REVIEW:

Santa came early this year and delivered a spirit-lifting holiday-themed novel that’s entirely successful in being what it set out to be: a comforting Christmas story.

Christmas by the Book (also previously published as The Six Tales of Christmas) works for many reasons:

• It’s set in an independent book shop in a small British village!

• The primary characters, the married shop owners, are intelligent, realistic, middle-aged adults!

• Clever book references abound!

• The story has a lot of heart and highlights the concept that books have the power to bring people together… amen to that!

• It’s not a holiday romance, nor a holiday mystery, but rather just a holiday story!

• Reminiscent vibes include “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Carol,” and “Love, Actually!”

I binged this adorable story all in one go, and like shoving a plate full of sugar cookies into my pie hole as if I had to start a Keto diet the next day, the end got a little cloyingly sweet. But that’s to be expected though. Author Anne Marie Ryan served up just what I wanted, and it served me right.

My heartfelt thanks to the author and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to review an advance copy via NetGalley. Christmas by the Book is now available!

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

In small-town England, two booksellers facing tough times decide to spread some Christmas cheer through the magic of anonymous book deliveries in this uplifting holiday tale for book lovers everywhere.

Nora and her husband, Simon, have run the beautiful oak-beamed book shop in their small British village for thirty years. But times are tough and the shop is under threat of closure - this Christmas season will really decide their fate. When an elderly man visits the store and buys the one book they've never been able to sell, saying it's the perfect gift for his sick grandson, it gives Nora an idea. She and Simon will send out books to those feeling down this Christmas. Maybe they can't save their bookstore, but at least they'll have one final chance to lift people's spirits through the power of reading.

After gathering nominations online, Nora and Simon quietly deliver books to six residents of the village in need of some festive cheer, including a single dad of twins who is working hard to make ends meet, a teenage boy grieving for his big sister, a local Member of Parliament who is battling depression, and a teacher who's newly retired and living on her own. As the town prepares for a white Christmas, the books begin to give the recipients hope, one by one. But with the future of the bookshop still up in the air, Nora and Simon will need a Christmas miracle - or perhaps a little help from the people whose lives they've touched - to find a happy ending of their own....