Christmas Books for Your Book Club's December Meeting

The holiday season is the perfect time for heartwarming, uplifting book club reads. When the weather outside is frightful, nothing beats cozying up with a festive novel or short story collection. December meetings let your book club get in the holiday spirit and enjoy friendly discussions, maybe over hot cocoa and cookies?

Below you'll find the best Christmas books for book clubs, organized by genre: romance, mystery, classics, and more, plus the newest releases for the 2026 season. Celebrating Hanukkah or planning ahead for January? We also have lists of Hanukkah books for adults and winter book club books, plus tips for hosting a book club holiday party.

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Jump to a section:

• New Christmas Books for 2026 (3)
• Feel-Good Romance (5)
• Romantic Comedy (9)
• Family & Historical Fiction (5)
• Christmas Thrillers & Mysteries (6)
• Christmas Classics (4)
• Humor (3)

Want to know which Christmas books clubs on Bookclubs actually pick most? See our ranked list of the 24 most popular Christmas book club books, ranked by how many clubs met to discuss each one.

New Christmas Books for 2026

	A Married Little Christmas by Abby Jimenez Three feel-good Christmas novellas from Abby Jimenez, featuring a fake-dating scheme, a zombie Santa who falls for his diner server and a three-day engagement. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder by Ally Carter Ella Chambers is the prime suspect when the billionaire's grandson who ruined her life vanishes after a Christmas party, and she's the only one who knows he's alive. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Christmas Staycation by Meghan Quinn A cocky baseball player and a determined people-pleaser fake an engagement in Kringletown in this spicy Christmas rom-com from the author of Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Feel-Good Romance

	Good Spirits by B.K. Borison This paranormal Christmas romance by the author of First Time Caller features the Ghost of Christmas Past falling for the woman he's haunting. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory A Christmas trip to England sparks a steamy romance between a social worker and the Queen's private secretary that's meant to end on New Year's Day. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss Kate Turner's best friend signs her up for twelve dates with twelve men before Christmas, but the one she keeps thinking about is her old friend Matt. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Toni Shiloh Starr Lewis heads home jobless and single for her sister's Christmas Eve wedding to Starr's ex, until her brother's best friend makes coming home look a lot better. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Amor Actually by Mia Sosa, Alexis Daria, Adriana Herrera and others A collection of holiday love stories by Latina romance authors, set during the Christmas season, for clubs that like to sample several voices in one read. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Romantic Comedy

	Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal by Meghan Quinn The author of How My Neighbor Stole Christmas returns with another rivals-to-lovers story, this time featuring warring Christmas tree farms. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas as the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey A hilarious (and sexy) rom-com about the adult children of two former rock stars who team up to get their estranged mothers onstage for a Christmas Eve concert. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox Identical twins swap lives twelve days before Christmas, one leaving her TV cooking job for the family bakery, and both get more than they bargained for. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman Four friends who spend every Christmas together in New York City hold onto their tradition even as their lives start pulling them in different directions. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Most Wonderful Time by Jayne Allen Two women at a crossroads swap homes between Malibu and Chicago at Christmas in this blend of The Holiday and Such a Fun Age. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter Billed as Knives Out with a rom-com twist, it sends two rival authors to a Christmas house party in England, where their host, a famous mystery writer, vanishes. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley Seatmates Maryam and Anna are stranded by a storm in a small Ontario town on their way to Toronto, the week Christmas, Hanukkah and Eid all collide. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz In this gender-swapped Austen retelling, never-in-love Darcy Fitzwilliam comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, for Christmas and meets Luke Bennet, the sardonic carpenter next door. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Family & Historical Fiction

	Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan In the weeks before Christmas 1985, coal merchant Bill Furlong makes a delivery to the convent in his small Irish town and discovers what the nuns have been hiding. A short, quiet novel about complicity and the cost of doing the right thing, with plenty to discuss in a single meeting. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	A Carol for Mrs. Dickens by Rebecca Connolly Inspired by real people, this novel follows Charles Dickens' wife Catherine on her own journey to rekindle the Christmas spirit. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery A funny, messy story of a mother dating a younger man who doesn't want her kids home for Christmas, until they (and even more family) show up. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah This modern-day fable from the author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds follows a woman who gets a miraculous chance at happiness. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The 13th Gift by Joanne Huist Smith In this true story, a widowed mother and her children receive anonymous Christmas gifts that help hold their family together after her husband's sudden death. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Christmas Thrillers & Mysteries

	The Christmas Party by Mikayla Davids A family gathers at an isolated hotel on a dark and stormy December night for the first time since an accident shattered their lives ten years ago. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger In this holiday thriller novella, a bookshop owner who escaped a killer as a girl is pulled back into her past when more women turn up dead. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan Murder strikes at the Christmas party in the sleepy English village of Sherbroome, and it's up to amateur sleuth Mordecai Tremaine to find the killer. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson In this chilling novella, an American art student in London accepts a classmate's invitation to spend the holidays at her family's country manor house. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow Eighteen original stories from writers like Tananarive Due and Stephen Graham Jones explore the darker side of winter solstice traditions around the world. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	A Wonderful Christmas Crime by Jacqueline Frost In this Christmas Tree Farm mystery, a pregnant Holly White sets out to solve the murder of a Christmas ornament thief. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Christmas Classics

	The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn Part fantasy, part history, this "autobiography" (the first in the Santa Chronicles series) blends real history, legend and lots of imagination. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Not centered on Christmas, but this classic opens with one of literature's most memorable holidays and celebrates the spirit of family. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie For a little mystery with your holiday cheer, follow the famed detective as he investigates a murder at a family gathering on Christmas Eve. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A classic for a reason: revisit Scrooge's night with three spirits in Dickens' beloved novella about charity, kindness and second chances. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Humor

	The Jolliest Bunch by Danny Pellegrino A collection of heartfelt, hilarious and true stories of holiday family mayhem from podcaster and author Danny Pellegrino. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris A beloved collection of David Sedaris' holiday stories, including his account of working as a Macy's elf, that many readers revisit every December. Buy the Book Add to Shelf
	Skipping Christmas by John Grisham Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas entirely and take a cruise, until their daughter announces she's coming home for the holidays. Buy the Book Add to Shelf

Related Content

• How To Host a Book Club Holiday Party
• The 24 Most Popular Christmas Books for Book Clubs, Ranked
• 12 Hanukkah Books for Adults and Book Clubs
• 17 Winter Book Club Books for Long, Cold Nights
• 2025 Holiday Gift Guide: Books for Every Reader
• The Ultimate List of Book Club Discussion Questions for Fiction and Nonfiction