Noble. If I run out of other holiday books I may go back and get it!
” The only thing is- wouldn’t it have been even better if someone had been found stabbed to death in the library? ” Hahahaha – yes, Jenny, I relate to this so hard. A few years ago I checked out a big pile of holiday books to amp up the Christmas spirit and then there was not enough murder so I haven’t done that again. If you find any good crossovers let me know!
Okay- I have high hopes for The Christmas Murder Game- I’ll report back!
IT IS VERY SAD JENNY.
I just read a book called A Home For The Holidays and I thought it would be a super cosy rom-com. Well. It started with an alcoholic mother dying two weeks before Christmas. But I soldiered on and it did have a nice message, etc., and in the acknowledgements the author said that she wrote it while grieving her mother who died in 2022. Maybe I now need to read that Victorian Christmas novella!
Yes, this one will cheer you up! Nothing sad in there at all. Well- I know Small Things Like These is short, at least. So if it’s sad it won’t be for too long. WHY am I determined to read this book??? I don’t know.
“The only thing is- wouldn’t it have been even better if someone had been found stabbed to death in the library?” This is HILARIOUS! Haha.
I don’t generally read holiday fiction but I did pick up a book yesterday at the library. Stay tuned. I can’t even remember what it’s called.
A few years ago I listened to an audio recording of A Christmas Carol and LOVED it. So I’d kinda like to do that again this year?
I agree that part of what would make a book about Christmas appealing is lots of holiday activities which are…kinda hard to do on a train. I’m trying to imagine passengers crowding into a galley kitchen to make sugar cookies.
I was one of the few people who didn’t love Small Things Like These. It’s a novella so it’s short, but I wanted a bit more resolution. I realize the lack was part of the point, though.
Hmm. Well- since it’s short I’m going to give it a shot. I’m pretty sure it will be well-written, which will be good because otherwise I’m afraid my brain will turn to mush, with all the lighter books I’ve been reading.
I was going to pull the same quote as Suzanne did! lol. I am glad you enjoyed some Christmasy reads! I tend to read Christmas books in Jan/feb because that is when they become available. I wish I could read them during Nov/dec but I never quite plan it right! There are so many Christmas romances and rom coms!
I just finished ‘Slanting Towards the Sea’ which is set in Croatia. The author is Croatian and wrote it in English which blew my mind!!!
Yes- I can’t even imagine being that fluent in a second language! And- Christmas book sin January would make me sad.
Wouldn’t it have been better if they’d found a body, stabbed to death in the library? Bah ha ha. Well said. I had no idea there were so many Christmas-y books with trains and murder out there in the world. I don’t have any recommendations for me, but I’m glad you are enjoying short, holiday themed reads.
Yes, this new one starts on a train as well! They’re off the train now though and traipsing through the snow to an abandoned manor house… so far, so good.
LOL to the convo here about not enough holiday murder– hahahahaha
I mean- what’s better than a Christmas murder??? Nothing!
Small Things is also a wonderful audiobook on Libby with Irish accent to make it authentic!
It’s probably really good on audio- i never listen to audio books though (don’t ask me why) and I have a hold on the print version.
I have so much admiration for you that you read seasonally appropriate books! I cannot be bothered with that much planning!
This is the first year I’ve really been able to pull it together. In previous years I’ve just kind of wished I were reading more Christmas-y books, but I finally decided to make it happen.
I think I can see the picture now, Jenny: All 5 books that you brought up in this blog post set around Dec 25. “Murder on the Christmas Express” is a mystery book that fits your criteria. It just doesn’t have a lot of Christmas-y activities. “A Holiday by Gaslight” does have a lot of Christmas-y activities, but it’s in a genre that you never read. But you did set a goal this year to read one book in that genre, hence mission accomplished. You’ll be able to evaluate the other 3 books after you finish reading them.
As for my recommendations, my answers are essentially the same as they are to the blog post “Books!” that you wrote on October 28 of this year, Jenny. I’ve actually come to realize that you really are in need to find a lot of this category of books to read and that you’re in need to find them right away. I just don’t think I’ll be able to help you with that. My standards for selecting books to read are just not the same as my standards for selecting books to recommend. Sorry about that.
I understand! And, you really assessed my situation perfectly.
ooh.. have you read In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer Fleming? It’s a mystery set around Christmas time, with a slow burn romance in it – so yeah they do fall in love while investigating a murder. This is the first book and it starts with a retired Army Helicopter pilot turned minister finding a baby on the doorstep of her church and the Police chief who helps her solve the mystery of why the baby was left. I love the whole series.
YESSSS! I actually love your comment about finding a body in the library for the romance novella, LOL!!! Also, I picked up a library hold/Christmas mystery called “Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife” so I’m extra laughing right now 🙂
Speaking of … I’ve just posted a list of “mErry not mArry” Christmas book recommendations on the blog 😉
I read a lot of Christmas books but they are usually romance. I never knew there is such a thing as mystery Christmas books. I have added the first one on my list.
I have no recommendation other than look at my blog post: https://www.craftaliciousme.com/my-christmas-book-collection/ ?
Yay, you read a romance! Great job!
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year would be my holiday book recommendation, but it’s part-romance, part-mystery.
Small Things Like These is sad, but ultimately not, I think. I adored it.