Ceri Louise Reads

Today is the start of the Christmas Readathon, and just over a week until Christmas! I can’t quite believe it’s come around so quickly!

While I have a few other books I’m finishing off, I have also planned a slightly ridiculous TBR for the Readathon… not that I’m planning to read all of these, but so I have mood reading options! Most of these books cover more than one prompt, so I will go through them by book rather than by prompt to make it less confusing for myself…

But first here’s a reminder of this year’s prompts:

So the first book on my list is The Charm Bracelet by Melissa Hill. This is a romance novel which was made into a Hallmark Christmas movie, which I watched last year and decided I needed to track down the book! The protagonist Holly finds a charm bracelet and tries to track down the owner before Christmas, with unexpected results. Prompts covered: Hot chocolate & candy canes

Book 2 is Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. Daisy returns home for her grandmother’s 80th birthday at their remote Cornish house, but someone won’t survive the party… Alice Feeney writes dark and twisty mysteries and I love a remote setting so I’m intrigued by this one. Prompts covered: gingerbread house & Christmas pudding

Book 3: The Island of Dr Moreau by H G Wells. I’ve been meaning to read this for ages as for context as I want to read The Daughter of Dr Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I’m a bit worried as I haven’t loved other H G Wells books and I feel like this might be body horror. Therefore it is out of my comfort zone! Prompts covered: Brussels sprouts & mince pies

Book 4: Magic Study by Maria V Snyder. This is the sequel to Poison Study and second in that trilogy. I enjoyed the first one so I’m interested to see what happens next. Prompts covered: Christmas Pudding

Book 5: An Unfortunate Christmas Murder by Hannah Hendy, the second in her Dinner Lady Detectives series. These are fun cosy mysteries and this one is set at Christmas. Prompts covered: gingerbread house, hot chocolate & candy canes

Book 6: The Little Christmas Kitchen by Jenny Oliver. This is a romance novel about sisters who swap lives for the holidays. Prompts covered: gingerbread house, hot chocolate & candy canes

Book 7: The Rental Heart by Kirsty Logan. This is a collection of short stories inspired by fairy tales. I thought having some short stories on the go might be useful for something quick to pick up until I finish work for the holidays. Prompts covered: mince pies & Christmas pudding

Book 8: Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll. This is the first adult novel from one of my favourite middle grade writers so I’m excited to pick it up. Another cosy romance, but that’s the vibe I’m feeling this year! Prompts covered: hot chocolate & candy canes

Book 9: Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict. Another closed circle murder mystery but this one has a Christmas setting! Not sure if it’s more cosy or thrillery but we’ll find out! Prompts covered: candy canes (and maybe hot chocolate or Christmas pudding)

Book 10: Silent Night by Stanley Weintraub. This is a non-fiction account of the 1914 Christmas truce in the first winter of World War One. It’s been a while since I read any nonfiction that wasn’t work or research related, and I don’t tend to read nonfiction about war so I’m calling this outside of my comfort zone. It’s 110 years since the start of the First World War so it feels like a good time to pick it up. Prompts covered: Brussels sprouts, mince pies & candy canes

Book 11: The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. I haven’t read anything for Read Around the World in a long time so it would be good to read this for Uganda. It’s a family story but I don’t know much more than that. Prompts covered: gingerbread house

Book 12: The Dragon Republic by R F Kuang. I have been meaning to pick this up for ages but I know it’s one I have to be in the right mood for. The first book in the series, The Poppy War, was a really good but really hard read. This book is also chonky so it’s more than a little intimidating! Prompts covered: Brussels sprouts and Christmas pudding

So those are some of the books I’m thinking of picking up for the Christmas Readathon this year. I do also have a lot of festive reads on my kindle so I may swap in some of them. It’s all about what I’m in the mood for this year really!

What are you thinking of reading?