What Books To Read this Christmas Holiday Season!

What Holiday Book Should I read?

It’s that time of year! Time to curl up in a front of a fire – or go to bed early – with a lovely, cozy holiday book.

But there are so many! How can you choose?

I developed the Lindsay Emory Holiday Book Quiz to help you pick the perfect read this Christmas.

Get a piece of paper and a pen and answer this easy 6 question quiz!

1.       My favorite holiday recipes come from …

a.   Great Grandma Margaret’s time tested recipe books

b.      Pinterest

c.      Hallmark Home & Family

d.      Nigella Lawson

2.       My feelings about Emma Thompson…

a.       She was iconic in Sense & Sensibility

b.      She’s ruined Christmas with Last Christmas

c.       Oh! She married her cute coworker, right? That actor?

d.      I just love her British accent. It sounds so posh.

3.       My perfect holiday season isn’t complete without…

a.       Traditions like Christmas crackers, stockings & caroling

b.      A re-watch of Love, Actually

c.       A marathon of Hallmark movies & baking cookies

d.      A charcuterie board & champagne

4.       My Spotify holiday playlist includes…

a.      Carols and Celtic music

b.      Last Christmas by Wham!

c.       All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey

d.      Classics by Michael Buble and Tony Bennett

5.       My must-have holiday wardrobe accessory…

a.      A hand-knitted Scottish wool scarf

b.      A red Starbucks cup

c.      A fun Christmas sweatshirt & holiday leggings

d.      A French linen apron & Loro Piana sweater

6.       The holiday recipe I most want to try to make:

a.       A traditional figgy pudding

b.      Hot chocolate spiked with Peppermint Schnapps and Godiva liqueur

c.       Stuffed Caramel Pretzel Skillet Cookie (from Hallmark Channel Home & Family)

d.      Martha Stewart’s classic eggnog with fresh grated nutmeg

Now review all your answers… Did you get…

Mostly A’s? You will LOVE a historical romance!

Carriages, long walks in the country and yule logs make you swoon like a debutante at a Christmas ball.

A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong – Cecilia Grant (FREE!)

The Swan – Piper Huguley

How the Dukes Stole Christmas – Tessa Dare, Joanna Shupe, Sophie Jordan and Sarah MacLean

Mostly B’s? You’re a Rom Com Fan (Who’s Probably Pissed about that Last Christmas Plot Twist)

Mix meet cutes with a little banter and add a whole lot of romantic tension and that’s your recipe for a perfect holiday read…

The Island Christmas Spirit – Lindsay Emory

Royal Holiday – Jasmine Guillory

One Day in December – Josie Silver

UPDATED FOR 2020: Try the Christmas Actually anthology! 11 short holiday romantic comedies!

Mostly C’s? You’re a Tried and True Hallmark Addict

You know exactly what you want to read about - a reindeer farm, a baking contest, a small town inn. Lucky for you, I have the best Hallmark movies in book form picked out for you…

The Secret Ingredient – Nancy Naigle

Sleighbell Sweethearts – Teri Wilson

A Gingerbread Romance – Lacey Baker

Mostly D’s? You Will LOVE yourself some Designer Destination Holiday Porn

How does Christmas in Cornwall, Colorado, Nantucket, or Wales sound? You’re sure to love a literary trip to a beautiful spot where breathtaking views, charming villages and decadent dinners await…

Christmas with the Duke – Katrina Cudmore

Named of the Dragon – Susanna Kearsley

A Perfect Cornish Christmas – Phillipa Ashley

A Wedding in December – Sarah Morgan

Let it Snow – Nancy Thayer

Did I get it right? Or just mostly right? I can’t wait to hear what you’re reading and loving this season!

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!

The 2019 All Purpose Gift Guide

The 2019 All Purpose Gift Guide

Stocking Stuffers/ White Elephant/ For Everyone, Young and Old!

It’s baaaa-ack! 

Here’s this year’s version of the super-convenient, pretty-affordable, Prime-ready, one-stop shopping list. Almost everything on this list has been tested/ approved by me or someone close to me.  Enjoy!

For the person in your life who’s almost ready to bite the Botox bullet but also wants to try all the miracle products first:

Snail Mucin

For the brilliant coworker who spaces out in meetings but somehow pulls it all together in the end:

Visual notebook

For the neighbor who had their Christmas lights turned on November 1:

Christmas Lights charger

For your friend who hibernates from November to March:

Comfy



For the uber organized traveler who shows up three hours before flights and still prints out travel documents:

Multi charger

For new parents who are too busy to finish a cup of coffee before it cools off:

The picture is of this nice copper but that seems to be going in and out of stock, so the link below is for a black one. FYI.

