The festive season seems to come around faster and faster each year. It hits us straight between the eyes as we frantically run around trying to create the “perfect” Christmas for everyone else. We often forget about ourselves though!
Well, let that happen no more. Here are five great cosy reads to help you relax in the upcoming months. Just imagine, you’ve poured yourself a glass of something festive, cosied up on the sofa as you while away an hour with a good book. Sounds great right? I’ve chosen five books to help you on your way.
1. One Day in December by Josie Silver
Laurie is pretty sure love, at first sight, doesn’t exist. After all, life isn’t a scene from the movies, is it? But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away. Laurie thinks she’ll never see the boy from the bus again. Who is, of course, the boy from the bus.
This is a sweet love story full of twists and turns that hooks you in immediately. Perfect for reading in front of a roaring log fire.
2.A Keeper by Graham Norton
Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother’s presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light. 40 years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless wind that circles her as she hurries further into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea. She has no sense of where she is going only that she must keep on.
This is a beautiful book which delves into the intricacies of human nature, often seeing its darker side. A highly recommended read.
3.9 Perfect Strangers by Lianne Moriarty
Have you ever thought about having a few days off from your crazy life? Before you commit yourself to that quiet retreat without your phone or any social media, you must read 9 Perfect Strangers!
Tranquillum House promises total transformation. Nine stressed city dwellers are keen to drop their literal and mental baggage and absorb the meditative ambience while enjoying their hot stone massages. Miles from anywhere, without cars or phones, they have no way to reach the outside world. Just time to think about themselves and get to know each other. Watching over them is the resort’s director, a woman on a mission. But quite a different one from any the guests might have imagined.
4.The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd
This novel is a true psychological treat. You will want to cosy up and snuggle under a blanket for this one.
You’re in love with a man on Death Row in Florida, convicted of a brutal murder twenty years ago. You’re convinced he didn’t do it, and you’re determined to prove it. You’re part of a massive online campaign that picks holes in the case, uncovers evidence of police incompetence, and agitates for this miscarriage of justice to be overturned. Now you’re married to him, and he’s a free man, his conviction thrown out. You have the rest of your lives to spend together. You’re overjoyed. After all, he’s innocent. Isn’t he?
5. Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live by Gail Honeyman
Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life. Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than … fine?
This novel will make you laugh and cry as it navigates you through the theme of loneliness and the power of a little kindness.
I hope you enjoy your private time with your books this month. Next month I will be looking at some great stories to get you through the post-Christmas blues!
Written by Janie Smith
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About The Author
Janie Smith
Janie Smith is a cup full of sass and the Culture Queen isn’t letting anything limit her. Whether she’s jet setting around the world or catching up on the latest shows she always has her ear to the ground.