Top 5 Christmas Books and Movies

'Tis the season....

I haven't read enough (good) Christmas books to make a full top ten, so this will be five books, five movies.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Trisha Ashley Trisha Ashley has written a TON of really excellent Christmas books, so I could pretty much have filled this list up with books by her alone! This one is by far my favourite though, as it's heavy on descriptions of Christmas planning, which always serve to put me in a Christmassy mood. ("One More Christmas at the Castle" may end up being a close second, but I haven't finished that one yet, so I'll stick with this one.) The Worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson I first discovered this as a kid, and find myself returning to it on a regular basis. It's a quick read (took me 30 minutes to read) and utterly delightful. (As an aside, this is one of those few situations where I think I like the Danish title better than the English one :-D Directly translated it's "Mary, Joseph and the Herdman Children") In a Holidaze - Christina Lauren Groundhog day meets Christmas chick-lit. It was delightful and adorable and charming. I loved the traditions and I loved the family feel of it. The Christmas Bookshop - Jenny Colgan Christmas in Edinburgh? Don't mind if I do! And add detailed Christmas preparations in a delightful bookshop and cute nieblings to the mix, and I'm sold :-D The Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder Most of the Little House books has some form of Christmas described, but I think this first one is my favourite. I love the descriptions of the preparations that take place, and have discovered that Christmas preperations is basically a must in a book to make it a decent Christmas read for me. Single All the Way A new find, but possibly the best Christmas movie I've seen - period! I adored every part about it. The best friends, the family who actually LIKE each other, the love-triangle that never happens, the main couple who just happens to be gay and it's not a big deal. Yes, yes, yes! This will definitely be a regular rewatch! (Netflix) Klaus I wasn't quite sure about this one at first, but it is completely delightful. A really sweet Christmas movie that's perhaps more traditional than some of the others on this list. (Netflix) While You Were Sleeping Not the entire movie, but that one scene where Lucy celebrates Christmas with Peter's family, and she just sits and hugs her present tight - not even opening it - while enjoying all the family shenanigans going on around her? Gets me every single time! (Disney+) The Knight Before Christmas Totally predictable, but SO sweet! I was greatly amused by seeing how Sir Cole got used to the 21st century, and liked that people were just generally NICE. No needless drama. (Netflix) The Christmas Chronicles Most Christmas movies (Klaus being an obvious exception) seem to be rom-coms, but I really liked that the focus here was on siblings instead. Great movie that really managed to capture the right Christmas atmosphere for me. (Netflix)