11 Books That Make You Feel All Christmassy Inside

The holidays go by way too fast—you’re so busy shopping, traveling, and baking cookies that it’s sometimes hard to live in the moment and enjoy the spirit of the season. That’s why we go totally nuts with all that garlanding. We only have a few weeks to do this right! Even though you’re busy, don’t neglect your reading. It will calm you down during any panic attack the holidays serve you. Better yet, use your reading time to embrace the season even more. Reading the following books is like singing carols, eating cookies, and watching a cute toddler open a gift all at once!
2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas, by Marie Helene Bertino 
The lives of Madeleine Altimari (a precocious nine-year-old who just lost her mother), Sarina Greene (Madeleine’s fifth-grade teacher, hoping to reignite sparks with an old high school crush), and Lorca (owner of The Cat’s Pajamas jazz club, under the gun to quickly raise $30,000 to save it) blend beautifully in this sparkling debut novel set on the streets of Philadelphia on Christmas Eve. Reading Bertino’s spirited Christmas adventure is like stepping out into a blustery city avenue late on December 24, or like being inside a snow globe.
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins
YA fans, get excited. This holiday anthology features some of the brightest teen writers out there, and if you think you enjoy their writing already, just wait until you read their works sprinkled with a little holiday magic. Start off with Rainbow Rowell (reason enough to buy this book), then catch stories from Holly Black, Matt De La Peña, Gayle Forman, David Levithan, Kelly Link, and more. You’ll get stories from the authors you’re already obsessed with, and discover new writers to fall in love with. We started swooning the second we saw the cover.
Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris
It’s the holidays (!!!), and the proper way to celebrate is by treating yourself to pages and pages of belly laugh–inducing words spiked with holiday nonsense brought to you buy one of the funniest guys in the universe, David Sedaris. Anchored by “SantaLand Diaries,” the outrageous account of Sedaris throwing himself into the full-time position of elf at Macy’s SantaLand, the collection of short stories seriously brings the funny—with titles like”Dinah the Christmas Whore,” need we say more?
Landline, by Rainbow Rowell
This modern take on It’s a Wonderful Life has everything you love about a great Rainbow Rowell book: characters that spring off the page, sharp dialogue, and a completely unique story. Rowell’s leading lady, Georgie McCool, a TV writer, is separated from her family for the holidays, and forced to mend her struggling relationship with her husband via a time-traveling landline phone, which she’s discovered in her mother’s house. Will she fix things in time for Christmas? I’m not telling you! It’s a twist on your classic portrait of a marriage—the twist brought to you by the time-traveling phone, and Rowell’s impossible-to-reproduce package of wit, warmth, and hilarity.
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
Have a Victorian Christmas this year by visiting the world of Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, The Ghost of Christmas Past, and Ebeneezer Scrooge  (what a name!). You know the story, you’ve seen the Muppet interpretation, but have you ever read the classic text? Now’s the time to take in the words (like “Bah humbug!”) Charles Dickens wrote more than 160 years ago. See for yourself why this story has become such a classic. Just try not to picture Goofy as Marley, à la Mickey’s Christmas Carol. (Actually, on second thought, go for it.)
Letters From Father Christmas, J.R.R. Tolkien
Who knew the creator of Middle-earth was such a softie? For more than 20 years, he wrote letters to his children from Santa Claus, detailing Santa’s adventures at the North Pole, and the letters are beautifully gathered in Letters From Father Christmas. Reading it feels like discovering an ancient relic for the first time—it’s a truly magical experience that will make you feel like a kid again. And obviously a must-read for any Tolkien fan.
The Greatest Gift, by Philip Van Doren Stern
Watching It’s a Wonderful Life on TV might be a holiday tradition in your home, but did you know it was based on a private Christmas card penned by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943? The movie did an excellent job bringing The Greatest Gift to screen, but reading it will, as reading the book always does, really pull you inside the world of George Bailey.
A Christmas Memory, by Truman Capote 
Truman Capote’s slim Christmas story is an evocative and touching account of one of his own boyhood Christmases in 1930s Alabama. In stark, stripped-down language striking in its simplicity and depth, Truman writes about the relationship seven-year-old Buddy has with a much older cousin. “I am seven; she is sixty-something. We are cousins, very distant ones, and we have lived together—well, as long as I can remember. We are each other’s best friend.” BYO-tissue box.
Miracle on 34th Street, by Valentine Davies
When a man named Kris Kringle, hired Santa Claus at Macy’s, insists he is the real Santa, frosty director Doris is skeptical, and works hard to shield him from coloring the opinion of her unbelieving six-year-old daughter, Susan. But Doris’s cynicism is tested when Mr. Kringle gets forced in court to prove who he really is, and ends up working some real magic for Christmas. Reading this sweet, hopeful story (that you’ve probably seen on TV ten million times) will strengthen your spirits this holiday season.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson
The Herdmans, “the worst kids in the history of the world,” bully their way into a church’s Christmas pageant when they hear free refreshments are served. In the end, they end up asking some remarkably insightful questions about the nativity story and the meaning of Chistmas. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever spends a good majority of its length being straight-up hilarious, but ends with a profoundly touching Christmas message delivered in a non-judgey way. This book is a quickie (you can probably read it in an hour) but a must-read, even if you already read it when you were 10. Especially if you read it when you were 10. It will be a whole new experience this time around.
The Box of Delights, by John Masefield
Little-known fact: this holiday treat and adventure all in one helped set the grounds for the works of T.H. White (The Sword in the Stone) and C.S. Lewis. Of The Box of Delights, Lewis said “The beauties, all the ‘delights’ that keep on emerging from the box—are so exquisite, and quite unlike anything I have seen elsewhere.” The adventure begins with Kay, who meets the mysterious Cole Hawlings at a train station. Hawlings is the owner and protector of a space- and time traveling-box prized by a gang of criminals. The moment Hawling entrusts the box to Kay, it’s clear the magic is about to begin. When the criminals, desperate for the box, threaten to kidnap Kay’s spunky friend Maria Jones (“I shall shoot and I shall shock, as long as my name’s Maria!”) and Grinch-off Christmas for good, Kay is faced with two tasks: to protect the box and to save Christmas.
What’s your favorite holiday story?