Monday, November 25, 2019

8 Christian Christmas Novels on my TBR


It’s the mooooooost wonderful tiiiiiiime of the yeeeeeeear!

I get a little more excited for Christmas each year. I’m so incredibly ready to curl up in bed at 7:31pm to dive into a Christmas novel while my Nutcracker Suite CD plays softly in the background and my Christmas Spirit essential oil diffuses a few feet away. If you, too, like a good Christmas read, you just might find something on this list you’ll enjoy!



The Christmas Shoes… The first in the Christmas Hope trilogy by Donna VanLiere… You’ve likely heard the song or seen the movie but just in case you haven’t, this is the story of attorney Robert who is on the outs with his wife and children, and eight-year-old Nathan who is losing his mother to cancer. A chance meeting on Christmas Eve changes everything for both of them…  The song always rips my heart out so I’ve never even bothered to watch the movie but I’m working through some painful things and a good book-induced sob fest would probably do me some good.   

The Wedding Dress Christmas… After reading and loving The Wedding Dress I got very excited about all things Rachel Hauck. I was especially excited for this one, both for its Christmas storyline and the fact that it’s set in the south (I’m discovering I really love a good southern charm tale).

Home for Christmas… This WWII novella by Rebekah A. Morris is about a twelve-year-old girl, Susanna, who is sent to live with her relatives on a farm after her father is killed on the front lines of France and then runs away to find their old home. I’m hoping it ends, like all good your-father-was-just-killed-in-the-war stories, with her father not having been killed after all.

Jotham’s Journey… I read and loved Arnold Ytreeide’s Easter version of this book, Amon’s Adventure. This is a family-style devotional I’ve been looking forward to all year. Each morning I’ll wake up and read a short snippet about Jotham’s journey to seeing Jesus’ birth. The Easter version was just so well done! I did feel like it was too much for my little ones to be a part of yet so I’ll be reading this one by myself this year but if it’s anything like the Easter one, I’ll probably start reading it to my son in the next couple of Christmases. I also have Tabitha’s Travels and always have my eye out for Bartholomew’s Passage so I look forward to three different years of this awesome way to see the birth of Christ played out in a relatable way.

It’s a Wonderful Life… I love the movie but have never read the book. I’d like to give M.C. Bolin a try and see if the book is, as is often the case, even better than the movie. I miss George Bailey and quaint Bedford Falls so I have a feeling I will fall madly in love with this book if I can manage to get my hands on it before Christmas this year.

Love Finds you on Christmas Morning… A time-slip… oh, I love these! Two women receive marriage proposals in the same house eighty five years apart. Lillian Pickard’s story takes place in 1925… she is penniless and is being pursued by the wealthy William Tronnier. 85 years later, Nikki Tronnier moves back to North Carolina to buy back that same home… except that someone else buys it right before she can! Probably an eligible bachelor, who will probably propose a few pages before the final page.

A Royal Christmas Wedding… Another by Rachel Hauck… College volleyball star Avery Truitt heads back to Brighton in the wake of a tragedy and a blessing. Prince Colin of Brighton suddenly pushed her away five years ago and she’s ready to get the closure she’s needed all this time… but maybe Colin has other plans. Royalty stories aren’t really my jam but I liked her other book enough that I’m looking forward to this one anyway!

Secret Sister: An Amish Christmas Tale… This one sounds incredibly sad. After years of giving of herself to her family and community, Grace Beiler, an elderly Amish woman, is facing her first Christmas since losing her husband of fifty years to his battle with cancer. As she begins to reflect upon her own life, she wonders if she has properly fulfilled her promise to be a servant of God. With Christmas drawing near, her depression becomes stronger until she starts receiving little gifts in the mail and left on her doorstep. She realizes that she has a “secret sister,” but has no idea who it might be, for each gift seems to relate to different, important events in her life. Just when she thinks she might have figured out who the secret sister is, a new gift arrives with a different meaning.

So much cheesy goodness, right?! I know I can’t get to all of these this year but I’m pretty confident I’ll at least get to Jotham’s Journey, The Christmas Shoes and a The Wedding Dress Christmas along with a possible re-reading of Richard Paul Evans’ The Christmas Box… it’s been so long since I read that one I can’t actually remember what it was about, but I still feel this funny feeling in my chest when I see the cover so I know it touched me deeply.

1 comment:

Thanks so much for your comments! I always read them, don't always have time to answer quickly. Sorry about that!