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30 Best Christmas Books for Adults

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Every year, Christmas sneaks up a little bit faster. Sometimes, we need a boost getting into the Christmas spirit and some help slowing down to enjoy the holiday season. Christmas books can help this time of year!

While there are some great classic Christmas novels, like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens about the infamous Ebenezer Scrooge, and, of course, lots of wonderful Christmas stories for kids, we instead focused this list of recommendations on contemporary books to read at Christmas for adults, including some romance novels, uplifting tales, and even some mysteries.

2 tilted red and green christmas book covers

Grab some hot chocolate and find a quiet moment before bed to curl up by the Christmas tree and read one of the recommendations from our reading list below!

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Best Christmas Books to Read in 2022

We've updated our list to include 2022 new releases, but also list many highly-rated novels from prior years that may be easier to snag at the library without a wait.

Now that your own reading list is long, be sure to check our recommendations of the best Christmas books for kids!

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Best Kindle Unlimited Books for Christmas

Friday 10th of March 2023

[…] do have another list of Christmas books for adults that contains a mix of non-romance and romance titles. So if rom-coms are not your […]

Lisa J Ouellette

Monday 7th of November 2022

Great list!! The Last Christmas in Paris is one of my favorites if you are looking for something deeper and touching. Some of other favorites over the years have been: A Quilt for Christmas - Sandra Dallas Jacob T. Marley - R. William Bennett Mr. Dickens and His Carol - Samantha Silva

2022 Hallmark Christmas Movies Based On Books - Book Girls' Guide

Wednesday 2nd of November 2022

[…] you’re looking for even more of our favorite holiday reads, check our list of our the Best Christmas Books for Adults (which includes some non-romance titles) and our list of Kindle Unlimited Christmas Romance […]

Best Christmas Romance Books 2022 - Book Girls' Guide

Wednesday 2nd of November 2022

[…] rom coms, like the best Kindle Unlimited Christmas Romance Novels, our comprehensive list of Best Christmas Books for Adults (which includes non-romance reads as well), and our list of Christmas Novels that have been made […]

Ray Downing

Monday 25th of July 2022

Hello, Angela and Melissa

I have new illustrated Christmas book and hope you can take a moment to look at it. Here is a link to our website https://www.christmasinidaho.com It is rather unusual in that this Christmas book is actually about Christmas. It comes with an audio CD featuring a reading with full musical accompaniment. We would be happy to send along a copy at your request. Please provide postal address. Hoping you will like it and include in your Christmas recommendations.

Thank you both,

Ray