December Reads
RITUAL: Reading | SEASON: Winter | HOLIDAY: Christmas
Winter is coming. And the Christmas holiday.
If reading is a daily ritual for you, it’s nice to read books that put you into a festive mood and inspire your own holiday traditions and seasonal activities.
The days that fall between Thanksgiving in the U.S. and the first of December are the perfect time to create your TBR for the upcoming final month of the year.
Bookish Inspiration
The collection of classic literature, children’s picture books, winter themed poetry or cookie recipe books that are packed away with the Christmas decor and that you bring out to display and read only in December.
Special books so memorable that you like to read them again this time of year.
A beloved series that has a special Christmas story or cookbook.
The book that inspired the adaptation of a much loved holiday movie.
A culture you’d like to learn more about by discovering how they celebrate the holidays or the changing of the seasons from fall to winter.
A story set in the country where your ancestors are from or a book about their winter or Christmas traditions.
Select a few holiday classics to re-read, curate a shelf of Christmasy stories and start a new series that features wintery scenes. Visit your local bookstore to purchase an illustrated or collector’s edition of a favorite series or author. Thrift some new-to-you books or find vintage, special edition or nicer copies of a well-loved book to add to your bookshelf. Download audiobooks, set in the North or the winter season, read by your favorite narrators or voice actors.
Be intentional about what you’re reading or listening to this month. Let your daily pages put you in the mood to decorate and bake, plan a dinner party or cookie exchange, go ice skating or skiing, watch The Holiday movie or buy tickets to The Nutcracker ballet.
Books
For the quintessential Christmas classics reader who likes to invite the ghosts of Christmas to “haunt their houses pleasantly” each December…
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
For the reader who has just a few minutes a day to read timeless short stories and poems by favorite authors and poets…
A Classic Christmas - A Collection of Timeless Stories and Poems
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou
A Poem for Every Winter Day edited by Allie Esiri
Classic Christmas Stories - A Collection of Timeless Holiday Tales
Winter Hours by Mary Oliver
For the fans of Tolkein who’ve read every masterpiece he’s written…
Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
For an annual read that begins at Christmastime with a chapter called Playing Pilgrims…
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
For the armchair detective who likes to read cozied up by the warm fire…
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
For the reader who loves a heartwarming short story at Christmastime…
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
For those who like to read books that were made into movies…
The Greatest Gift: The Original Story That Inspired the Christmas Classic It's a Wonderful Life by Philip Van Doren Stern
For those who want to start a series that begins in the "eternal winter” of the land of Narnia…
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
For the child at heart who dreams of winter wonderlands…
The Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas
For the historical fiction lover, a story set in coastal Scotland in winter…
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
Share your favorite Christmas stories, Winter books and December reads in the comments below.
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Dara Eden is the author of HER Rituals for the Divine Feminine, a periodical guide created in December of 2021. The 8 Elements, her life’s work, provides guidance about how to honor the essential needs and highest values of your personal feng shui element. Inspired by an Internet challenge designed for men, she created 365WISE, a daily self-care practice that supports women in honoring their needs and listening to their inner wisdom.
In HER Rituals, she offers insights, ideas and intuitive guidance about ways to honor your needs, values and unique expression of the divine feminine.
HER Rituals is a Womb Wisdom KeepHER’s guide to cyclical rituals for sovereign women. It provides insightful information, inspirational ideas and intuitive guidance on daily and seasonal rituals you can practice as a form of self-care. Read about ancient wisdom and philosophical principles, holistic approaches and traditional skills, slow work and intentional living, embodiment practices and immersive experiences.
