Reading Well
Health and wellbeing collections chosen by librarians and health professionals
December New Reads
Check out our new reads for this December! Each of these books are available for order online!
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?
Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.
Of course there’s also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?
Why mummy drinks at Christmas by Gill Sims
Mummy has always loved Christmas. Sure, the kids turn into demons, the dinner gets burnt to a crisp and Aunt Louisa’s general staggering inappropriateness sends Mummy reaching for the nearest maximum-strength festive tipple, but nevertheless, for her, Christmas is always special.
This year, she wants nothing more than to perfectly fig up the pudding and sit by the fire reading aloud from ‘A Christmas Carol’ to a rapt, rosy-cheeked audience.
But, just like all Mummy’s best-laid plans, this year’s Festive Vision is in danger of being totally derailed by her chaotic family. There’s not much chance of any action under the mistletoe, and the kids are just not playing ball. Can Mummy find her silver lining after all and bring the whole family together for one moment of harmony?
The Enchanters by James Ellroy
Wanted: experienced writer to record the history of one house and its family. Bed and board provided, the successful applicant must love Christmas. Elle is rudderless, jobless and she’s soon to be homeless.
When she spies an advert that looks like it could answer all her problems she’s devastated to see one huge catch. Elle definitely does not love Christmas. On Mistletoe Square, an eccentric elderly woman and her unconventional housekeeper have an enormous Christmas tree and a box of delicate decorations collected over what must be centuries.
With each decoration comes a story and with each story a breath-taking glimpse of a Christmas past. One Christmas at a time, the house’s history is brought vividly to life for Elle. But the more she sees of the family’s past, the more she wonders where and how their story might end.
A Christmas Vanishing by Anne Perry
When Mariah Ellison arrives in the picturesque village of St Helen’s to spend the festive season with her old friend Sadie Alsop, she is shocked to discover that Sadie has vanished. Her husband has no idea where she has gone or when she will return but, thankfully, Mariah has other friends in the village who are willing to offer their hospitality.
Once settled, she begins a rigorous search for Sadie that is fuelled by malicious gossip as harsh as the winter snow. Has Sadie run away? Has she been kidnapped? Has someone harmed her? And how long can she survive if she has no shelter from the bitterly cold weather? As Christmas Day approaches, Mariah is increasingly determined to solve the mystery of Sadie’s disappearance and bring her home in time to celebrate Yuletide together . . .
The Night Before Christmas by Alex Pine
When four trail hunters go missing in the fells of Cumbria on Christmas Eve, the race is on to find them before nightfall – when the temperature plummets.
After hours of searching, the first body is found… Not frozen in the snow, but brutally murdered and bearing a warning: the real hunt has begun.
As a snowstorm descends, three lives hang in the balance. But can the killer be caught before the trail goes cold?
The Holly King by Mark Stay
It’s December 1940, and Christmas has come to Woodville. Faye Bright is looking forward to a good old knees-up after a year of supernatural mayhem and Luftwaffe air raids, but it seems glad tidings are in short supply.
Already contending with food rationing and sky-high beer prices, the village is upended by the arrival of the Holly King, an ancient power bent on reclaiming his woodland domain. No mortal magic can stand in his way.
As the winter solstice draws in and the villagers fall under the Holly King’s spell, Faye, Bertie and the witches race to prevent his sinister Feast of Fools from reaching its deadly conclusion. But when terrible truths threaten to tear them apart, can they confront the mistakes of the past to save the village from destruction?
Or has Woodville seen its last Christmas?
That Festive Feeling by Heidi Swain
Holly has the place to herself this Christmas. It’s not her place, though – she is house-sitting for friends who live on Nightingale Square – just there to keep the place warm and cosy and only for long enough for her to sort her life out. Newly single and finding herself unsure about next steps for her career, she plans to hunker down and make some life decisions. To clear her mind, she sets off on early morning walks around a nearby lake and bumps into May, an older lady who is also new to the area, and her dapper Dachshund Monty. Quickly, a firm friendship blossoms.
Then when Holly meets Bear, a rather large and rather attractive man, at the local pub, and his rescue dog Elsie, her stay at Nightingale Square suddenly feels even more appealing. As the community comes together for the season’s festivities, Holly must start thinking about where her life will take her next.
The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
When Ashley Smith – a bright-eyed but lonely American studying in London – is invited to spend Christmas with her classmate’s family at their Cotswolds manor house, it seems like a perfect country idyll.
And for Ashley – who records it all in her diary – there’s the added romantic potential of her friend’s twin brother, Adam, who she thinks could be her wildest dream come true.
But is there something strange about the old house, both stately and rundown? What could the motives of the mysterious Chapman family be? And what holiday horrors might be lying in wait?
Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict
Eighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.
In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.
Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?
A Thimble for Christmas by Dilly Court
Living hand to mouth ever since her mother’s tragic death, Amelia sells the last of her treasured possessions to avoid being cast out of her home onto London’s streets.
Her estranged grandfather unexpectedly bequeaths a small, struggling factory making mourning dresses and Amelia dares to dream… Drawing sketches by candlelight, she longs to sew elegant gowns from fine silks and beautiful ribbons for the rich.
As the cold winter wind begins to bite, Amelia’s future hangs by a thread – can she keep her hopes alive?
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