One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to read more. My other major resolution, as you may have guessed, is to keep Christmas in my heart throughout the year! Therefore, throughout 2023, I plan to read more … Christmas … books! Follow my 2023 reading journey on GoodReads!
Last month, I was listening to K-Love, and they were advertising their K-Love 30-Day challenge.
“Can a small change in your daily habits impact your entire 2023?”
“One of easiest resolutions you can commit to is K-LOVE’s 30 Day Challenge. Simply listen to K-LOVE for 30 days and see what impact it can have on your life…”
from K-Love’s Website
I firmly believe that positive daily habits can impact your mood and your life. My daily Christmas reading challenge is very similar to the K-Love Challenge, except I can’t entice you with possible winnings. All I can do is write about my own experience.
Selecting Books for My Christmas Reading List
I am a huge fan of Harlequin Romance’s Love Inspired line of Romance novels, so obviously, I have already started reading as many Love Inspired Christmas romances as I can find. (Not an affiliate link!)
“Fall in love with stories where faith helps guide you through life’s challenges, and discover the promise of a new beginning.”
From the Harlequin Love Inspired page.
I love the Love Inspired line because I can count on these books to be sweet Christian romances that won’t make me blush to be caught reading them. These romances feature characters with Christian values.
If you know my background – that I have a Master of Science in Education in English – it may seem odd to you that I love mainstream romance novels with predictable endings. Yet, I always have loved them. Even in college, between Austen, Homer, Shakespeare, Dickens, and the Bronte sisters, I devoured romance novels. My best friend in college equated the reading habit to junk food for the brain.
However, I know that if I restrict myself too much in my reading, I will inevitably get bored. So, I have pushed myself to venture out beyond the Love Inspired Christmas books to include other Christmas romances, young adult Christmas books, children’s Christmas books, and nonfiction Christmas books. My current TBR pile is all Christmas books. My recent Audible purchases are also Christmas related.
Beyond Harlequin’s Love Inspired Series
I’ve recently discovered so much more about the holiday by reading nonfiction books: Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas by Ace Collins and A Jane Austen Christmas: Regency Christmas Traditions by Maria Grace.
My granddaughters love to read. A few of them are really into the Scholastic Wish Books and a few are into Kasie West books. There were a few books under the Christmas tree last month that I bought a second copy of for my Christmas-related reading for 2023. I love it when I can connect with my grandkids over a book! So, I’m currently reading Carols and Crushes by Natalie Blitt from Scholastic’s Wish line. Clementine for Christmas by Daphne Benedis-Grab, another Wish book, is waiting in my TBR pile.
I’ve already read J. K. Rowling’s A Christmas Pig, and now both my copy and the copy they unwrapped at Christmas are being passed among the five girls.
When my grandkids found out last year that I had read P.S, I Like You, Lucky in Love, and Love, Life and the List by Kasie West, they literally squealed. As a high school English teacher, I often read young adult novels so I can recommend them to my students. I fell in love with the first Kasie West book I read, and then devoured the other two that I had in my classroom library. Because I know they love her books too, I’ve added Snow In Love by Kasie West, Melissa De La Cruz, Nic Stone, and Aimee Friedman to my Christmas Reads list. It should be here within the week.
What Happens When Your Reading Focus is all Christmas, all the time…
It’s January 21st. Christmas has come and gone, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. I have lost myself in stories filled with hope, joy, love, and the anticipation of Christmas. These characters are decorating for Christmas and spending time with their families. They’re cooking, baking, and sitting down together for meals. They are planning Christmas events or pageants or attending candle-light ceremonies. They’re wrapping presents and falling in love.
Christmas-related books all have these themes in common, regardless of whether they were written for children or adults. It doesn’t matter if they’re nonfiction or fiction, either. Discovering the origins of Christmas trees feels just as uplifting as reading about a single mom with a dream of opening a Christmas Tree farm.
Each night, before I go to sleep, I shut off electronics, turn on soft lights, and pick up a book. I’ve done this for a few years, and it has truly changed the way I sleep. Now that all of my reading is Christmas-related however, it also has had a positive impact on my mood. I’m less anxious, and I’ve had fewer nightmares.
I read in bed, so slipping under my comforter feels like slipping into a world where it’s always Christmas.
