A Bookish Life In AK

I love Christmas books almost as much as I love the Hallmark Christmas movies.

We had a great Thanksgiving with a few friends over. My wonderful honey made ham, sweet potato casserole, bacon wrapped duck, and delicious Parker house rolls. He also made an incredible pecan pie using Paul Hollywood’s recipe. Then the fun began, DECORATING TIME!! I love to put up our Christmas tree. All the memories the ornaments hold, all of the “Baby’s First Christmas’s,” the yearly ornament that’s picked by the family, and all the one’s that my husband and I pick out together. With all the Christmas movies playing in the background.

I figure with it being after Thanksgiving, I can tell you all about a few of the Christmas books I’ve been reading, as well as the ones on my to be read list. There are as many Christmas books as there are movies. I’ve been on a mission to read as many as possible. I think I’ve managed 1-2 a week in November. I will include my affiliate links with the books.

Jenny Colgan– I came across Jenny Colgan last year with the book, “The Christmas Bookshop” and fell in live with her writing. This year I read “Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe” and it was so wonderful. In England, Issy is the owner and operator of the Cupcake Cafe with her friends, Pearl and Caroline. Her boyfriend Austin is in New York being offered a job. Austin’s potential bosses invite his little brother and Issy over for a few days to see how they like it. Issa leaves Pearl in charge and there is chaos and problems. Pearl has her own set of problems as does Caroline. There is a book before this one called “Meet Me at Cupcake Cafe” but you really don’t need to read it before to enjoy this book. Reading this made me feel like I was with friends in the cafe. There are some delicious recipes at the beginning of the chapters, albeit they are in European measurements, all you’d need is a kitchen scale to follow. Her newest book, “Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop.” I have it downloaded on my Hoopla app read to go on Monday to listen to while I am at work. My only critique is that there is some swearing in her books though. https://amzn.to/47uHzdo

Richard Paul Evans– I read “The Mistletoe Inn” last year and saw that it was part of a series,”The Mistletoe Collection.” The 3 books are part of a set but the characters are all different. This year I read “The Mistletoe Promise.” This has been made into a movie if you’re interested. Elise and Nick work in the same building. Elise works in a travel office for students and Nick is a lawyer. Two months before Christmas Nick comes up with an idea, The Mistletoe Promise, the two of them can do things all Christmas season, parties, shows, travel and so on, there are only 3 rules: No Drama, No deep questions, and it is only a platonic relationship. As the Christmas season goes on, they each start to develop feelings. But, this isn’t a sweet love story, there is a backstory of divorce, infidelity and lying. Elise and Nick both have a history that they are trying to hide. But the ending is so unexpected and perfect. https://amzn.to/47Qb09C

Anne Kemp– I was introduced to Anne Kemp this summer and have had the privilege of being on the ARC team for a couple of her books now. The latest one, “The Art of Falling in Love with the Movie Star (Again)” was fantastic. Spencer is a movie start and his soon to be ex-wife Amelia have been trying to start a new life in Sweetkiss Creek, but it’s hard when you are always in Hollywood making movies. Amelia has been living in Sweetkiss Creek, making friends, setting up a campground and helping friends out. When Amelia’s aunt dies, she leaves the both of them an RV that they have to drive back and have a scavenger hunt on their way back. Along the way they figure out where things went wrong and where they could improve. Having read several of Anne’s “Falling in Love” books, the characters felt like friends that you want to hang out with. Anne has quickly become one of those authors that I will always read when she has a new book out. Her books are sweet, closed-door romance. https://amzn.to/3sUeJEb

Virginia’dele Smith– I ended up signing up for an Advanced Reader Copy of Smith’s “Undeveloped Love.” I was pleasantly surprised. It was sweet romance about a new to the area realtor, Blake Fischer and the owner of Twin Oaks, Hudson Sharp. Blake is trying to buy a parcel of land from Hudson and she is not being successful. He is stubborn but so is she. Hudson has a plan but will Blake go for it? Hudson’s triplet brothers get involved and so does their past.This is book 5 in the “Davenports” series, you don’t need to read the others to jump win to this. https://amzn.to/47B57gU

John Grisham– I love “Christmas With Kranks.” It is possibly my favorite Christmas movie. I recently found out that it was a book written by John Grisham. I was honestly shocked that the famous crime writer wrote a Christmas book! I finally got around to reading this past week, and I love it. The movie follows it pretty decently, so if you’ve seen the movie, you know how the book goes. Luther and Nora Frank’s only daughter, Blair, leaves to serve in the Peace Corps in Peru. Luther and Nora are now empty nesters, this maybe why it is now my favorite. Luther wonders how much they spend on Christmas and decides that he and Nora will skip Christmas and take a cruise instead. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book considering I don’t normally like his books, maybe I should look into reading a few of them.https://amzn.to/49VQbew

I am so close to reaching 52 books read this year, I had a goal of only 25 because I thought I would be taking classes but decided to read and write instead. I am sitting here next to a stack of Debbie Macomber, Jenny Hale, and a couple different Richard Paul Evans books. If I finish them before the New Year, I will do a review of them. I hope that you enjoy these suggestions. If you have any others, leave them in the comments below.

Prayers and Blessings, Becky

I have set the LORD always before me:
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope.