15 Must-Read Magical Realism Books for Christmas

Book Summary

Most of us will be familiar with the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man who is visited by the ghosts of his former business partner, as well as the spirits of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. These visits help him embrace a kinder approach to life and Christmas.

Book Summary

Annie Jones designs windows for one of NYC’s iconic department stores. On Christmas Eve, a group of unruly kids upends her holiday display and the store’s very convincing Santa gives Annie a little tip on how to start over. With help from the store’s security guard, Annie repairs the damaged display in time for Christmas, but then she wakes up the next morning to discover that it’s Christmas Eve all over again.

Annie is trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat Christmas Eve again and again until she finds the things that have been missing from her life. Luckily, she has infinite chances to get it right, and she finds that each little choice she makes is bringing her closer to Braden.

Book Summary

Like Charles Dicken’s Scrooge, seventeen-year-old Holly received a Christmas Eve visit from three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. Unlike Scrooge, she was unconvinced, and she did not change her ways. Then, she died.

She’s now stuck working for the top-secret company called Project Scrooge, where she serves as the new Ghost of Christmas Past. Each year she helps the company as they attempt to save another miserly grouch. Despite helping many people, she remains miserable – watching as her family and friends go on living while she stays frozen at seventeen, unable to interact with them. But the Scrooge she’s been assigned to help reform this year may change everything.

Book Summary

This Christmas book brings together two generations of women and exemplifies the magic of the holiday season. 

Hopeful fashion designer Meg has to put her dreams on hold to return to her hometown of Chicago to manage her father’s apartment building. The residents are an eclectic group, and all seem to need her right away. 

One of the residents, Ellie, is having an equally bad season as she’s being forced to leave her apartment and move into a nursing home. As she packs, one dress brings back the most memories – both good and bad. 

When she reveals the important history of the dress to Meg, Ellie decides to gift her the dress with the caveat that it must be worn to the building’s holiday party. Will the magic of the dress strike again for its new owner?

Book Summary

This book poses a question very similar to the one in The Midnight Library: If you could turn back the clock, would you choose a different life?

Ben loves the month of December, but this year everything feels different. His marriage to Daphne has become very strained. They bicker and snip at each other constantly, making it hard for him to feel the usual magic of the season. When he gets a call from his old friend Alice, his mind starts racing with questions. He’s always thought of Alice as the one who got away, but now he wonders how things might have been different if he’d ended up with her.

After purchasing a watch on Christmas Eve, Ben wakes up the next morning to discover that it’s December 5th – but he’s back in his college dorm room in 2005. This was the very day that, fifteen years earlier, he first kissed Daphne. But what if he’d kissed Alice instead? Now he’ll have the chance to make that decision all over again. What if he chooses differently this time?

Book Summary

This fun twist on The Santa Claus brings us into the home of Patrick and Quinn, who have only been married a year but have found their relationship struggling under the weight of daily life. Then, on Christmas Eve, Patrick hears a noise in the middle of the night and attacks an intruder.

When they go to investigate, Quinn discovers that the ‘burglar” Patrick killed was Mr. Claus himself. An elf instinsts that he put on the red suit and take the reins of the reindeer-guided sleigh up on the roof in order to save Christmas.

After the dream-like evening, the couple is taken to the North Pole. They learn that they must take on the roles of Santa Claus and the first ever Merriest Mister or Christmas will be cancelled forever.

Book Summary

We all know the classic Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, but did you know that it’s based on a short story published in the 1940s?

The story came to author Philip Van Doren in a dream one night. Doren wasn’t able to find a publisher at first, so he self-published the story as a pamphlet that he sent out as his Christmas card in 1943. One of those cards found its way to Frank Capra, who shared it with Jimmy Stewart, and It’s a Wonderful Life was born.

Today, the original story is available in a beautifully illustrated edition that includes an afterword by Stern’s daughter and tells the complete backstory of how his Christmas card became one of the most popular movies in the world.

Book Summary

Maren Kelly is far from her Ohio home this Christmas. It is her mom’s dying wish that she experience the magic, mystery, and whimsy of Scotland, but now Maren and her friend Penny are lost in the Scottish Highland and stuck in the blizzard of the century. They are lucky to be rescued by the dashing Duncan Campbell, but his mannerisms seem to be straight out of the seventeenth century.

Duncan takes them back to his castle in Highglen, a quaint village that feels somehow familiar to Maren, as does Duncan himself. The castle, it turns out, is stuck in 1647. Ultimately Maren will have to decide between returning to her own time, or staying forever in the past.

Book Summary

What if you could have one more day with someone you lost? That’s the underlying premise of this novel that blends It’s a Wonderful Life and Groundhog Day into a compelling holiday read.

Diana is no longer looking forward to Christmas. Her fiance, Linus, was critically injured in a bike accident, and she’s losing hope that he’ll ever open his eyes again. The night before Christmas Eve, she finds a hidden snow globe of their small town and realizes that Linus bought it for her before the accident. The next day should have been Christmas Eve, but instead, Diana wakes up on December 4th, the day of the accident.

She soon realizes that she’s in a loop of that day, each time experiencing a different variation of events. Along the way, she uncovers startling truths about herself, her relationship, and even her career.

Book Summary

Gwen is newly single and her career as a lawyer is hanging on by a thread. She hopes that returning to the countryside for a family Christmas will be just the reset she needs to get back on track at work and in love. 

The day after Christmas, she wakes up to discover that it’s Christmas again. The same eggnog and family arguments are stuck on repeat. As she tries to navigate this bizarre situation, the boy next door is the bright spot each day with his humor and kindness. But how do you make a relationship with someone who forgets you each time the day starts over?

Book Summary

It’s Christmas Eve 2022, and things aren’t going well for Elizabeth. Her job has been downsized, and her boyfriend has broken up with her. Things go from bad to worse when she learns that her beloved grandmother has passed away unexpectedly. Now she’ll be spending the holiday season planning a funeral. Broken-hearted, Elizabeth makes a wish on the brightest star in the Christmas Eve Sky – to see her grandmother one more time.

On Christmas Eve 1957, Dodie is at home taking care of her sick little sister while her mom picks her dad up from the airport. Betsy’s fever suddenly spikes to a dangerous high and the snowstorm knocks out the power and phone lines. When her parents are late returning home and Betsy becomes non-responsive, Dodie begins to panic. Then a woman appears at the front door saying she’s lost. She feels vaguely familiar to Dodie, and Dodie certainly needs help, so she opens the door and let’s Elizabeth in.

Book Summary

Emma Wallace is a digital designer who has always lived by the work-before-play mantra. This year, though, she’s promised her every-patient boyfriend that this year she’ll spend Christmas with him, rather than in the office.

But that was before she learned that she had a chance at winning the account for a huge corporate rebranding. As Christmas Eve draws near with her deadline still looming, Emma debates on breaking her promise and jeopardizing her relationship with Sam.

She is visited by three boyfriend “ghosts” of Christmases past, who come bearing the gift of hindsight.