Time for a book tag and it’s a christmassy one created by Emma at Turn Another Page. You can find the original tag here.
A Book With Christmas in the Title
FATHER CHRISTMAS, by Raymond Briggs is a Christmas classic in my house (so much so that there was outrage when our copy was thrown out and a new one had to be purchased immediately!)
This is a graphic novel about a very grumpy father Christmas delivering all the presents on Christmas Eve and not having a good time of it. I find it funny and there are phrases that have passed into Poulton family sayings from this book.
A book that has a scene set at Christmas
DASH AND LILY’S BOOK OF DARES, by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan, is an adorable rom-com set in New York over the festive season between one very grumpy, anti-Christmas guy and one into-everything-about-the-festive-season girl. They start exchanging a notebook of dares and something sparks.
It has a scene or two set on Christmas day (which do not go to either characters’ plans!) Maybe Christmas should be a smaller part of the book to fit this prompt but this book is too much fun not to include it!
A Book that has a Red and/or Green Cover
It was not as hard as I thought it would be to find a cover that’s both green and red (I thought, given we think them clashing colours, designers would stick with one or the other!) However, IMMORTAL LONGINGS, by Chloe Gong does feature both on the UK cover.
This is Chloe Gong’s first adult book, the start of a trilogy in a sci-fi dystopia where people can jump bodies. It’s also a very loose retelling of Anthony and Cleopatra (I know the play and I was struggling somewhat.)
A Book adapted into a Film/TV show that’s always on at Christmas
As someone who doesn’t watch much TV at any time of year (and the endless special episodes don’t really entire me in!), this was harder than I thought. And also somewhat of a guess.
However, given how long and famous they are, someone has to be showing The Lord of the Rings, right? Maybe not cosy Christmasy movies, but they are at least long and will reduce the amount of time arguing?
A Book that sends the Characters on a Magical Quest
Given I used The Lord of the Rings above, it’s time for another classic fantasy novel: PAWN OF PROPHECY, by David Eddings. This is the first in his Belgariad series (and then the companion/sequel series, The Malloreon.)
There are many things about classic fantasy that haven’t aged well (racial coding, role of women etc) but there are all sorts of classic fantasy tropes like the epic quest against the dark lord who has no shades of grey that I really like and wish we saw more of in modern fantasy. Sometimes, you want a simple story of good vs evil, and a bunch of magical macguffins to find along the way.
A Book Cover as White as Snow
Most of the “white” covers on my blog drive are not exactly crisp white. More a dirty grey. Which, fair enough, most snow around here (London) turns that colour pretty quickly (yay, pollution) but for this tag I wanted something more idyllic.
QUIET POWER, by Susan Cain, is pretty white. It is not quite the book I was meant to read for book club – I accidentally read the teen version rather than the adult! This is a help guide and manifesto for introverts that I think would have been very useful for younger me. I think current me would have preferred the adult version.
An Author whose Name is associated with Christmas
Marisa Noelle’s surname isn’t quite the French “Noel”, (please mentally add the dots over the e) but it’s close enough to count for this prompt I think. (I didn’t want to use the same name as Emma, as that felt too much like cheating!)
I also really like that this cover is all red and the white around the conical flask could, at a stretch, be seen as a string of fairy lights (and at another stretch, the flask itself is kind of tree shaped.) Not to mention red is a Christmassy colour (OK, it’s not very Christmassy, but if you squint?)
A Book you were Given as a Christmas Gift
My friend and I typically give each other a book on Christmas Eve after finding out about the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod. (We also agree each year who gave the better book.)
JULIA AND THE SHARK, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave with Tom de Freston, is the first Jolabokaflod book I got, and it’s the first co-created kids book by the author-artist wife-husband duo, using monochrome with blocks of yellow in the art. It’s visually striking and a beautiful tale too.
A Book that’s not necessarily about Christmas but that you Associate with the Season
I think this is the one I thought hardest about. I don’t typically read the same books each year (I used to with a few, but they were very Christmassy and most have already been mentioned, but that habit has rather fallen by the by.)
Hoping that this book is wintry more than Christmassy, the last of my “used to read once a year” books is THE SNOW CHILD, by Eowyn Ivey. Maybe I should read it this year, get back in the tradition (I also apparently haven’t read it since starting this blog five years ago…)
Spell Christmas in Books
C – CHILDREN OF TIME, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
H – HIDE, by Kierstan White
R – REPUATION, by Lex Croucher
I – IF I HAVE TO BE HAUNTED, by Miranda Sun
S – SAINT, by Adrienne Young
T – THRAWN TREASON, by Timothy Zahn
M – MERMEDUSA, by Thomas Taylor
A – ABANDON, by Blake Crouch
S – SERPENT OF THE SANDS, by Vashti Hardy
I am tagging Rebbie (Rebbie Reviews), Mai (Mai’s Musings), and anyone who wants to have a go!
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 