There’s something about the Christmas holidays that makes everyone want to cosy up under a warm blanket and enjoy a cup of coffee or hot cocoa. Add classic reads to the mix, and you have yourself a perfect, relaxing winter evening. Thanks to British Council, we now have a list of books that we can flip through as we enjoy some quiet me-time during the holiday season. Talk about a perfect Christmas gift for a book lover!
'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is a coming-of-age novel. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. It explores timeless themes such as love and death, war and peace, conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities.
'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and yet to come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.
'A Christmas Memory' by Truman Capote
A Christmas Memory is a short story which takes place in the 1930s. Seven-year-old Buddy knows that the Christmas season has arrived when his cousin, Miss Sook Falk exclaims: “It’s fruitcake weather!”; Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd, but enduring friendship between two innocent souls.
'Hercule Poirot’s Christmas' by Agatha Christie
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas is a work of detective fiction. The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and is a locked room mystery. The premise is a family reuniting for Christmas, and they find the host of the gathering murdered in a private room. Poirot’s investigation explores the victim’s methodical and vengeful nature.
'The Christmas Swap' by Sandy Barker
Chloe, Jules, and Lucy meet at a Maui resort kids’ club, aged 11, forging a lifelong friendship spanning two decades and three continents. Twenty-two years later, they decide to swap Christmases, none of them expecting the hilarity and romantic escapades that will ensue.
