20 books to get you in the holiday spirit
From romance to nonfiction, these festive Canadian and international titles make for perfect reading during the holiday season!
The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose
The Mistletoe Mystery is a holiday novella featuring Molly the Maid from Nita Prose's earlier books. When Molly and her boyfriend are part of a secret Santa exchange that makes her question her relationship, she's thrown into solving her most personal mystery yet.
Nita Prose is a Toronto author and editor. She was formerly the Canadian vice president and editorial director for publishing company Simon & Schuster. Her books include The Maid and The Mystery Guest.
In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart
In Winter I Get Up at Night tells the story of music teacher Emer McConnell who lives in rural Saskatchewan. One day, as she heads to work in the early morning, she takes a trip down memory lane, taking us on her life's journey, from the prairie storm that left her in a children's ward when she was 11 to family secrets and distant love affairs.
In Winter I Get Up at Night was longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize
Jane Urquhart is a novelist and poet. In 2005, she was made an officer of the Order of Canada. Urquhart has written seven critically acclaimed novels. In 1994, she received the Marian Engel Award, now known as Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award. Her debut, The Whirlpool, received Le prix du meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book Award) in France. The 1993 speculative fiction novel Away won the Trillium Award, was a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a contender on Canada Reads 2013, when it was defended by Charlotte Gray.
The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy
In The Christmas Countdown, Callie is brokenhearted and not feeling the holidays this year. When her sister makes her an Advent calendar of cheerful tasks to try and bring her into the Christmas spirit, Callie is reluctant. Enter a charming baker who agrees to help her complete the calendar ... which might be just what she needs to open up to love again.
Holly Cassidy is the pen name for Ontario-based writer Hannah Mary McKinnon. Her novels include Only One Survives, The Revenge List, Sister Dear, Her Secret Son and The Neighbours.
Santa's First Christmas by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Sydney Smith
Santa's First Christmas is a picture book that brings the holiday spirit to Santa. Always preoccupied with making everyone else's Christmas wishes come true, Santa has never celebrated the holiday himself. As he returns to the North Pole on Christmas morning, his elves set up a perfect tree, presents and treats for him to experience the magic and joy of Christmas.
Mac Barnett is the author of many picture books, including The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse, the Caldecott Honor Book and E.B. White Read Aloud Award-winner Sam and Dave Dig a Hole , and the Caldecott Honor Book and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winner Extra Yarn. He is also the co-author of the bestselling Terrible Two series with Jory John. He lives in Berkeley, California.
Nova Scotia-based writer Sydney Smith won the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration, making him the first ever Canadian winner, the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for children's literature — illustrated books, as well as the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for his wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson. His book Town Is by the Sea, written by Joanne Schwartz, won the $50,000 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
Collide by Bal Khabra
Aspiring sports psychologist Summer Preston hates hockey, but when her thesis advisor gives her a research project, she's forced to work with the charming and confident team captain, Aiden Crawford. Summer's a no-fun type A with big goals and capital 'P' plans — and Aiden's a laissez-faire jock who takes nothing seriously. Could their assumptions about one another be wrong? Once their fighting turns flirtatious, they must face the fact that they were wrong about how right they are for each other.
Bal Khabra is a Canadian writer, romance enthusiast and book lover currently based in British Columbia.
Let it Glow by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy
In Let it Glow, two identical twins adopted by different families meet and decide to swap for the holidays to experience different religions and traditions. The two plan a grand reveal to their families in a sweet and chaotic exploration of culture with sizzling latkes and twinkling lights.
Marissa Meyer is an American writer and podcast host. Her books include the Renegades Trilogy, The Lunar Chronicles and her novel Heartless.
Joanne Levy is an Ontario-based writer author of books for young people, including Double Trouble and Fish Out of Water. She is also the author of the middle-grade novels Crushing It and the Red Maple Award-nominated Small Medium At Large.
