I’m happy to have Julie from Struck By Stories on the blog today to share have five favorite YA Christmas books, as well as some 2020 holiday book releases that she’s excited about! That Artsy Reader Girl started out as a mostly YA book blog, but my tastes have changed and I don’t read nearly as much YA as I used to. It’s fun to have it back on the blog today!

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Merry (almost!) Christmas & happy holidays, book-lovers! I’m so excited to be sharing with you a list of my favorite books to read during the winter season today, plus a few 2020 holiday books that I’m eagerly anticipating. All of these books have a special place in my heart, and I hope you guys find some new books to add to your TBR ;) Special thanks to Jana @ That Artsy Reader for allowing me the opportunity to do this!

My Favorites

 

Dancing Through the Snow by Jean Little

First on my list of favorite holiday reads is by far the most underrated! It’s about a girl named Min who, after being abandoned as a baby and rejected by yet another foster family in the height of the holiday season, experiences a Christmas miracle when a member of her foster center decides to take her in. This book is extremely heartwarming, and the perfect reminder of what the Christmas season is all about. Ever since I discovered it at my school library in 6th grade, I’ve made a point of rereading it every year. Definitely a must-read!

 

The Dash & Lily series by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Next on my list are two additional books that I always read during the Christmas season! David Levithan’s natural dry humor shines through in Dash, a bookish-yet-snarky teen boy who makes the bold decision to embark on a list challenges he finds embedded in a red notebook left on a bookshelf at the Strand. He and Lily, the teen girl who initiated the dares, continue to trade various Christmas-centered challenges, all while trying to avoid their growing feelings for each other. I love how Lily, with all of her festive holiday cheer, compliments Dash and his cynicism so well. Also, be sure not to miss book two, The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily, set a year later and featuring the same fantastic cast of characters!

 

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson,
& Lauren Myracle

Many of you guys will probably recognize this from the newly formed Breakfast Book Club with Ms. Freeman, as this was the book we chose to read this month! John Green (writer of the famed book The Fault in Our Stars) teamed up with two other popular YA authors to write a story about what happens when a train breaks down in a small town right before Christmas, and the result was perfection! I especially liked how even though they were three separate stories, they are all set in the same place and time and a few characters make guest appearances in the other stories. P.S. Don’t have time to read the book? No worries – it was just released as a Netflix movie this year!

 

My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff

If you are in the mood for a light, fluffy and cozy Christmas romance, then this is your book! This one centers around Charlie Donavon, a teen girl who’s convinced that she is meant to be with Teo Ortiz, who, in addition to being a star athlete and NHS member, is also a member of the school paper with Charlie. When she not-so-coincidentally picks his name for Secret Santa, she enlists the help of his cousin, J.D. Ortiz, to pick out the perfect presents and win his heart. However, she soon discovers that maybe, just maybe, the boy she really wants is not who she has been envisioning. Highly recommend!

 

Together at Midnight by Jennifer Castle

And last-but-not-least on my list of favs is Together at Midnight, which ironically is the only one that’s not set during the Christmas season! As the title hints, this novel takes place entirely on New Year’s Eve. After witnessing a tragic accident earlier that day, two teens (Kendall and Max) make it their mission to spend the rest of it performing random acts of kindness, while also falling for each other along the way. What made this one truly special to me was that instead of just hearing the perspective of Kendall and Max, the story delved into the lives of the recipients of their good deeds. Overall, this one was a fantastic read, and it’s without a doubt one that’s not to be missed!

