Christmas Books: The Best Books to Read This Holiday Season
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Right, so Christmas books. This is a topic I’ve been genuinely excited to write about because it deserves its own dedicated post rather than a few mentions tucked into the December list. Christmas books are a whole world. There are the classics everyone knows. The brilliant modern ones that deserve far more attention. There are perfect gift editions and children’s books that adults secretly love more than the children do. And there are books that capture the feeling of Christmas so completely that reading them becomes part of the season itself. So here’s my attempt at a proper Christmas book list. Pull up a chair, make something warm to drink, and let’s get into it.
Why Christmas Books Are Their Own Special Category
Books and Christmas have always belonged together. The tradition of giving books as Christmas gifts goes back centuries. The Victorians practically invented the modern Christmas book with their annual gift books and illustrated editions. And there’s something about the combination of long dark evenings, enforced togetherness, and the particular magic of the season that makes reading feel especially right.
There’s even a wonderful Icelandic tradition called Jólabókaflóð, which translates as the Christmas Book Flood. In Iceland, books are traditionally given on Christmas Eve, and people spend the evening reading them. It’s one of the most civilised Christmas traditions I’ve ever heard of, and it’s worth adopting wherever you are in the world.
The Publishers Weekly Christmas books coverage and The Guardian’s Christmas books supplement both publish annual round-ups that are worth reading for gift ideas and new discoveries.
The Absolute Classics: Christmas Books Everyone Should Read Once
Some Christmas books have become so embedded in the culture that they’re almost invisible. We think we know them because we’ve seen the adaptations. But actually reading them, often for the first time as an adult, is a completely different experience.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is the one that started it all in many ways. Published in 1843, it created a template for the modern Christmas story that storytellers are still following nearly two centuries later. The original novella is short, strange, funny, and genuinely moving. It’s also much darker than most adaptations suggest. Scrooge isn’t just grumpy. He’s a man who has allowed fear and grief to hollow him out completely. Reading it properly, rather than watching it, is always worth doing. Free on Project Gutenberg or buy a beautiful illustrated edition on Amazon.
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry is a short story rather than a full book, but it’s one of the most perfect pieces of Christmas writing ever produced. Two young people in poverty each sell their most precious possession to buy a Christmas gift for the other. It takes about fifteen minutes to read, and it will stay with you. Free on Project Gutenberg or included in most O. Henry collections available on Amazon.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott opens at Christmas, and the early chapters have a warmth and intimacy that capture the season perfectly. If you’ve only seen the film adaptations, the novel goes deeper into the March family and their world in ways that are really worth experiencing. Free on Project Gutenberg or buy it on Amazon.
Modern Christmas Classics That Deserve That Status
Beyond the Victorian originals, there are more recent books that have earned genuine classic status through sheer quality and staying power. These are the Christmas books that people return to year after year.
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs is a picture book, but it belongs on this list without apology. The wordless story of a boy and his snowman, who comes to life, is one of the most emotionally powerful Christmas stories in any format. The animated film adaptation airs on Channel 4 in the UK every Christmas and has been on since 1982. The book itself is quietly extraordinary. Buy it on Amazon here.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham is a slight departure from his usual thrillers. It’s a comedy about a couple who decide to skip Christmas entirely and what happens when they try. It’s funny and warm and was adapted into the film Christmas with the Kranks. The book is better. Available on Amazon here.
The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston is a children’s novel, but it works beautifully for adults. A small boy goes to stay with his grandmother in an ancient house and encounters the children who lived there centuries before. It’s atmospheric, magical, and absolutely perfect for reading aloud by a fire at Christmas. Find it on Amazon here.
Christmas Novels With Real Literary Weight
Some Christmas books are more than just festive reads. They use the season as a setting or a backdrop for stories that are genuinely substantial. These are the Christmas books that you’d recommend to someone even in July.
The Dead by James Joyce is a short story from Dubliners, set at a Christmas party in early twentieth-century Dublin. It builds slowly and quietly to one of the most celebrated endings in all of English literature. Gabriel Conroy, standing at the window looking out at the falling snow, is one of literature’s great images. Free on Project Gutenberg as part of Dubliners, or buy a standalone edition on Amazon.
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett is a Discworld novel set at the Discworld equivalent of Christmas. It’s funny and satirical, and, underneath all of that, genuinely profound about why stories, rituals, and belief matter to human beings. It also features Death as a major character, which sounds alarming but is actually delightful. Buy it on Amazon here.
