Jingle All the Way to Joy: 30 Cozy Christmas Books

I was so thrilled that so many of you enjoyed the best Christmas cozy mystery books in this series.

Because I shared lots of best Christmas cozy mystery book recommendations already

but I've got plenty more favorites to share with you and I'm really excited about these books.

I think we celebrate Christmas this year with a bit of extra cheer from these cozy Christmas books, I find so much comfort and joy and festive spirit

so I hope you do too. I hope you enjoy my recommendations but I've got a great big pile to get through so let's get going.

1. Thirteen Days Of Christmas

Thirteen Days Of Christmas by Jenny Overton

first of all, I wanted to share this gem of a book that my mum first read to me when I was little but it's still a firm favorite with both of us that's The 13 Days of Christmas by Jenny Overton it's beautifully illustrated by Shirley Hughes as well which makes it extra special

because I love her illustrations this is a charming and very funny story about the imagined events behind the Carol of the 12 Days of Christmas.

it's about a family who is rather fed up with their older sister who can't cook at all and they wish that she would just marry and get off their hands now there is a young man who wants to marry her but he isn't considered romantic enough doesn't quite meet her high standards

so the young children set about giving him some hints and tips about sending their sister some romantic presents well he takes their advice a little bit too much to heart the first gift he sends her is, of course, a partridge in a pear tree and the story follows along matching the carol from there and it's just absolutely hilarious.

I love some of the old customs that Jenny Overton writes about in this too it's really fascinating to look at some of the histories of Christmas seen through this book but it's also just such a fun read and at the end,

you find out whether their sister gives in and agrees to marry a very persistent suitor or not but like I said it's a hilarious read and a firm favorite of ours every Christmas.

2. Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

and then next I have to recommend Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher Rosamond Pilcher is one of my favorite writers I adore reading this book at Christmas time and in fact, I've chosen it for my book club read in December

so I hope you're able to read along if you feel like it this is a book that I reread whenever possible at Christmas time it doesn't start out at Christmas and in fact, there is a real tragedy at the start of the book but then it quickly moves into the Christmas season.

it's about a group of rather unlikely people who are brought together in a lovely house in Scotland and they end up celebrating Christmas together and helping each other in ways they maybe wouldn't have anticipated it's such a comforting heartwarming story

it's really all about how we can help each other and celebrate the true spirit of Christmas together even through difficult years and difficult times in our lives I find it such a moving story and I also like to try to read it in real time when possible.

because I think about either the 19th or 20th of December in the book the story starts unfolding day by day so you can read each day on the appropriate date if that makes sense and I love to do that although I won't be doing that this year because we'll be discussing the book on the 20th

but normally I do love to read each appropriate section following each day in the run-up to Christmas it just is a very special tradition for me to do that but yes a wonderful heartwarming read for this time of year.

3. Miss Plum and Miss Penny

Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith

and then I also wanted to recommend Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith which is a rather curious story about a 40-year-old spinster Miss Penny the story starts out in late November on Miss Penny's birthday and every year on her birthday she receives a letter from her former lover whom she never married because her parents highly disapproved of him

but she always wonders what if on every birthday when she gets a letter from him and she thinks about whether she's truly happy in her choice to remain single there are some other eligible bachelors in the village.

and she has fun I would say pondering if she should marry either of them but then this year is different on her birthday Miss Penny receives no letter from George her former lover however when she heads out for some birthday treats she happens upon a suicidal young woman called miss plum and stops miss plum from trying to drown herself in the duck pond miss penny takes pity on this plum

and invites her back to her home where she nurses and takes care of her however Miss Plum proves rather difficult to dislodge and she soon exasperates Miss Penny she won't talk about the future at all and she tends to fall into tears at the drop of a hat.

I enjoyed this book because there are some lovely Christmasy scenes in it there's a wonderful skating scene and there's a lovely carol singing scene and there are some also touching episodes in this book with some of the more minor characters one of Miss Penny's eligible bachelors is the village vicar and he is a widower who also has a rather difficult relationship with his son and I thought one of the strongest elements of this book is how Dorothy even smith writes about that father and son relationship and the tension there but how over the Christmas period they're able to find some sympathy and understanding with each other and that's a really special part of the book.

in general, it's meant to be just a very sort of light-hearted if slightly dark comic book I mean it certainly is of its time and doesn't deal with you know issues of mental health, for instance, the way we would speak of it today

but it is just meant to be quite a light-hearted read and not taken too seriously a lot of adventure happens when Miss Penny's former lover George actually turns up and asks Miss Penny to marry him again.

and this is really a book too about realizing what actually makes you happy in life about being content with your lot and finding pleasure and joy in everyday

I enjoyed that about the book as well as its Yorkshire setting and there are some lovely Christmasy scenes in it which is what makes it a good read for this time of year so I wanted to recommend that one.

And then I wanted to recommend a few mysteries of the sort of snowbound English country house party-style mystery.

4. Mystery in White

Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

the first is one of the British Library crime classics series called A Mystery in white by Jay Jefferson Farjeon a Christmas crime story now these aren't really the best mysteries I have to say however they're the sort of thing that's quite fun to curl up with over December and just read quickly they're quite fun light reads this one is very atmospheric.

because it's about people who get stranded on a train journey they can't move any further and they decide to seek shelter in a nearby abandoned house in the middle of nowhere, of course, the snow falls heavily outside all the while and traps them in the house and a murder is committed and they have to solve this crime so it's a little bit of a silly story but a fun one for this time of year.

5. An English Murder

An English Murder by Cyril Hare

and in a similar vein is an English murder by Cyril Hare again this is a classic English house party a Christmas time sort of mystery the snow falls the telephones are cut off and almost at the stroke of midnight a murder is committed.

and there's a whole assortment of suspects amongst the fans and friends family and friends gathered at Christmas time even the butler is a suspect so this is a very sort of classic British Christmas crime mystery, not one of the very best mysteries but still quite a fun read.

6. The Case of the Abominable Snowman

The Case of the Abominable Snowman by Nicholas Blake

and then another one in a similar vein is 'the case of the abominable snowman by Nicholas Blake' and this one is quite a fun read as well I love the fact that a snowman actually does feature within the plot of this book which I thought was a really fun detail but it's about a detective called Nigel.

Nigel Strangeways gets called into an English country house party over the festive period because there are all these strange goings-on happening so he's a sort of private detective who's called in to investigate and then a young woman seemingly commits suicide

but it's clear that not all is quite as it appears so again this is just quite a fun light read for this time of year I always love a good mystery over Christmas so I would recommend those.

7. High Rising: A Virago Modern Classic

High Rising: A Virago Modern Classic by Angela Thirkell

and then I love Angela Thirkell's books and the first in her series of books in the English countryside is High Rising this is a lovely one to read over Christmas because much of the action takes place over the Christmas holidays and New Year's it's about a popular female novelist who goes home to her country mansion for the Christmas holidays.

her rather troublesome young son comes home for the holidays too and she has to work out how to entertain him over time but she also gets caught up in some of the affairs of her neighbors and village life there's a bit of romance that goes through this book too and it's just a really cozy comforting sort of reading so I recommend this.

8. Christmas at High Rising

Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell

and if you enjoy that then there's this lovely little collection of short stories not all of them are Christmas Christmasy but there is a nice Christmas one in here and this is called 'Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell'.

It's just a slim volume it features some of the same characters that you meet in high rising I love both these covers too they're just so gorgeous so wintry so I had to recommend those.

And then I wanted to share two of my vintage children's books that I absolutely love to pull out at this time of year.

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