Christmas Down the TBR Hole Challenge | Blogmas Guest Post
Christmas Down the TBR Hole Challenge | Blogmas Guest Post
Hello friends! It’s getting SO CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS NOW. Just 10 days away, wow this year went quick. Today’s Blogmas post is a guest post written by a good friend of mine, Cerys, which I’m so excited to share with you today.
I hope you enjoy and share some love with her.
Hey everyone! I want to say a huge thanks to Jenn for having me here today! Jenn is also doing a guest post over on my blog that you can check out here.
Today I am going to share with you a Christmas/winter version of the Down The TBR Hole challenge.
This was created by Lia at Lost In A Story and you can find the original post here. Basically, the Down the TBR Hole challenge goes like this;
- Go to your goodreads to-read shelf,
- Change the order to ascending date added,
- Take the first 5 (in my case, 10) books,
- Read the synopses of the books and decide if you want to keep it or if it should go.
I’m going to be doing it a little bit differently. As this is Blogmas I have gone through my huge TBR and found 10 books that are either Christmassy or wintery. Some of them literally have the word ‘snow’ in them, or have a winter scene on the cover, but it counts, okay. Trust me.
1. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.
Let It Snow has been on my TBR, added way back during my John Green obsession. While I recently loved Turtles All The Way Down, I don’t feel the necessity to read this. And yes, I know there are also other authors, but this just doesn’t intrigue me as much as it did six years ago.
Verdict: Go
2. Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful colour drawing. They were from Father Christmas, telling wonderful tales of life at the North Pole.
From the first note to Tolkien’s eldest son in 1920 to the final poignant letter to his daughter in 1943, this book collects all the remarkable letters and pictures in one enchanting edition.
This is something that I added to my TBR more recently and definitely intrigues me. It seems like a wonderful blend of fiction and reality with an insight into the lives of Tolkien’s children and the stories that may have excited and interested them.
Verdict: Keep
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens. It was first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. Carol tells the story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation resulting from a supernatural visit by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. The book was written and published in early Victorian era Britain, a period when there was strong nostalgia for old Christmas traditions together with the introduction of new customs, such as Christmas trees and greeting cards. Dickens’ sources for the tale appear to be many and varied, but are, principally, the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales.
I have read Dickens before and I think it’s an understatement to say that I did not love it. I have also seen adaptations of A Christmas Carol and I have never really enjoyed them either. I don’t really know why it’s still on my TBR to be honest.
Verdict: Go
4. The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.
She didn’t.
And then she died.
Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge–as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.
Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable.
But this year, everything is about to change…
Verdict: Go
5. Ice Life Fire and Frost Like Night by Sara Taasch
It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.
Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?
Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?
As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.
I read the first book in this series this year, Snow Like Ashes, and I did not enjoy it. I had heard amazing things abut this series and so I added these three books to my TBR straight away. After finding the first book such a disappointment, I don’t think I will be continuing with the series.
Verdict: Go
6. The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember
Having long-wondered what lives beyond the ice shelf, nineteen-year-old mermaid Ersel learns of the life she wants when she rescues and befriends Ragna, a shield-maiden stranded on the mermen’s glacier. But when Ersel’s childhood friend and suitor catches them together, he gives Ersel a choice: say goodbye to Ragna or face justice at the hands of the glacier’s brutal king.
Determined to forge a different fate, Ersel seeks help from Loki. But such deals are never as one expects, and the outcome sees her exiled from the only home and protection she’s known. To save herself from perishing in the barren, underwater wasteland and be reunited with the human she’s come to love, Ersel must try to outsmart the God of Lies.
This honestly does sound very intriguing, but it takes a certain kind of mood for me to be tempted by a retelling. Seeing as I don’t own this book, and I do own many other retellings I have not yet read, I feel like this is not a book I will ever get to.
Verdict: Go
7. Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale.
At sixteen, Mina’s mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone has never beat at all, in fact, but shed always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the kings heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that shell have to become a stepmother.
Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queens image, at her fathers order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to doand who to be to win back the only mother shes ever known or else defeat her once and for all.
Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.
I love Frozen and I love The Bloody Chamber, but as with The Seafarer’s Kiss I’m just not feeling retellings and this is not a book that I own. It has an intriguing concept, but there are so many books that I want to read and buy, I don’t ever see this being at the top of my list.
Verdict: Go
8. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.
Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
You might be able to guess that this was a book I wanted to read when I was massively into The Raven Cycle. I loved those books so much but I think the time has been and gone for me to read Shiver. If this was two years ago I would have devoured this book, but I just don’t feel that compelled to read Maggie Stiefvater right now.
Verdict: Go
9. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
Internationally acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbø’s antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.
Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.
Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.
I went through a phase of wanting to read more thrillers, but right now I don’t really feel any need or want for this genre. Perhaps one day I will, but for now this isn’t something I can see myself picking up.
Verdict: Go
10. Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp
Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return.
Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town’s lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she’s a stranger.
Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter…
I have to admit that the synopsis does not grip me, but I have heard great reviews for this book. However, I don’t think that it’s quite enough to sway me.
Verdict: Go
The Results
Keep: 1 Go: 9
I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I find it so therapeutic to go through my big list of books that I want to read and really think about how much they mean to me. I have over 400 books on my TBR, so to get rid of even a small amount is progress. I think I’ve also come to the conclusion that I do not enjoy books with a winter/Christmas theme. I’m learning new things about myself every day!
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Thank you so much Cerys for your post! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Have you read any of these?
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4 Comments
This sounds pretty cool and it’s an amazing way and an excuse for me to clear out my Goodreads TBR shelf. Thanks 💛
Hi Cerys! I read Let It Snow and, honestly, I was so underwhelmed that the whole plot is just a massive blurr in my head… And congrats on the purge!! ❄️
You are ruthless. I always ending up keeping every book.
Yea, the Snow Like Ashes books just aren’t for me. I was very underwhelmed by the first book, and don’t intend to finish the trilogy any time soon, sadly. I have never heard of the Tolkien one before but I NEED THAT IN MY LIFE!❤️