The Box of Delights by John Masefield is an early twentieth-century children’s novel about a boy who embarks on a magical adventure over the Christmas holidays. The BBC adaptation from 1984 is a British institution. The book is richer, stranger, and more wonderful than even that adaptation suggests. Available on Amazon here.
Christmas Books for Children That Adults Will Love
Some of the best Christmas writing ever done is technically for children. There’s no good reason adults should miss out on it. Reading these aloud to children, or quietly to yourself, is one of the genuine pleasures of the season.
The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien is a collection of letters that Tolkien wrote to his children every year, supposedly from Father Christmas, complete with illustrations and stories from the North Pole. They’re charming and funny and full of that particular Tolkien magic. Buy it on Amazon here.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss is one of the great American Christmas books, and the rhymes are so satisfying to read aloud that it works just as well for adults as children. The message that Christmas is about something more than things lands differently as you get older. Available on Amazon here.
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg is a picture book with extraordinary illustrations. A boy takes a mysterious train journey to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. The atmosphere is dreamlike and beautiful. It works for all ages. Find it on Amazon here.
Christmas Reads From Around the World
Christmas is celebrated very differently across the world, and it’s worth reading beyond the Anglo-American tradition. Other cultures have their own winter and festive stories that are just as rich and often more surprising.
Seven Nights by Jorge Luis Borges is a collection of lectures on literature, mythology, and the imagination. It includes a beautiful essay on the nature of fairy tales that feels perfect for Christmas. It’s not a Christmas book exactly, but it has that quality of making the world feel larger and more magical. Buy it on Amazon here.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, which came up in the January list, is set in Alaska and draws on a Russian fairy tale about a child made of snow who comes to life. It’s the kind of book that feels universally wintery rather than specifically Christmas. It’s beautiful, and it works for readers from any tradition. Available on Amazon here.
A Karate Christmas Miracle by Bethan Woollvin is a newer picture book that subverts Christmas expectations with humour and charm. Good for anyone who wants something a little different under the tree. Find it on Amazon here.
Beautiful Gift Editions Worth Buying
December is when the beautiful book editions come into their own. Books as objects, as things of beauty, as gifts that feel considered and lasting. Here are some options at different price points.
The Folio Society produces illustrated hardback editions of classics that are genuinely gorgeous. Their Christmas titles sell out quickly, so it’s worth looking early. They’re an investment, but they’re the kind of books that sit on shelves for decades.
Penguin’s Clothbound Classics are a more affordable, beautiful option. The cloth-covered spines and illustrated covers make them feel special without the Folio Society price tag. A clothbound edition of A Christmas Carol or Little Women makes a lovely gift.
For something very affordable yet beautiful, Penguin’s Little Black Classics are tiny volumes of short works, priced around two pounds or dollars each. A whole stocking could be filled with them. The Dead by Joyce, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Conan Doyle (a Sherlock Holmes Christmas story), and A Christmas Carol are all available in this format.
Practical Christmas Book Tips
A few useful things to know. For last-minute book gifts, Amazon Kindle gift cards and Audible gift memberships can be sent digitally right up to Christmas morning. Bookshop.org in the US and UK also sells gift cards that support independent bookshops with every purchase, which feels particularly right at Christmas.
To build your Christmas reading pile for free, Standard Ebooks offers beautifully formatted editions of all public-domain classics. Their edition of A Christmas Carol is genuinely lovely and costs nothing.
And if you want to adopt the Icelandic Jólabókaflóð tradition this year, the idea is simple. Give everyone in your household a book on Christmas Eve. Spend the evening reading. It is, I would argue, the perfect Christmas Eve.
Share Your Favourite Christmas Books
Okay, this is the one I’m most excited to hear about. Because Christmas books are personal in a way that most other reading isn’t. They’re often tied to specific memories. A book someone gave you. A story read aloud every year. A novel that made a difficult Christmas feel bearable.
So tell me in the comments: what are your Christmas books? The ones you return to every year. The ones you’d give to anyone and the ones that make December feel like December. Are there childhood favourites that still work for you as an adult? A recent discovery that has earned a permanent place in your festive reading pile?
I’m also curious about the Jólabókaflóð tradition. Has anyone tried it? Does your family or household have its own book-related Christmas traditions? I’d genuinely love to hear about them.
Drop everything below. This is the most personal reading question I’ve asked across this whole series, and I think the answers are going to be wonderful.
Happy Christmas reading. May your pile of books be tall, your drinks be warm, and your evenings be long and quiet enough to enjoy them.