Ember

For the proto-hipster who insists on sleeping with their phone outside their bedroom because of electro-magnetic-whatevers but spends the other 18 hours a day scrolling…:

Blue light glasses

For the nieces/ nephews when you forget how old they are/ don’t know what they like :

Mechanical color pencils

For the fashionista who has everything, darling:

Airpod case

For the prepper/ parent/ crafter that needs to corral their stuff but also make it look good on Instagram:

Organizer

For everyone, seriously:

Flashlight:

For the freelancer who spends 10 hours a day at their desk:

Elliptical

For the teenager who thinks she likes Bob Ross because it’s ironic but secretly loves feeling comforted in a world of strife and turmoil:

Bob Ross Mug

For the person who would rather cook at home than put their nice bag on the bathroom/ restaurant floor:

Purse hook

For the hyperactive child/adult who always needs to move:

Tangle Twisters

And if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, check out some of my other lists!

2018 Gift List
Hygge List

Winter Beauty list

If I don’t get a chance to see you in person, I hope with all of my heart that you are able to celebrate whatever holiday makes your heart happy with whoever makes you laugh and brings you peace.

See you in 2020!

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!

Best Books to Read Now - November 2019

Reminder/ Caveat/ Disclaimer: This is my (hopefully) monthly list of books I’ve read and enjoyed. These are not reviews, I do not include books I didn’t enjoy because life is too short to speak badly of books!

Welcome to the Best Books to Read Now Book Club! My (hopefully) monthly blog featuring my reading list, my TBR pile and the books I think you and your best friends should be reading. 

If you’re not sure whether you’ll agree with  my recommendations, check out my blog post on My Reader Wheels and my podcast, Women With Books . Those should help you decide if you’re going to be into my recommendations.

The best book club recommendations for you and your friends!

Oh man. I’m sorry. I knew it had been a minute since I’d done one of these posts but I didn’t realize I’d skipped TWO MONTHS!

What have I been reading?

Well, a lot. And not a lot.

I’ll explain. I finished writing a book, editing it, and then editing it again. And then I had to do some work to get THE ROYAL BODYGUARD ready for its release. And honestly, I’ve started reading A LOT of books, but these are the only ones I’ve finished. I’ll go into more detail in my newsletter about why I didn’t finish reading more books in the last few months (spoiler: It’s a combination of DNF’s and my writing process). But in the meantime, let’s look at what I finished AND enjoyed!

Love on Lexington Avenue - Lauren Layne
Amazon || Apple Books

This one came out in September I think? And it’s the second in a trilogy that I love sooooooooooooo much. I call it Sex and the City for the Hallmark Channel. Three women who are brought together by one lying, cheating jerk become friends at his funeral and promise to help each other navigate dating and relationships. I can’t WAIT for the third book, in January, too!

My Fake Rake - Eva Leigh
Amazon || Apple Books

Y’all. Eva Leigh has become one of my favorite historical romance authors this year. This book comes out on November 26th and is a slow burn, friends to lovers, fake relationship delicious story with two scholarly main characters.

It Had To Be You - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Amazon || Apple Books

I already wrote about this in my Best Football Romances post but yes, for real, I had to re-read this first book in SEP’s Chicago Stars series. Like I said, at this point it qualifies as an “old school” romance but the development of the relationship between Phoebe and Dan is a masterclass, IMO.

A Wedding in December - Sarah Morgan
Amazon || Apple Books

If you want a holiday book that is basically a luxurious winter getaway in paper form, grab this book. The story centers around a Christmas wedding at a luxury resort in Aspen and if you’re anything like me, you’ll fall for the descriptions of the accommodations, the food, the shopping trips and the scenery as much as the multi-generational stories of romance, second chances and family.

What you need to do when you get this Sarah Morgan book.

And like I said, there were some books I did not love this month…. I’ll be talking more about those and why I think they didn’t connect with me in my newsletter this month.

Do you like books on sale?
Make sure you’re following me on Facebook because that’s where I post great books on sale!

And what about you?
I’d love to hear what you’ve read and loved lately or what you’re looking forward to reading next!  If you want these book recommendations (and a sneak peek at my TBR list and advanced reading copies) sent straight to your inbox, remember to sign up for my newsletter where I’ll be including all the best book club recommendations throughout 2019!

And one more book!

Like I mentioned, my latest release, THE ROYAL BODYGUARD came out last week! It’s also a Best Book To Read Now, if I may say so.

Claim your copy here:

• APPLE BOOKS

• AMAZON

• KOBO

• BARNES AND NOBLE

• BOOK DEPOSITORY

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!

Why You Need to Quit Nanowrimo

Why You Need to Quit Nanowrimo

 (Look at me with the clickbait title!)

Okay, I don’t mean YOU need to quit Nanowrimo.

I mean, you, over there. Yeah. You need to quit.

You who have tried everything and don’t understand why writing a whole book in a month isn’t working for you when OBVIOUSLY it works for kajillions of other people in November every damn year.

[Side note: Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month and also an organization that promotes this event. Nanowrimo encourages participants to write 50,000 words during November.]

For myself, I have “won” Nanowrimo (it’s called winning when you complete 50,000 words in one month.) That was the year that I graciously accepted all the prizes (yes, there are prizes), one of which was a nice discount on Scrivener , the writing software that I still use for all my first drafts to this day.

