Book of the Month – December 2024 – Christmas Read Recommendations

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send in their book recommendations for the festive break. We had a mix of fantasy, easy to read & feel-good fiction and of course, a Christmas classic.

The Christmas Book Club – Sarah Morgan (Fiction)
Three friends meet every year for their book club holiday. All with a love of books, but are they all holding back with something?

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens (Fiction)
A little classic that is rumoured to have revived the spirit of Christmas and influenced how we celebrate today.

At Christmas We Feast: Festive Food through the Ages’ – Annie Gray (Non-fiction – Food & society)
The book outlines the history of Christmas food throughout time and tracks the evolution of the traditional festive meal – from the origins of the twelve days of Christmas, to the Victorian traditions we still follow today. The book is beautifully illustrated, wry witty, and stuffed full of classic recipes.

The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet’ – Becky Chambers (Fiction – Space Opera)
This book follows a band of quirky misfits through space as they undertake a mission to build a tunnel to a distant planet. Packed with action and adventure, this book is also a quietly profound in the way it touches on the reality of found families and friendship that can transcend space. (Not available on Libby)

A Frost of Fear and Fortitude – A.P. Bestwick (Fantasy)
A Frost of Fear and Fortitude by A.P. Beswick is a captivating and intense fantasy retelling of Santa Claus as a demon slayer. This isn’t your typical Christmas story—it’s far from the usual holiday fare. The twist at the end was fantastic, and the world-building throughout the book was impressive.

Weyward – Emilia Hart (Magical realism)
Set across three timelines, this story covers ideas of witchcraft from the witch trials to the modern day. Weaving easily between the three women, this is a beautiful novel that focusses on their journeys of self-discovery and ‘witchcraft’.

Kitchen – Banana Yoshimoto (Novella)
It describes young people coming to terms with their grief and working their way back to happiness. It sounds very sad, but it is a story full of humanity. The prose is spare and lucid and it’s quite mesmerising.

Our fabulous team at the Library have also added in some extras and curated a ‘Staff Christmas Reads’ list which are now available for you to read/listen to in the Libby App: https://lncn.ac/GetLibby

Happy reading and happy holidays!

Story submitted by Jo Wilkinson
jwilkinson@lincoln.ac.uk