By: Georgia Free
Christmas is almost here – and there are plenty of books to help you and your family celebrate the festive season and reflect on the birth of Jesus.
We have put together a few suggestions, so grab a hot chocolate (or an iced tea), sit by the fire (or the air-conditioner) and get reading!
For kids and families
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp
Based on the overwhelming success of The Greatest Gift, Ann Voskamp has expanded her presentation of the timeless Advent tradition of the Jesse Tree so families can celebrate together.
Each day, families can read the provided Scripture passage, engage with a specially written devotion to help children of all ages understand the Advent theme for the day, and participate in suggested activities to apply the theme. A wonderful way for families to reflect on the Advent and Christmas season together.
Wombat Divine by Mem Fox
Wombat loves Christmas. He loves the cards and the candles, the presents and the pudding and most of all he loves the Nativity play.
But finding a part for Wombat is not easy. A classic Australian spin on the greatest story of all.
Christian devotionals & reflections
Emmanuel by Ruth Chou Simons
Christmas Day is not the end of our celebrations, but the beginning! Emmanuel is an invitation to rejoice in the everlasting fellowship and hope which God extended to us on the day of His Son’s birth, guiding us to realize that having God with us all year long is Christmas’s most incredible gift.
Christmas Stories by Max Lucado
These stories—like your favourite Christmas ornaments—come in various shapes and sizes. They unfold in settings from ancient Bethlehem to rural England. From a small Texas town to the heavenly realms. Others imagine Christmas through the eyes of a burned-out candle maker and a lonely businessman.
In the midst of the bustle and hurry that often distracts us this time of year, these stories free us to explore the ways in which Christ’s coming has forever changed history—and us.
A little Christmas romance…
Driving Miss Darcy by Gigi Blume
Georgia Darcy never asked to be a movie star’s little sister, but nothing will keep her from getting to her brother’s wedding on Christmas Day. Even if Mother Nature thwarts her traveling plans.
When all flights cancel, she’s unexpectedly paired with a chronically unlucky rideshare and his overly cute dog, finding that turbulence isn’t exclusive to airplanes.
Wyatt Silva, flat broke and fresh out of options, embarks on a detour road trip alongside delightfully sweet Georgia, who not only stumbles over his dog, but also into his life.
Doomed with nutty disasters of ridiculous proportions, the cockeyed couple is forced to find creative means to trek it across the country and maybe a little romance along the way.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself.
The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop–and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?
Happy reading!
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
Feature image: Photo by Dan Dumitriu on Unsplash
About the Author: Georgia Free is a broadcaster and writer from Sydney, Australia.