The Christmas Eve Book Tag

Hello everybody! Today, for my final day of the 12 days of blogmas, I’m going to be doing the Christmas Eve book tag, which I saw on Aoife’s blog. Onto the post!

Reviews: Festive Favourites

Hello everybody! Today, I’m going to be chatting about some of the Christmas books I’ve been reading, most of which are from this year but the first one is actually one I read last December when I was being rubbish and utterly failing to post reviews. I also want to say sorry that this post is a bit later than intended. Anyway, I’ve really loved reading all of these, so I hope you can find something you like the sound of in here too!

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Guest Post: Favourite Middle Grade Christmas by Rachael from Bellis Does Books

Hello everyone! Today, I’m so excited to be sharing another guest post with you, this time written by my lovely friend Rachael. I’ll pass you over to Rach now, so she can tell you about some of her favourite Christmases in middle grade books!

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I’m so thrilled and honoured that Amy’s asked me to do a guest post for Christmas.  I’m such a huge Christmas fan and we have so many traditions and ‘ways’, both old from when I was little, and new that we’ve introduced as adults in our own home and with Peapod.  It’s no surprise then that I always love a good Christmas celebration in books. They really give me that Baileys-doing-the-tree glow! So, I’ve picked here my five favourite MG Christmasses, in no particular order:

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1. The Nevermoor ‘duels’ between Saint Nick and The Yule Queen. (The Nevermoor books by Jessica Townsend)

Crowds gathering in the cold, dressed to support their chosen festive favourite – greens for the Yule Queen or reds for Saint Nick; the building e citement, songs and chants. The expectant hush… and then the show itself. Making bells out of stars, snowflakes from doves and a spontaneous Christmas tree forest;  shooting sweets out of cannons over the crowd and making a show of  snow and candlelight before Saint Nick sets off to deliver presents and the Yule Queen a white Christmas. A truly magical Christmas eve!

2. The Bramblemas Feasts of the Five Realms (The Adventures of Podkin One-Ear books by Kieran Larwood)

A warm, cosy burrow, lit with torches A great hall, the longburrow, at its centre with tables heaving with food and drink, the air filled with music and laughter. And a bard arriving to tell tall tales by the fireside.  Absolute festive perfection.

3. Hazel and Daisy’s Cambridge Christmas in Mistletoe and Murder (The Murder Most Unladylike books by Robin Stevens)

A Christmas morning that is exactly what Christmas mornings should be – the joy and excitement and promise and treats.  Chocolate orange for breakfast, surprise stockings full of goodies, bacon and eggs, sprigs of holly, “Merry Christmas”es and carefully chosen presents exchanged.  I know I said I’d picked these in no particular order, but this one just might be up near the top of the list! 

4. The transformation of Plas-y-Fran in The Clockwork Crow (Clockwork Crow trilogy by Catherine Fisher)

A cold, broken, empty place becomes a place full of warmth, love and family in a classic Christmas turn around. Fires blaze and candles flicker; the smell of pies and cinnamon mingles with the scent of a huge, fresh Christmas tree twinkling with baubles and stars; and the sound of carols rings out. “In fact it was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen.”

5. Hogwarts/Weasley Christmasses (The Harry Potter books by JK Rowling)

Honestly I umm-ed and ah-ed over including these after JK Rowling’s recent transphobic comments, which I absolutely disagree with and which made me so sad to read.  In the end, I decided to include them because I think it’s possible to separate the art from the artist and while I have no time for their author now, these books will always have a special place in my heart. From the family Christmas at the Weasleys’ proving its not about flash, ecoebsuve gifts but who you share it with to the excitement of a Hogwarts feast, a Harry Potter Christmas is a splendid thing.  The House tables lined with explosive wizard crackers and groaning with dishes of magically appearing deliciousness under a magical ceiling of snow surrounded by huge Christmas trees and carols…. …or a Weasley celebration, with all its ramshackle, full of life comings and goings, to-ings and fro-ings and hustle and bustle, with Mrs Weasley’s cooking and the way everyone else is roped in to help, with home-knitted jumpers and family to embarrass you.

