Since May, I’ve been in a bit of reading slump, so I didn’t get to pick up any Christmassy books before the 25th. It’s a shame because they’re one of my favourite types of books, and I look forward to reading them every year. Today, I woke up to snow in Edinburgh, so I’ve decided that it’s not too late! If you’re looking for some festive reads yourself, here are some that I hope I get to read whilst it’s still snowing.


All I Want for Christmas by Beth Garrod
Elle is a social media influencer. But sometimes online attention isn’t all it seems, so she decides to swap places with one of her followers for the holidays.
Holly LOVES Christmas more than anything else. Nothing is going to get in the way of this year being the BEST Christmas ever… Nothing!
Fat from home, will they both find all they want for Christmas?

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
Quinn and Minnie are born on New Year’s Eve, in the same hospital, one minute apart.
Their lives may begin together, but their worlds couldn’t be more different.
Thirty years later they find themselves together again in the same place, at the same time.

One Day in December by Josie Silver
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist. But then, through a misted-up bus window one freezing day, she sees a man she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away.
Laurie thinks she’ll never see the boy from the bus again. But at a party later that year, her best friend Sarah introduces her to the new love of her life. Who is, of course, the boy from the bus.
Determined to let him go, Laurie gets on with her life. But what if fate has other plans?

Someday at Christmas by Lizzie Byron
Shell Smith is a popular, larger than life make-up artist working in the beauty department at Duke & Sons, a beautiful but old-fashioned family-owned department store in her home city. While business is booming on Shell’s counter, the rest of the store is threatened with closure unless their Christmas sales take a dramatic upswing.
With Christmas Eve just around the corner, Shell will find herself in a race against time to save her job, save the department store and save herself from heartbreak.

The Six Tales of Christmas by Anne Marie Ryan
It’s almost Christmas and snow is falling in the Cotswolds. Simon and Nora are gearing up for the festive season – but their bookshop is in trouble.
Fuelled by mulled wine and mince pies, Nora and Simon hatch a plan to rouse community spirit, sending out six books to lonely villagers. The books change the recipients’ lives, but is it too late to change the bookshop’s fate?

All About Us by Tom Ellen
Ben’s always loved the holidays but with his marriage to Daphne on the rocks, this year they’re missing their usual magic. So when his old flame Alice gets back in touch, Ben can’t help wonder: did he make the right choice all those years ago?
Yet everything changes on Christmas Eve when a twinkly-eyed stranger sells Ben a mysterious watch, the hands frozen at one minute to midnight. Opening his eyes the next morning, Ben is astonished to find that he has been catapulted back to 5th December 2005: the day he first kissed Daphne, leaving Alice behind.

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It’s always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.
But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky’s parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she’ll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?

Christmas Island by Natalie Normann
Londoner Holly Greene is retreating to her brother’s rustic home on an island off the coast of Norway. Only, it’s the middle of winter and icy slush plus endless darkness isn’t exactly the cheery, festive getaway she had imagined.
Nearly stumbling off the edge of a cliff in the dark, Holly is saved by Frøy, a yellow-eyed cat of fearsome but fluffy proportions, and his owner – grouchy, bearded recluse, Tor. Tor has his own problems to face but the inexplicable desire to leave a bag of freshly baked gingerbread men on Holly’s doorstep is seriously getting in the way of his hermit routine.
Call it kindness, call it Christmas, but Holly’s arrival means midwinter has never looked less bleak.
Christmas photography by Emma Matthews
What are some of your favourite Christmas books?