What to Read in December (2024)

We’ll start with my Christmas recommendations, which won’t be tremendously different from last year’s.

A Christmas Carol, Charles DickensHonest Advent, Scott EricksonHow to Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. SeussThe Polar Express, Chris Van AllsburghLittle Women, Louisa May AlcottThe Christmas Pig, J. K. Rowling“The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Here are some of the Christmas/holiday books that I haven’t yet read, but that I’m planning to read some day. Maybe not this year. So many books, so little time!

Afterward, Edith WhartonThe Life and Times of Santa Claus, Frank L. BaumMr. Dickens and His Carol, Samantha SilvaWishin’ and Hopin’, Wally LambHiddensee, Gregory MaguireComfort and Joy, Kristin HannahCelebrations, Maya AngelouHolidays on Ice, David SedarisWinter Street, Elin Hildebrand“Christmas Trees,” Robert Frost

But if you don’t just want to sit around reading holiday-related books for the next month, there are also some new books that will be hitting the shelves in time for gifting (or gifting to yourself while you have a second to read).

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, Sangu MandannaHeartstopper Vol. 6 (Heartstopper #6), Alice Oseman (which will be the final installment)Cabin, Patrick HutchisonRental House, Weike WandWind and Truth (Stormlight Archive #5), Brandon SandersonThe Rivals (Claudia Lin #2), Jane PekRoland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet, Samantha AllenThe Voyage Home (The Women of Troy #3), Pat Barker

I also just bought my daughter the first book of the Murdle series for her 20th birthday. She sat right down after cake and started solving murder-riddles. The books are on front tables in book stores everywhere, right now. And just so you don’t think it’s just another Mensa-like book, there is a story that unfolds in the puzzles, one that develops over the volumes of the book. I don’t know how novel-y the story is, but it is there. Also, there is a website where you can solve a Murdle puzzle, do a a Mini Murdle, or join the Detective Club.

Murdle, Volume 1., G. T. KarberMurdle: More Killer Puzzles, G. T. KarberMurdle: Even More Killer Puzzles, G. T. KarberMurdle: The Case of the Seven Skulls, G. T. KarberMurdle: The School of Mystery, G. T. Karber

I have also had a few titles recommended to me this past week. Probably you have heard of them. The first is from a couple at my sci-fi/fantasy book club. The other three require short exposition: I read a cozy this week. A Christmas cozy. This is not normally my genre but it was for a book club, one that does not normally read cozies. So it was either an accident or this club likes to read a cozy now and then, or maybe for the holiday party. You’ll get a review soon, but the thing is that I hated the writing. It was so bad. But I thoroughly enjoyed taking a mental and emotional reading break. Which made me turn to some reading peeps last night and ask, “Do you know of any cozies with respectable writing? Like Emily Henry is to romance.” These are the three possible answers I was given last night. Not sure if any of them truly count as a cozy, but we have heard things…

If you have any suggestions for this, please let me know in a comment.

A Deadly Education (Scholomance #1), Naomi NovikHis Majesty’s Dragon (Termeraire #1), Naomi NovikThe Spellshop, Sarah Beth DurstPiranesi, Susanna ClarkThe House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune

This is is short because half my clubs don’t meet during the holidays. The other half parties together. One of these books is not usual for my book clubs, but here we go a wassailing…

The Book Club Hotel, Sarah MorganSame Bed, Different Dreams, Ed ParkWhiteout, Clayton, Jackson and Stone

Trail of Lightning (Sixth World #1), Rebecca RoanhorseGiovanni’s Room, James BaldwinWe Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley JacksonStraight Out of Brooklyn (Miles Morales: Spider-Man Vol. 1), Saladin Ahmed

The movies to watch this season, beginning with the new ones. I can’t say much for those four movies at the top, but the rest of them are my top recommendations, the movies I watch year after year. (Yes, there are a lot.) About the first half are my most favorite.

Red One (2024)The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (2024)An Almost Christmas Story (2024)Elf (2003)A Christmas Story (1983)The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)Love, Actually (2001)Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)Arthur Christmas (2011)Klaus (2019)Spirited (2022)Home Alone (1990)It’s a Wonderful Life (1996)Miracle on 34th Street (1947)Last Holiday (2006)Four Christmases (2008)Christmas with the Kranks (2004)Edward Scissorhands (1990)While You Were Sleeping (1995)Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939)A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)Scrooged (1988)Rise of the Guardians (2012)The Grinch (2018)The Christmas Chronicles (2018)Jingle Jangle (2020)Violent Night (2022)Last Christmas (2019)A Boy Called Christmas (2021)The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)Family Switch (2023)