 

 

Anticipated 2020 Releases

Recommended for You by Laura Silverman

This is easily my most-anticipated YA holiday-centered book of 2020, and for good reason! Not only is it going to be super-bookish (as the main character, Shoshanna Greenberg, is a teen bookseller), and a hate-to-love romance (my second-favorite trope!) it’s also going to be a JEWISH (!!!) holiday romance with both Shoshanna & her love interest, Jake Kaplan, both being Jewish. This is something we *definitely* need more of in YA lit, and it’s beyond me that this is the only YA Jewish holiday romance that I know of (I’m really hoping that this starts a trend!) If this isn’t on your TBR right now, definitely be sure to add it ASAP 😍

The Detour by Natalie D. Richards

One of my earliest reviews on my blog (and my first review in my school paper!) was for Six Months Later, another book by the same author, so you can safely bet that I’ll be checking out this one as well! This book has it all: a teen girl struggling to get home to her family before the holidays, a Christmas blizzard that causes plane delays, and bad road conditions that turn an innocent car ride into the scene of . . . a mystery??? I have yet to read (or discover) a YA Christmas thriller, and I couldn’t think of a better time of year to read one than when I’m curled up in bed with a mug of hot cocoa and my fuzzy PJs ❤️

One Way or Another by Kara McDowell

While I wasn’t the ~biggest~ fan of Kara’s debut book, Just for Clicks (nothing bad, I promise, just not my cup of tea!) I am still SUPER hyped for this one! It’s basically the winter equivalent of Two Summers by Aimee Friedman, and centers around Paige, a teen girl with anxiety who’s struggling to decide between spending her Christmas break in a snowy cabin with her best friend/unrequited crush, or living it up in NYC, and ends up simultaneously living out both fates. I absolutely adore the premise for this one, and I can’t wait to read it come October 2020!

A Royal Christmas Quandary by Samantha Hastings

Finally, we have A Royal Christmas Quandry, a book by the same author of The Last Word, which has been on my TBR for what feels like forever! Anyways, the only info that has been released about this book is that it’s going to be a YA historical romance (hello, Jane Austen fangirls!) about “a young lady who must find a missing prince during the Christmas season.” While the synopsis is super short, I cannot begin to describe how perfectly irresistible that sounds (I’m an absolute sucker for books with royalty). Also, this is kinda unrelated but can we talk about how this is the *second* book that Samatha has releasing next year? Honestly, I’d be lucky if I could finish writing just one book in my entire life 😂

About the Blogger

Hi! I’m Julie, and I’m the girl behind the YA book blog, Struck by Stories.

A little about me . . . I’m eighteen (does that still count as a teenager???) a senior in high school, ailurophile (which is just a fancy word for cat-lover), HUGE Disney fan, and proud resident of New England. My dream in life is to become a Children’s/Young Adult librarian, and I’m slowly working my way to achieving that!

In addition, I am also a self-proclaimed Thunderclaw (Thunderbird/Ravenclaw) which I think perfectly sums me up because I love to adventure, especially through stories!

When I don’t have my head stuck in a book, you can probably find me either cuddling with my calico cat, baking treats in the kitchen, studying hard for all my classes, jamming out to the top 40 songs, or fangirling over all my favorite TV shows. You can follow along with all of my bookish adventures at struckbystories.com, or on social media @struckbystories ❤️

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What are some of your favorite Christmas/Holiday books (YA or not)?

I’m so excited to welcome Chanda of Chanda Reads (and therusticbibliophile on Insta) to the blog today to share her favorite Christmas book covers! I love a good cover, and Christmas ones are always my favorites, so I’m loving her guest post pick for Bookish Little Christmas. I’ve read one of her picks, and a bunch of the others are on my TBR. She’s got good taste!

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As the holiday season approaches I wanted to highlight some of my favorite Christmas and/or holiday themed covers. Whether you like the traditional Christmas book cover of a couple cuddling in a snowy landscape, a lone Christmassy figure, a house decked to the nines for the holidays, or a modern chick-lit style cover I included a wide array (12 to be exact) of the most aesthetically pleasing covers I could find for the holiday season. I only included adult releases from the past 5-6 years because there are just too many amazing covers if you include the classics or children’s titles and also only included books with a 3.5/5 or above Goodreads rating, because no-one deserves to be hoodwinked by a good cover.

Full disclosure: I’ve only actually read one of these (A Holiday by Gaslight), but I actually chose this book because the cover caught my eye.

