something "cosy" for lead up to christmas - NOT those cupcake cafe style ones though!

[ShyGirlie]

looking for something a bit heartwarming, a nice easy read for the run-up to christmas. something to warm up these winter evenings! Any suggestions?

really hate those overtly christmassy chick-lit ones though, like christmas at the cupcake cafe kinda ones. just too predictable and boring.

if its available cheap on kindle thats an added bonus!

[holeinmyheart]

For The Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico, he wrote the Snow Goose. Aw , it gets me every time I read it. It is a beautiful heart breaking, but happy ending, wonderfully written love story. Thin book and an easy read. Or the Short stories of FScott FItzgerald. Wonderful magical writer. He wrote 'The Great Gatsby' which I am not a fan of, but his short stories are the best ever written in the whole world( you can tell I am a fan)
Ann of Green Gables is a classic. Wonderful lovely heartwarming book. You can down load a Audio version free from free Audio books. Google them. If you want any more suggestions I can give them to you as I am an avid reader.

[Westendgal]

The Snow Child is great. Set in Alaska (in the snow!), it is a magical story. Wish I could read it again afresh-- it's that good.

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

If I had a whole afternoon and evening in deepest winter all to myself, with a comfortable armchair and a good fire, I'd read Arthur Ransome's Winter Journey.

Yes, written for children, but his work is far better than many writers for adults.

The Snow Child is also lovely.

(I agree with you, OP, anything with shoes/handbags/cupcakes on the cover is a book to avoid like the plague.)

[ShyGirlie]

so glad i got some replies! thought i'd be shunned!!

handbags and shoes on the front cover..... urghhh!!! i read to escape that kind of horrible, materialistic and false world.

i have just finished re-reading all of the anne of green gables books. a real blast from my pre-teen years and just incredible! such evocative writing.

thanks so much for the recommendations, off to check some of them out. nothing beats a lovely book!

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

ShyGirlie that's a coincidence! I've recently re-read a lot of the Anne of Green Gables books. Seduced by lovely new hardback editions published by Simon & Schuster, couldn't resist them. The stories are lovely, aren't they?

Why would you be shunned?!!

[TyrannosaurusBex]

E M Delafield's Provincial Lady series and E F Benson's Mapp and Lucia books are an easy read but witty and entertaining. Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle is beautiful and Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day is a grown-up's fairy tale. None of them Christmas-themed but all life-affirming!

[EnlightenedOwl]

I'm just reading Hello from The Gillespies by Monica McInerney. Only downloaded it to Kindle yesterday and nearly finished it! Its very, very good

[Bluestocking]

Anything by Elizabeth Goudge. I love The Little White Horse (which was made into a really crappy film The Secret of Moonacre) which is really a children's book, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of her fiction.

[skolastica]

Longbourn, Jo Baker. Just started it - unexpectedly easy and heartwarming so far.