Tis the Season for Holiday Reading

Winter Story by Jill Barklem is a part of the Brambly Hedge series. I adore these sweet picture books. The pages are full of beautiful art that portray a village of mice living in a Brambly Hedge. They work hard to put away enough food for the winter and manage to celebrate any time they can. The pictures are rich with full larders, cozy fires, cuddly quilts – exactly how I want my home to be. In Winter Story, the mice celebrate a rare snowstorm with a Snow Ball!

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley is one of those books that pulled me out of a reading slump. Set in Victorian London, Thaniel finds a gold pocket watch in his tiny apartment that ends up saving his life. From there, we meet Mori, a Japanese immigrant who creates the most exquisite timepieces (think steampunk creatures). Mori reminded me of a toymaker, which is why this comes to mind when I think of Christmas books.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is another that’s not especially set during the holiday, but it’s a great one to devour under a cozy blanket with a hot cup of coffee at your side. I think the narrator is unnamed in this novel? Because I can’t remember it or find it anywhere — but the narrator attends a Liberal Arts college in Vermont and is drawn to an elite group of Classics students who are some of the worst people you’ll ever meet. This one goes into the Holidays category for me because, if I remember correctly, it’s over the course of an entire topsy-turvy year. And what I remember most is about how the main character lived in an apartment with nearly no insulation and almost froze to death, which screams the holidays to me. You too? (And I’m thinking I might need to read it again because I’m realizing that I remember very little about it!)