It is the beginning of December, the time of year to get you in the Christmas spirit. Christmas is a magical time, and this year, for me, will be extra magical, since I will be welcoming a new human being into the world. My due date is on December 25th, but I have a feeling that it will be before Christmas. Time will tell. I am on maternity leave from work, which starts at least 4 weeks before your due date. In the Netherlands, you get a total of 16 weeks off, which is funded by our government. As I am writing this, I do not yet know how things will go. I have been struggling with my energy; some days, all I want to do is sleep. I try to get some reading done every day, even if it is only one or two pages.

Christmas is my favourite time of year. I am excited to start decorating, baking Christmas cookies, and of course, enjoying every minute of my time off. I love reading some Christmas books before Christmas, it is the time of year I usually take my holidays. Working around the holidays is not for me, and I have made it my personal goal to have the last two weeks of the year off work. I have tried a couple of times to work through the holidays, but I just don't enjoy the holidays as much when I have the obligation of work as well.

Let us get into some of the books that I would love to read and want to highlight for you. I have two 2025 releases on this list; the rest will be older books that I hope to get to someday. From this list, there are only two that I already own, and therefore going to try to prioritize reading them first.

A Spell for Midwinter's Hearts by Morgan Lockhart This looks so cute and, of course, Christmassy. This is the first 2025 release I would like to introduce to you. It couldn't sound more like a Hallmark movie if it wanted to, except the difference here are the witches and we are getting involved with a coven of them. How exciting!

Good Spirits by B.K. Borison Good Spirits is already getting a lot of hype; this is why I started with the underdog, above. I think Good Spirits is getting a special edition from Illumicrate, or was it Fairyloot? One of them, at least, it is a new twist on Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. Where the ghost of Christmas past falls in love with the woman he is haunting. This sounds like a wonderful Christmas read, but it might also have some real bite to it as well.

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen This book has been lounging on my shelves since last Christmas. You might know the author of her successful series The Queen of the Tearling. The Kingdom of Sweets is a Christmas horror story, and her dark take on the Nutcracker. Ever since this came out in 2023 I have wanted to read it. I like dark twists on fairy tales, and this sounds incredible. I have not read her other series, so I am not familiar with her writing style. I think I will dive into this one this year, though.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favourite movies of all time. If you have not watched it, please stop reading and go watch it. It is a movie I rewatch almost every year. The idea for this novel ties in with the movie; in this book, the Prince of Christmas falls in love with the Prince of Halloween. That is what sold me on this book; I don't need any more information than that. It better be good!

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig Sometimes, very rarely, I find the movie before I knew it was based on a book. This is what happened with A Boy Called Christmas, I was not aware that the movie was based on the book by Matt Haig. This is a middle-grade book, so it is not strange that I did not know about it, as I generally do not keep up with what is being published for children. I guess that will be changing soon enough. In case you have not seen the movie or already read this book, it is an origin story on how Santa Claus came to be. The movie is pure magic, so I hope the book will be as well.

Winterspell by Claire Legrand This is also a retelling of the Nutcracker. This book is a bit older, and I have not heard much hype around it as far as I know. The story is set in the land of Cane, which has been at war for a long time. The main character, Clara, goes there to find her father, who has been abducted. This is a young adult story, and also a bit of a dark twist, on the well-known fairy tale.

Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar Guess what, everybody loves retelling the Nutcracker, because like Winterspell and The Kingdom of Sweets this is also a retelling of this famous story. What I like about this one is that ballet is present, and this has a more historical setting than the other two.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett This is on almost every list you will find of magical Christmas books, and for good reason. Terry Pratchett is a very beloved author. His most famous series is the Discworld series, of which Hogfather is also part, the 20th novel in the series; however, I have heard that you can read this as a standalone. So far, I have only read the first novel, A Color of Magic, which was awesome, but my English was not as good as it is now, so it was also very hard to read. I would love to read some more Terry Pratchett. Hogfather would be my choice to read during the Holiday season.

Winterfrost Market by Jenni Sandiford After all those dark retellings, let's snuggle up with a hot cup of tea and a copy of Winterfrost Market. This is a cozy fantasy story, about tea, a magical kingdom, and the fae. This book was released last year, and I have not heard anyone talking about it, but cozy vibes is my second Christmas flavour so keep it coming. There is also a second book in this series, which was released on the 24th of October 2025, and it is called Foresthave Bakery.

Christmas Magic by Alexandra Moody Last on the list, a book I have already read and really love. I thought it was something different from anything Christmas I have read before. I was going to put the second book in the series on this list, but I do not like recommending a second book in the series, so I am going with Christmas Magic, which is set in our world, it is an urban fantasy story with reindeer shifters! Do I need to say more? I wrote a review for this back in 2023, so if you would like to learn more, hop over to my review.

I hope you enjoyed reading about these magical Christmas books. If I am not able to check in before Christmas, I want to wish a wonderful Christmas! Let me know if you will be reading any of these books.

If you can't get enough of my content, consider finding me on my other websites. If you are interested in music, I write about it on Finding Flight Cases. If you love collecting books, I have started a secondhand online bookstore, Arcane Archives, I would love to help you find your next fantasy or science fiction read.