Wednesday 7 December 2016

#Blogmas 2016 - Day 6 - The Jingle Bell Tag : festive looking books



The meme itself originates with Richard @ The Humpo Show. I've tweaked it though in that I am doing it over the course of 6 days instead of as one single post. Today is day 3.


The Categories



  • “All I Want For Christmas Is You…” | What book do you want to see under the Christmas Tree?
  • “Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time…” | What book that you have read this year have you enjoyed the most?
  • “It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” | Which book has most festive look to it?
  • Elf | What book unleashes your inner child?
  • The Grinch | Your favourite villain…
  • The Holiday | Name your favourite TWO couples…


“It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas…”

Which book has most festive look to it?



I don't personally read many Christmas books. The last Christmas themed book I read was a Harlequin paranormal romance novel and as such didn't have a very festive cover, which is to be expected really. I have a favorite festive picture book though so I am going to showcase that in addition to 2 Christmas themed novels I discovered on Goodreads, which I have now placed a hold on at the local public library because they actually sound really entertaining.

A Porcupine in a Pine Tree: A Canadian 12 Days of Christmas by Helaine Becker & Werner Zimmermann 

This became my favourite Christmas picture book as soon as it was published in 2010. I am 99% sure every child I know got given this book for Christmas that year by me. I'm definitely taking it to Christmas this year to read to my little cousins. To me this is a very festive cover, how can it not be? It's got a Charlie Brown Christmas-esque Christmas tree. 

This is a truly delightful kids read for Christmas, and not just for Canadians! Obviously it is Canadian focused. It's the 12 Days of Christmas adapted to feature 100% Canadian gifts, from Moose to Maple Leafs and everything else you probably think of when you think Canadian. The best part is that it's written in a way where it's still totally singable. In fact when I reread it last week after finding it on my shelves, I sang it out loud as I read it.

Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #1) by Vicki Delany

I saw the title of the second book in this series as I was browsing through Goodreads's lists of Christmas books and between that and the cosy cover I knew I needed to look up the first one. You may or may not remember but I LOVE puns and word play and this title, Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen is a fantastically done wordplay on the classic Christmas carol Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. You also can't argue that the cover art isn't perfectly festive looking! It's got pretty much everything we associate with Christmas decor. I've got a hold on it and I look forward to reading it.

Here's the Goodreads summary: 

"FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!
In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer…
As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.
Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…"



We Wish You a Murderous Christmas (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #2) by Vicki Delany

The sequel to the above book, and with an equally glorious Christmas carol wordplay for a title. I actually think this one's cover is even more festive than the first book in the series. Honestly I didn't think that was possible after seeing the first book, but it totally is, all it's missing is some chestnuts roasting on that open fire. This is brand new, just published November 1 of this year. These books are really highly rated so I am excited to read them. Luckily even though it's new one of my local public libraries does own a copy so I'll grab that after I finish the first one if I do end up liking it.

Here's what Goodreads has to say about this one:

"A grinch is spoiling the holiday cheer and causing fear in the latest from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen...

It’s Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn.
But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.
When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects—and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays..."






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