1. A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews, 4.12/5 stars on Goodreads

I think this might be my most favorite Christmas book cover of all time. I was randomly scrolling Facebook one day and this cover made me stop scrolling to buy it on the spot. The muted reds and greens, the haunting snowy landscape, the eye-catching font, and the holly details combine to make a remarkable cover.

My own rating for this book was 4.5/5 stars – it is a sweet holiday read that left me smiling for hours after I finished it.

2. An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow, 4.17/5 stars on Goodreads

This cover reminds me of every Hallmark Christmas movie about a country gal and city guy who get over their differences and find true love under the mistletoe- so it’s perfect 😂

(NOTE from Jana: I’ve read this one, and it’s cute! I’d give it 3.5/5 stars because it wasn’t as Christmassy as I wanted it to be. And Chanda was nearly correct, it’s just a city gal and a country guy. lol)

3. Christmas Shopaholic (Shopaholic #9) by Sophie Kinsella (4.34/5 stars on Goodreads)

Christmas Shopaholic is a perfect example of the simple and bold design trend that has emerged over the past few years on contemporary romances. I love the clean look of this one, with the focus being on the gifts and sprinkles of snow.

4. The White Christmas Inn by Colleen Wright (3.98/5 stars on Goodreads)

The cover of The White Christmas Inn looks like the door of a house that, on the inside, probably smells like freshly made cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. Come on in, they saved you a seat by the fire.

5. Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler, 3.88/5 stars on Goodreads

Christmas Camp’s cover gives me strong nostalgic vibes of what I thought, as a child, my house would look like when I became an adult. You know – based off the entirely realistic expectation that I would live in a giant house identical to Kevin McCalister’s, sans burglars of course.

6. Sealed with a Christmas Kiss by Rachael Lucas, 3.97/5 stars on Goodreads

I usually hate twisty and curly title font, but Sealed with a Christmas Kiss is able to achieve the whimsical intentionality of the font by combining it with the aforementioned contemporary style of illustration.

7. Merry Mistletoe by Emma Davies, 4.19/5 stars on Goodreads

The minimalistic illustration style on the cover of Merry Mistletoe is enchanting as it gives off a quirky and heart-warming vibe.

8. Christmas in Winter Valley by Jodi Thomas, 4.54/5 stars on Goodreads

The subdued colors of the sunset* and landscape make a perfect backdrop to the bold colors of the font and foreground scene, complimenting it without making it busy.

*sunrise? Is this one of those Buzzfeed personality test questions? If you see a sunrise you’re a morning person; a sunset you’re a vampire?

(NOTE from Jana: I guess I’m a vampire!)

9. Christmas at Claridge’s by Karen Swan, 3.78/5 stars on Goodreads

Sometimes it’s nice to get a non-conventional Christmas cover, without all the fluff of embracing couples, bright colors, and cozy scenes. I was drawn to the subtle tones, lone figure, and empty streets of London, which seemed a sure indicator that this novel would be a very different read than most others on this list.

10. Snowfall on Cedar Trail by Annie Rains, 4.57/5 stars on Goodreads

Did someone say Christmas cover fluff? Boom: Cute puppy on cover? Check. Pristine snow? Check. Lighted outdoor trees? Check. Perfect embodiment of a real-life gingerbread house? Check. It doesn’t get much fluffier than this, and I am here for it.

11. The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan, 4.17/5 stars on Goodreads

Maybe it’s because I don’t have [and always wanted] sisters, but this cover made me immediately smile. The warm tones add to the already cozy feel of it.

12. A Match Made in Mistletoe by Anna Campbell, 3.91/5 stars on Goodreads

Regency and historical romances are some of my favorites to read, but I’ll be honest: some of the covers are…not to my taste. This cover, however, is stunning with the sharp contrast of the gold gown to the deep reds and greens of the title and background.

I hope you enjoyed my picks for best Christmas covers and
I hope you have a very happy holiday season! :)

Thank you much to Jana, for allowing me to be a contributor this Bookish Little Christmas!