Holiday Books to Read on a Cozy Night In

Holiday book recommendations are here! The sun has started setting before 5 p.m. and instead of doom-scrolling on social media, spend your evening in bed with a cup of hot chocolate and a cozy read. This month solve the murder mystery of who killed a party guest, watch a character fall in love with her brother’s best friend, learn about Mexico’s Christmas celebrations, and more. If you’re not a big reader, gift one of these books to a loved one who enjoys reading. Create a cozy reading basket filled with a couple of books, hot chocolate ingredients, a cutesy mug, and a fluffy blanket to give them the ultimate cozy night in. 

You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Toni Shiloh

Starr Lewis is forced to return home for the holidays, jobless and single—a combination that’s not ideal when seeing family after months of no visitation. It doesn’t help that she has to put on a happy front for her sister’s wedding festivities or remain calm when she runs into her ex-boyfriend. But when her brother’s best friend, Waylon Emmerson, attends Thanksgiving, Starr can't help but feel her spirits lift when he’s around. As they spend more time together, Starr must decide whether she’s ready to jump in or leave Waylon behind.

A Very Mexican Christmas

The seventh installment of the Very Christmas series, A Very Mexican Christmas celebrates the Mexican holiday spirit. The book features various writers and translators sharing how Christmas is celebrated in Mexico. It’s a cozy, delightful read, perfect for boosting your holiday spirit. The Very Christmas series also includes stories from Russian, Italian, German, Scandinavian, Irish, Indian, and French writers.

Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan

Former tobacconist and amateur detective Mordecai Tremaine arrives at Benedict Gramme’s country house in the lonely village of Sherbroome, where all the guests are partying, drinking, and dancing too much. While the energy is high, so is the tension among the guests. When the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, the partygoers discover a dead body under the tree. Mordecai steps up to solve the mystery and prevent any more murders from occurring.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

When chef Iris moves to New York City to start a new life, she finds navigating the city harder than she imagined. Walking through the streets of the Big Apple, she's reminded of the movies she used to watch with her mother, but she feels overwhelmed. Instead of retreating to her room, her best friend Bobby takes her to an autumn street fair, where she passes a family-owned gelateria that looks eerily similar to the one in her mother’s old photos. The next day, Iris visits the gelateria and meets the owner’s nephew, Gio, who tells her his uncle has fallen into a coma. Without the secret family recipe for their famous gelato, the business is in jeopardy. After tasting a sample of the gelato, Iris realizes it tastes just like her and her mother's old recipe. She offers to help Gio and his family, but things take a dramatic turn when Gio’s uncle wakes up from his coma and reveals a long-hidden secret between his family and Iris’s.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

After Carmen is laid off from her department store job, she moves into her sister Sofia’s picture-perfect home. Sofia lands Carmen a job helping restore an old bookstore for one of her clients. While Carmen would rather be doing anything else—especially living anywhere other than her sister’s house—she’s desperate. As she works at the bookshop, she stumbles upon an author who takes an interest in her. Will this be enough to lift her spirits? Will moving back home for the holidays mend her relationship with her family?