I’ve also attempted Nanowrimo and “lost.” (They don’t call it losing, but it’s the opposite of winning so…)  But of course I’ve never considered it a loss. ANY words on the page are great. Any stab at a book means, well, that the book is closer to… dying? (What kind of metaphor is ‘taking a stab at,’ anyway?)

I’ve also encouraged and recommended Nanowrimo to almost anyone who has come to me, seriously, and said they want to write a book. (If I haven’t recommended it to you, it’s because I didn’t take you seriously, Mr. Dude at the Sports Bar who had a Great Idea for a KGB Spy Book but like, Harry Potter Style That Will Be Bigger Than 50 Shades of Gray.)

Why do I recommend Nanowrimo to new / aspiring authors? Because you don’t know if you can write a book until you actually try to write a book. It’s as simple as that. Writing books is a lot more than having ideas and picturing them in your head. Writing a book entails WRITING FIFTY to ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS (approximately) in a (mostly) legible way and making sure it tells a complete story.  That’s… a lot. I’m not going to make it sound like it’s not.

So, you know, if you’re reading this and have always wanted to write, go sign up at Nanowrimo.org and see what they have to offer.

But you said I had to quit Nanowrimo, Lindsay.

I did.

Because I think you should try. And then quit if it’s not working for you.

Why? I hear you saying, “I want to be a writer. I have this amazing idea for a Harry Potter style KGB spy novel that I must gift to the world as my legacy!”

Awesome. The world needs that book, ASAP. (The more times I type this, I might steal this idea, honestly.)

But Nanowrimo doesn’t work for everyone. It’s worked for me, and then it hasn’t. And look, I have five books published with traditional publishers and two self-published books. I have a great agent and a very popular podcast and fans around the world.

And I still know that I’m not going to be able to write fifty thousand words this month.

How do I know that? How do I know that this fantastic program that’s helped so many aspiring writers is most definitely not going to help me this month?

Well, here’s the second piece of advice I started giving new writers about eighteen months ago.

…There’s a class you need to take.

It’s called Write Better Faster. The instructor is Becca Syme.

And she’s helped me sooooo much. I wish I’d taken this class when I was just starting off. Through her insights and the application of a variety of personality/ strength/ self-knowledge instruments, you’ll start figuring out whether something like Nanowrimo will work for you.

Plotting, pantsing, worksheets, writing alone, writing in groups, sprints, critique groups, accountability, deadlines, BICHOK, “treating writing like a job,” “getting in the flow…”  You hear about all these things when you start dipping your toes into the writing community and at first, most of us are tempted to TRY EVERYTHING. And then we’re frustrated when we’re struggling to complete a novel and the people we started off with have self-published a ten-book high fantasy series.

Becca’s classes (and I’ve taken three of them and been coached by her) have helped me learn my strengths, my personality and the type of environments I work best in. All of these lead to greater productivity and greater, well, wellness, truth be told. 

I don’t stress out as much as I used to when the words don’t “flow.” I don’t feel the need to jump on every bandwagon, sign up for every writing course, buy every “how to do novels” book. I know what works for me, and if I don’t, I have the tools to figure it out.

Nanowrimo probably worked for me that first time because I’m a highly competitive person, because I had a small, tightknit group of people who were doing it with me, because I had a steady, predictable schedule at the time and because I’d thoroughly thought out my story ahead of time. 

Nanowrimo hasn’t worked for me since because I either jump in without a fully intellected story (that’s a word in Becca-land) or because it hasn’t been necessary for my publishing strategy. (I know now that my strategic strengths are very strong – and I should always listen to them).

But that’s me. And what I (now) know about myself. ^^^ All those reasons may not apply to you.

So yes, by all means, try Nanowrimo. PLEASE. Again, you never know until you try. Keep sludging through, keep at it!! It’s a thrill to win!

Or… sign up for Becca’s Write Better Faster course. And save yourself some essential pain if Nano seems… harder than it should be? There’s probably a new class starting soon (PERFECT for those I’m going to write a book resolutions.)

She also has a new course called Live Better Faster for those who want to know themselves better to succeed at other life/ career endeavors, not necessarily writing.  

And if you end up taking Write Better Faster, I can’t wait to see you in the Facebook groups or hit me up on social media and let me know ALL the THINGS that you’ve learned and what you’ve learned to Quit.

More Nano/ writing advice:

Alexis Anne’s Five Tips for Writing Nanowrimo

First Draught Writing Podcast

Women With Books Podcast: Chapter 4 with Alexis Daria

Becca’s books if you want to learn more about her philosophy (Yes, I stole her clickbait convention.)

Dear Writer, You Need to Quit
Dear Writer, Are You in Burnout?
Dear Writer, You’re Doing it Wrong

And you can listen/ watch Becca on her Youtube Podcast, The Quit Cast

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!

URGENT PRESS RELEASE FROM THE ROYAL FAMILY OF DRIEDEN

Per the Palace’s instructions, please do not go to these sites and support the amazing author of this scandalous piece of fiction:

Amazon || BN.Com || Apple || Amazon UK || Kobo US || Amazon CA || Waterstones || Blackwells || WH Smith

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!