Three Holidays and A Wedding by Marissa Stapley & Uzma Jalaluddin
Three Holidays and a Wedding is a multi-faith holiday rom-com about the love that occurs when Christmas, Ramadan and Hanukkah all fall at the same time. The story follows two strangers-turned-friends, Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson, who are snowbound in the small, charming town of Snow Falls — along with the cast and crew of a holiday romance movie, nosy family members and their lifelong crushes.
"Delightful havoc" — otherwise known as romance and relationship drama and comedy — ensues.
Uzma Jalaluddin is an Ontario writer, teacher and parenting columnist known for taking classic romantic comedies and giving them a modern Muslim twist. Her books include Ayesha at Last, Hana Khan Carries On and Much Ado About Nada.
Marissa Stapley is a Toronto writer, journalist and author of romance, thrillers and romantic comedies. Her books include Mating for Life, Things To Do When It's Raining, The Last Resort, Lucky and The Holiday Swap, which was co-written by Karma Brown under the pen-name Maggie Knox.
The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt has a secret — she's a Christmas romance novelist. When her publisher asks her to write a Chanukah story for diversity's sake, she's at a loss. To her, the holiday has none of the same flair of her beloved Christmas. In order to keep her contract, she immerses herself in volunteering for the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, hoping that it'll spark some inspiration. But with her summer camp arch-nemesis Jacob Greenberg at every corner, Rachel is in for more than she bargained for.
Jean Meltzer is a writer and chronically-ill and disabled Emmy-winning television producer. Her other books include Mr. Perfect on Paper and Kissing Kosher. She is currently based in Virginia.
Reasonable Adults by Robin Lefler
Reasonable Adults is a charming romantic comedy about a young woman named Kate Rigsby. Kate takes a job at an arts retreat in Muskoka cottage country after her life falls apart. She imagines three idyllic months in an artistic wonderland as she plots her next chapter. But reality isn't anything like she expected. Can Kate pull it together? And can she successfully avoid her gorgeous — and off-limits — new coworker?
Robin Lefler is a writer from Kitchener, Ont. Before she wrote fiction, she worked in the tech industry. Reasonable Adults is her first novel.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Set in 1985 in a small Irish town, Small Things Like These is a moving tale of complicity and human decency. When coal merchant and family man Bill Furlong discovers something that forces him to confront the past, he must reckon with the Catholic Church's power in the town.
Claire Keegan is the author of short fiction, including two story collections, Antarctica and Walk the Blue Fields. Subtle and truthful, her work has been widely praised for its emotional honesty.
A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli
A Holly Jolly Diwali is about Niki Randhawa, a data analyst who is all about being practical. She's got a stable job, only dates guys who look good on paper and lives near her parents in case they need her. When Niki is suddenly laid off, she eschews her practical ways and spontaneously books a flight to her friend's wedding in Mumbai. There, she flirts with a London musician named Sameer Mukherji, who helps her get in touch with her creativity and her Indian roots. But when Niki gets a job offer back home, she must figure out what kind of life she wants to live.
Sonya Lalli is a Punjabi and Bengali romance fiction author based in Vancouver. Her other novels include Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat, Serena Singh Flips the Script, Grown-Up Pose and The Matchmaker's List. Her books have been spotlighted in publications including Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
Having only been out of the country once before, Vivian Forest can't say no to tagging along on her daughter Maddie's work trip to style an English royal over the holiday season. When she becomes seriously attracted to the Queen's private secretary, things get steamy — and Vivian will have to decide if a holiday fling can turn into a full-on romance.
Jasmine Guillory is a bestselling American romance novelist. Her books include The Wedding Date, The Wedding Party and The Proposal.
Christmas Stories, edited by Diana Secker Tesdell
Christmas Stories is a delightful anthology featuring holiday stories from celebrated authors — from Dickens and Tolstoy to John Updike and Alice Munro. The collection spans a wide range of topics, but all have one thing in common — a sprinkling of Christmas spirit.
Diana Secker Tesdell is the editor of 15 anthologies, including New York Stories, Garden Stories, Love Stories, Stories of Art and Artists and Dog Stories.
