Merry Christmas!
(—or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate Christmas 😊.)
It’s been a minute since I’ve done a tag post, so I was thrilled when Jess from Comfort Reads tagged me in this holiday-themed, Christmas Stocking Tag. If you’re like me and like to choose your reads according to the season, you’ll enjoy this tag because the seven questions essentially translate to seven wintry book recommendations. Thanks for tagging me, Jess 😁!
PICK A BOOK WITH A WINTRY COVER
Revival by Tim Seeley
Goodreads Description:
For one day in rural central Wisconsin, the dead came back to life. Now it’s up to Officer Dana Cypress to deal with the media scrutiny, religious zealots, and government quarantine that has come with them. In a town where the living have to learn to deal with those who are supposed to be dead, Officer Cypress must solve a brutal murder, and everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.
The cover of the first issue of the Revival comic is an accurate representation of the chilling story awaiting inside. If you’re bitter and over the season of friends and family, need to cram quick reads to meet your annual reading goal before the year ends, or just have a penchant for reading horror stories in the winter, this is a great series to look into.
PICK A BOOK YOU’RE LIKELY TO BUY AS A PRESENT
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Goodreads Description:
Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.
I read The Alchemist a few years back after it was recommended to me by my brother, and it’s a story that’s stayed with me since. Its short length makes it the ideal gift for hustling friends who could use the encouragement and wisdom of an elderly Brazilian man.
PICK A FESTIVE THEMED BOOK
Let it Snow by Jon Green and Maureen Johnson
Goodreads Description:
Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks.kk
Let It Snow was the first book I finished this year. Although it’s a Christmas romance, it was a pleasant tale to read well after the 25th and perfectly wrapped up my 2017 holiday season.
PICK A BOOK YOU CAN CURL UP WITH BY THE FIREPLACE
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Goodreads Description:
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
Honestly, any fantasy book is perfect for curling up by the fireplace. There’s something comforting about delving into an unfamiliar, enchanting world while hiding away from our own basic, magic-less reality. The world in An Ember in the Ashes was entertaining to discover this year and is great for fantasy fans who want to branch out from the typical Eurocentric lore of the fantasy genre.
PICK A BOOK YOU WANT TO READ OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Goodreads Description:
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders… but her father isn’t a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed–and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.
But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.
I’m actually currently reading Spinning Silver. It’s been difficult to make progress though due to the busy time of year, but I’m intrigued so far!
PICK A BOOK THAT’S SO GOOD IT GIVES THE CHILLS
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Goodreads Description:
In the village of King’s Abbot, a widow’s sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secret affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study–but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow’s blackmailer. King’s Abbot is crawling with suspects, including a nervous butler, Ackroyd’s wayward stepson, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, who has taken up residence in the victim’s home. It’s now up to the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who has retired to King’s Abbot to garden, to solve the case of who killed Roger Ackroyd–a task in which he is aided by the village doctor and narrator, James Sheppard, and by Sheppard’s ingenious sister, Caroline.
One of my standing reading goals is to read all of Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels. Of all the Poirot mysteries I have read so far, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had the most unique narrative and unsuspecting plot twist. It’s not necessary to read the other books in the series to understand the story, but I do think it would be worthwhile to read a couple before to better appreciate the differences between The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and other Poirot novels.
PICK A BOOK GOING ON YOUR CHRISTMAS WISH LIST
Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis
Goodreads Description:
Charles Schulz, the most widely syndicated and beloved cartoonist of all time, is also one of the most misunderstood figures in American culture. Now, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis gives us the first full-length biography of Schulz: at once a creation story, a portrait of a hidden American genius, and a chronicle contrasting the private man with the central role he played in shaping the national imagination. The son of a barber, Schulz was born in Minnesota to modest, working class roots. In 1943, just three days after his mother′s tragic death from cancer, Schulz, a private in the army, shipped out for boot camp and the war in Europe. The sense of shock and separation never left him. And these early experiences would shape his entire life.
With Peanuts, Schulz embedded adult ideas in a world of small children to remind the reader that character flaws and childhood wounds are with us always. It was the central truth of his own life, that as the adults we′ve become and as the children we always will be, we can free ourselves, if only we can see the humour in the predicaments of funny-looking kids. Schulz′s Peanuts profoundly influenced the country in the second half of the 20th century. But the strip was anchored in the collective experience and hardships of Schulz′s generation-the generation that survived the Great Depression and liberated Europe and the Pacific and came home to build the post-war world.
In perhaps the biggest bookish plot twist this year, I got really into the Peanuts comics. I don’t know how to explain this except for that the kid characters reeled me in with their tiny bodies, big heads, and melancholic humor. At the end of the first volume that I read, there was a beautifully written excerpt of a biography about Schulz that got me with the last couple of lines, and now I need to read the whole novel:
At 9:45 p.m., just hours before the final “Peanuts” strip appeared in Sunday newspapers around the world, Charles Schulz died — his life entwined to the very end with his art. As soon as he ceased to be a cartoonist, he ceased to be.
Belle Can Read 