November 2025

Holiday Reading Guide

Thanksgiving is over. The pumpkins and mums are past their prime. The tree has been trimmed. The Christmas music is playing. It’s officially time to choose a few holiday books to get us in the spirit. I’ve compiled a few lists for you to build your own holiday TBR this year. Read on to see books I’ve read and loved and books that are on my list to read this year.

10 Dysfunctional Family Books to Make You Feel Better About Your Own Crazy Crew This Holiday Season

‘Tis the season for family gatherings. If you’re anything like literally everyone else, you’ve got a few members of the family that know how to push your buttons. Or you may be the button pusher. Whatever your role, we can all agree fictional dysfunctional families are far more entertaining than the real deal. So, if you find yourself dreading Thanksgiving dinner with a particular aunt, uncle, in-law, or sibling, I’ve put together a list of books that will give you a reason to sneak away and escape into another family’s drama so you can avoid your own.

My November TBR

Are you in holiday mode yet? I’m getting there. We’re halfway through the month and my first holiday audiobook came through on the Libby app, so maybe I’ll be enticed to start switching my pumpkins for stockings once it’s over. I do love the magic of the Christmas season. Okay, I guess I am kind of ready!

In the meantime, I’m really hoping to squeeze in another fall book plus I need to finish a fantasy book for book club, and I hope to FINALLY get around to the new Dan Brown. Ahhh, so many books, so little time! Let’s have a look at the five books I’m hoping to read this month.

Fall Reading Essentials

Imagine. Your house is spotlessly clean. The kitchen is immaculate, laundry done and put away, not a speck of dust in sight. You are showered with freshly washed and dried hair; you’ve donned your most cozy loungewear. There’s still-warm cookies on the cooling rack. The kettle whistles so you can pour yourself a cuppa. The day is overcast and chilly, maybe a light drizzle is falling, the kind that pat pat pats against the window. You’ve turned on an ambient video of your choice of background noise such as rainfall, ocean waves, or (my favorite) a crackling fireplace. Next, you light your seasonal candle because you know the scent of your baking endeavors will soon fade. After making a plate of cookies and preparing a cup of chai, you grab your coziest blanket and your current read and settle into the best reading spot in your house (the couch for me) to read away an hour or two.