Time to Shine by Rachel Reid
In Time to Shine, hockey player Landon Stackhouse has just gotten his call up to the big leagues from the Calgary farm team, though he doesn't get to play much. When he and Calgary's star player Casey Hicks hit it off, this bromance evolves into a romance between the two, culminating with a wholesome Christmas spent together. But what will happen to the budding relationship when Landon's time in Calgary comes to an end?
Rachel Reid is a romance writer and die-hard hockey fan from Nova Scotia.
Better Next Year, edited by JJ Lee
Including pieces from Tolu Oloruntoba, Sonja Larsen and Joseph Kakwinokanasum, this nonfiction anthology blends recollections from acclaimed Canadian authors and emerging voices about surviving bleak holiday seasons while still finding some hope.
JJ Lee is a Canadian writer best known for his book The Measure of a Man, which traces the author's journey altering his father's old suit as an act of remembrance. The Measure of a Man was shortlisted for the 2011 Governor General's Literary Award for English non-fiction, the 2012 Charles Taylor Prize, and the 2012 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
A Room in A Rectory, illustrated by Seth
Part of Biblioasis' Christmas Ghost Stories series, this cartoon follows the Andrew Caldecott's story of Reverend Nigel who arrives at a rectory expecting a peaceful existence. But when he opens a locked room, he can't stop seeing terrifying visions.
Seth is a Guelph, Ont.-based cartoonist. His comics have appeared in New York Times Magazine, Best American Comics and McSweeney's Quarterly. His illustrations have appeared in numerous publications including the cover of the New Yorker, the Walrus, and Canadian Notes & Queries. The artist has a large cult following for his 1990s comic book series Palookaville and his retro drawing style.
8 Tiny Reindeer by Robert Tinkler, illustrated by Danesh Mohiuddin
In 8 Tiny Reindeer, two elves named Elvis and Delfina help Santa Claus save Christmas from an evil and rich tech baron who is plotting to take over the holiday. In order to save Christmas, Elvis and Delfina must go on an adventure and race against time to find Santa's eight tiny reindeers.
8 Tiny Reindeer is for ages 7 to 10.
Robert Tinkler is a Toronto-based writer, voice actor and podcast producer. He received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for his work in the PBS series Cyberchase.
Danesh Mohiuddin is a Toronto-based freelance illustrator. He has worked with Scholastic, TD Bank, Time Out magazine and OwlKids Books.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night by Megan Litwin, illustrated by Nneka Myers
A fun twist on a nursery rhyme that highlights the magic of the season of lights. From candles in the window to shimmering lights around town, the wholesome warmth of winter shines true in this story.
Megan Litwin is a Mass.-based writer and former teacher.
Nneka Myers is a children's book and animation industry illustrator from Toronto.
Priya Puts Herself First by Nathan Fairbairn, illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn
Priya Puts Herself First is the third book in the Paws graphic novel series. The third volume takes place during the holidays when their business is impacted due to a big storm and the Paws members go through some personal challenges — Gabby wants to be internet famous and Priya's family is being evicted. Can Paws overcome these challenges and stay afloat?
Priya Puts Herself First is for ages 8 to 12.
Nathan Fairbairn is a Vancouver-based and Eisner-nominated comic creator. Other projects he has worked on include the characters Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman and the graphic novel Lake of Fire.
Michele Assarasakorn is a colourist who has worked on comic book series such as Isola, Gotham Academy and The Magnificent Ms. Marvel. Assarasakorn is originally from Thailand and now lives in Vancouver. Her previous books include the first two graphic novels in the Paws series, Mindy Makes Some Space and Gabby Gets It Together.
Zander Stays by Maureen Fergus, illustrated by Scot Ritchie
In Zander Stays, a goose named Zander finds ways to stay warm — meeting new friends along the way, when he decides to stay put and not migrate south.
Zander Stays is for ages 4 to 7.
Maureen Fergus is a Winnipeg-based author of many books for children. She is most known for the Buddy and Earl picture books and the early graphic novel series, Weenie featuring Frank & Beans.
Scot Ritchie is a Vancouver author-illustrator of over 60 books including Join the No-Plastic Challenge!, Follow That Map! and Look Where We Live!