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Thank you so much for reading! Make sure you go and check out Rachael’s blog, and I’d love to hear what your favourite fictional Christmases are in the comments!

Amy x

Guest Post: Ross from the Royal Bookshelf’s Favourite Christmas Traditions

Hello everybody! Today, I’m very excited to be sharing a guest post from Ross, who is one of my oldest (as in in terms of how long I’ve known him!) blogging friends, so I’ll pass you over to him now to tell you about his Christmas traditions!

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Hi everyone! I am so excited to be a guest on Amy’s amazing blog today (as well as very honoured!) 

My name is Ross and I blog over at The Royal Bookshelf. I’m currently studying English with Creative Writing in university and I’m in the middle of my third year. I love all things books, Doctor Who, Lorde and Donna Summer.  Today as part of my guest post, Amy came up with the brilliant suggestion of my favourite Christmas traditions. I am a HUGE Christmas fan, so of course I couldn’t say no to my lovely friend. So without further ado, onto the post!

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Knitting

I’m an old soul at heart, and there’s nothing better in the winter months than curling up in bed with a Christmas pattern, Downton Abbey on full blast in the background. Usually work can be quite hectic because we take orders for ham and turkeys for Christmas Day so this is always my favourite way to unwind.

Doctor Who

As I already mentioned, I am a huge Doctor Who fan. It’s been a part of my life since I was 5 years old and I love it dearly. One of my favourite Christmas Day traditions is sitting down to watch the Christmas special in the evening after a delicious dinner and full day of family festivities.

Love, Actually

I am so completely obsessed with this film!! It’s so romantic, feel-good and just funny. There’s nothing better than watching this in the month of December – it really puts me in the festive mood. This year I’m going to attempt to watch one Christmas movie every day in December – but we’ll see how that turns out, lmao!

Great Expectations

My favourite book of all time is the Charles Dickens classic. I have lost count of how many editions I own and how many times I’ve read this book, but it’s just superb. Whenever the festive season comes around, I always try to make it my mission to read it with a cup of hot chocolate not too far away! If you haven’t read this, I would thoroughly recommend!

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So there you have it – some of my favourite Christmas traditions that instantly jump to mind. I hope you all have a lovely festive season that’s full of books and joy (but aren’t they the same thing anyway?) Amy, thanks so much for having me! x

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Thank you so much for reading! Make sure you go and check Ross’s blogs out, and I’d love to hear about some of your Christmas traditions in the comments!

Amy x

The Jingle Bell Book Tag

Hello everybody! I can’t believe how few of these 12 days of blogmas posts I still have left to do, I’ve been enjoying them so much, and I’m looking forward to getting my last uni exam over with today so I can catch up properly on other people’s Christmassy content. Anyway, today I’m going to be doing the Jingle Bell Book Tag, which I found on the Humpo Show. Onto the post!

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Guest Post: The Gifts Karen McCombie Would Like to Give to Her Characters

Hello everybody! Today, I couldn’t be more excited to be sharing a guest post from Karen McCombie, whose books I’ve loved since I was very young, and they’ve had such a huge impact on my life and been there for me through some very difficult times, so I feel very lucky to have read them and know Karen. Onto the post, which is about the gifts Karen would give some of her characters!

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Reviews: Winter Warmers

Hello everybody! Today, I’m going to be sharing some of my favourite wintry books I’ve been reading recently. Onto the post!

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The Christmas Movies Book Tag

Hello everyone! Today I’m going to be doing the Christmas Movie Book Tag that I found on Aoife’s blog, as Christmas films are definitely one of my favourite parts of the festive season, although I definitely need to do an updated favourites list because it’s changed so much in the last few years. Onto the post!

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Guest Post: Jennifer Killick’s Top Five Christmas Films

Hello everybody! Today, I’m so excited to be sharing a wonderful guest post from Jennifer Killick, who is both an amazing author (if you want something that’ll make you laugh, you won’t go wrong picking up any of her books) and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Onto the post!

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The Christmas Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt Tag

Hello everybody! Today, I’m going to be doing a really fun Christmassy tag that I saw on Kayleigh’s blog last year, which I really enjoyed even though it’s quite possibly the hardest book tag I’ve ever done. Onto the post!

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