My Favourite Genres For Christmastime

As you know, Christmas is coming up.  Usually, I like to read books to get me into the holiday spirit and for that, there are two genres that just feel right for this time of the year.  So today I'm going to share my thoughts on those with you, as well as some recommendations!

Okay, so maybe I'm not the biggest reader of romance in the world, and I tend not to love contemporary romances.  But when it comes to Christmas, my appreciation for these stories is at an all time high.  Christmas is definitely a time for love and joy, so romance novels are perfect!  They make you feel all warm and happy inside, which is exactly the way I want to feel at this time.  It's especially nice if it's just a fluffy romance with less heavy themes.  Here's some of my recommendations in this genre - but keep in mind that I haven't read all too many, and some of them aren't realistic fiction.  Also, I would have put Night of Cake and Puppets' picture in, but it's not the first book in a series so it didn't seem right (but mentioning it is totally okay, right?).  If you've read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and haven't read the novella, you're missing out!

1.  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - more adult than YA, but still hilarious.

2.  Cloudwish by Fiona Wood - diverse YA romance set in Australia.

3.  Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - Simon is super relatable and funny, also the romance is adorable.

4.  The Selection by Kiera Cass - dystopian that focuses heavily on the romance, similar to The Bachelor.

5.  Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry - has some darker themes but is still an amazing romance.

Unlike with romance novels, I read fantasy quite a lot.  It's probably my favourite genre, actually (and therefore I have double the amount of recommendations).  I love reading fantasy novels at Christmas, because they also make me feel warm and cozy - I'm not entirely sure why.  Maybe it's because the characters are usually travelling outside on great adventures and I get to follow them without leaving the comfort of my bed.  I find this kinda weird because I'm always warm at Christmastime, since it's summer.  And yet I still associate Christmas with snow.  Anyway, I'm getting off topic.  Here's some of my top fantasy (or partially fantasy) recommendations!

1.  Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor - collection of three short fantasy stories with romance.

2.  Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - I don't pass up an opportunity to recommend this book!  It also has a killer romance and makes my heart happy.

3.  A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - this one is definitely more suitable to Christmastime than the Throne of Glass series.  It's a little (very little) bit happier.  Also, it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling.

4.  An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir - super awesome fantasy that needs to be read.

5.  Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge - another that I recommend constantly, it's another Beauty and the Beast retelling.

6.  Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - fantasy with dragons and a romance that I enjoyed.

7.  Uprooted by Naomi Novik - okay, this is also a Beauty and the Beast retelling.  I especially liked the protagonist in this book.

8.  The Night Circus - this is not fully a fantasy, but it's perfect for Christmas and also has a romance storyline.

9.  The Princess and the Captain by Anne-Laure Bondoux - this book is just adventure after adventure and I really don't think enough people have read it.

10.  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling - what kind of list would this be if I didn't include Harry Potter?  It even has a Christmas scene in it.

Of course there's also a third genre... sort of.  It's the books that are based solely on the Christmas season.  Typically, they're romances, but not always.  Anyway, the only book I have to recommend to you from this category is My True Love Gave to Me - a collection of short stories centred around Christmas and New Years.  I think the only other Christmas themed book I've read is Let It Snow, and I'm reviewing that tomorrow (spoiler alert: I didn't like it much hence I'm not recommending it).

I hope you enjoyed this post about my favourite genres to read at Christmas time!  Do you have any books or genres that you try to read around Christmas?