Five Festive Favourites

It thought I would do something a bit different this Friday before Christmas and discuss my Five Favourite Festive books that I like to read on the run up to Christmas day. Some of them are a little unusual of course there is a good splash of Sci-fi and Fantasy in there but hopefully you will find a read or two that you might not have heard of before.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot #20

I have said it time and time again there is nothing quite like a cosy mystery in the cold long winter nights and an old favourite like Hercule Poirot is perfect. You can jump into any of the Poirot mysteries as they are all standalone mysteries so you don’t have to worry about missing anything of spoiling anything. There is also The short story collection The Adventures of the Christmas pudding with had several Poirot mini Mysteries and one from Ms Marple or the new bind up Midwinter Murders that has a selection of wintery tales from all her various detectives (My recent review).

The Chronicles of St Mary’s Christmas Short Stories
Jodi Taylor

The Chronicles of St Mary’s

Ok these are not in an official bind up but they are availible in the two short story collections or as little individual ebooks. Jodi Taylor lovingly releases short stories on Christmas day (there is a new one releasing this year that I am excited for) and they are just great fun. They usually follow our favourite trio, Maxwell, Peterson and Markham getting into some kind of Festive trouble that always has a lovely Christmassy ending. These are great little cheap and fast reads to fit in amongst all the hubbub of cooking, cleaning, Christmas movies, cake etc. Perfect for stealing 20 minutes to yourself and feel all Festive.

A Very Scalzi Chrsitmas
John Scalzi

Short story collection

Yes another short story collection. I adore Scalzi’s writing and his humour, and his shorts and just jam packed with laughs. Previous short stories of his were turned into cartoons in Netflix’s Love, Death, Robots and they are both adorable and funny. This collection released last Christmas is the exact same. I honestly recommend the audio book as it is full cast and it had some fantastically funny out of the box thinking. (My Review)

Hogfather
Terry Prachett

Discworld #20

Terry Prachett had a way with words that is enviable, the Hogfather is one of my favourite reads as it perfectly captures, at least the British, Festive season in all its glory. It was the first Discworld book I ever read. I have the Sky mini series adaption on DVD and for me it has become a quintessential Christmas movie. I recently was gifted the Gorgeous naked hardback Gollancz Collectors edition and I am aiming to start my re-read tonight. Again its one filled with humour and joy.

The Night Before Christmas
Clement Clarke Moore

I have this very edition, so does my mum and my sister, This is because it is a tradition in my family to sit and read this book before going to sleep on Christmas eve. When I was young we used to all sit in the Living room with the tree and read the poem before going back and looking at all the illustrations, It is a very detailed book with lots of hidden gems to spot under all the tabs. When we moved out and went on with out own lives my mum gifted us a book so we can keep the tradition alive. It is packed away with my Christmas decorations and is proudly displayed every year. I still read it every Christmas eve and I will be doing it this year too. For me this is a special book and it means it really is Christmas!

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So these are my Festive favourites. Do you have any books you love to read/reread this time of year?

I would love to chat all things bookish with you! You can comment down below or find me on Twitter or Goodreads!

Happy Reading!