10 Books to Help You Get Through the Holidays

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I’ve put together a list of books to read this holiday. Think of it as a guide to “surviving the holidays, one book at a time”. So when you are looking for a little escape this holiday season, pick up a good book and take a few moments for yourself.

Some people love the holidays…and then, there are the rest of us. Whether the holidays have painful memories for you or you are just a little over doing the same thing

every.

single.

year.

There is a pretty good chance that you will have some down time this holiday season. Check out the following recommended books to read this holiday. While you are traveling, visiting family and friends, or just staying home, these winter holidays are a great time to get lost in a good book.

Disclosure:  I received a digital ARC (advanced review copy) of Reputation by Sara Shepard and Lock Every Door by Riley Sager from the publisher, Dutton Books of Penguin Random House, in exchange for my honest review. My opinions of these books are my own. 

Books to Read When You Want to Escape the Holidays

Reputation: A Novel by Sara Shepard. A University gets hacked. The private emails of 40,000 people on campus are leaked online for everyone to read. What secrets get revealed? The book jumps from person to person, offering different perspectives of what is going on as the story unfolds. Like pieces to a puzzle, you slowly find out what has really been going on and how it is all connected in some way. I loved how this book keeps you guessing. As you learn about each character and get sucked into their story, the author makes a pivot and sucks you into the story of a completely different character. When you completely forget about a character, they pop up again with more information about their story. This book is like a good rollercoaster. You won’t want to put it down until you find out what happens at the end.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. I loved the author’s descriptive language in this book. He didn’t have so much of it that you lost interest yet had just enough to paint the perfect picture. This book is about a girl that takes a job in New York as an apartment sitter. The job pays GREAT! However, the rules for “living” there are a little bizarre. But she is broke and newly single, she’s desperate for a new start. Why is the Bartholomew so secretive? This book sticks with you. When I wasn’t reading it, I found myself thinking about it, wondering what would happen next.

Read the Book then Bingewatch the Series

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. This is the second book to Handmaid’s Tale. If you have seen the Hulu show you are going to want to read the books as well. The books offer so many more details to the show. It is a must-read for any fan. This book recently won an 11th Annual Goodreads Choice Award in Fiction.

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. I’ve raved about how much I love the Netflix series and book YOU. This is the continuation of Joe’s story. At the end of YOU, I wanted to know more about Joe and Caroline delivers in this second book. The second season of YOU will be released Dec. 26, 2019 on Netflix. You can bet that I’ll be bingewatching the entire second season of the holidays. I would highly recommend reading the book either before or after watching the series on Netflix.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Get a glimpse into what life is like as a therapist. In this book you not only get the perspective of a therapist but also the perspective of a therapist as a patient. This book helps to open your eyes to what it means to be human. In this book you’ll learn that we all have our own stuff going on. This is a book that will have you thinking not just about your own life but the lives of others as well. You more than likely will want to highlight a lot of quotes from this one. This book is being developed into a series for ABC!

More Books to Read this Holiday:

Lie to Me by J. T. Ellison. Just what exactly has been going on in the Montclair’s home. A couple whom, on the outside, seems like they live a perfect, ideal life. But when his wife, Sutton, goes missing, Ethan becomes the main suspect. Where did she go? Was she killed? There are so many questions. As the story unravels you find out what REALLY happened.

Watching You by Lisa Jewell. I can’t pass up a good psychological thriller. This title caught my eye but the book keeps you guessing until the very end. If you like books with twists and turns, you’ll love this. In this book, every one seems to be watching everybody else in the neighborhood. When there has been a murder, everyone also seems to be keeping secrets.

VOX by Christina Dalcher is a dystopian novel. Imagine being a woman living a world where you are only allowed to speak a certain number of words each day. A counter on your wrist keeps track of how often you’ve spoken. Could you survive? Would you want to?

A Bit of Motivation for the New Year

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. This is a book to help you start on the right foot for the New Year. This book is an incredibly motivator. This book helped me get out of a tremendous funk, and for that I’m forever grateful. If you need a little inspiration, this is a great book for that.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. Another motivational book to get you excited about tackling the next decade. This is a book for creatives. This book inspires you to not be afraid to take chances or to fail. We are all afraid of something, the question is: what are you going to create in face of that fear?

Here’s a Tip to Read More Books: Keep eBooks on Your Phone at all Times

All of these books are available on Amazon. What I like to do is keep several ebooks loaded onto my phone, in the Amazon Kindle App. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can always have something to read with your digital subscription. I like to always have a book on hand for those times when I’m waiting somewhere when I’m traveling.

Want more book recommendations?

Check out our Domestic Book Club. A free virtual book club where each month we read and discuss a different book from the comforts of home.