While the end of the year might feel hectic for some, for others, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a book and rack up a few more titles on that list of books read for 2022. The collections department at Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has a list of new holiday books that pair perfectly with a cup of hot cocoa.
Jenny Colgan has a new book in her Cupcake Cafe series, “Christmas at the Cupcake Café.” When challenges face her business and her love life, bakery owner Issy Randall will have to rely on all her reserves of calm, courage and cinnamon to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another.
Even the king of novels, James Patterson, has a stand-alone cozy Christmas novel, “The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas.” A widow with two children can’t seem to find the Christmas spirit this year and a series of mysterious gifts begins to appear on her doorstep. But it’s the nature of the gifts that really makes this book a page-turner.
The latest in the popular Bromance Book Club Series, “A Very Merry Bromance” by Lyssa Kay Adams, focuses on country music golden boy Colton Wheeler and immigration attorney Gretchen Winthrop. In this holiday-themed romance novel, readers will wonder if the characters will ever get to meet under the mistletoe.
If you’d rather check out a title that encourages you to get into the kitchen, CALS has you covered as well. “The Christmas Movie Cookbook: Recipes from Your Favorite Holiday Films” by Julia Rutland brings 65 recipes from the big screen to your table. Make the old-fashioned meatloaf from “A Christmas Story” or get adventurous and have the roast beast from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
If you want a fun, family baking project, dive into “The Cookie Bible” by Rose Levy Beranbaum and share the cookie wealth with friends and neighbors.
CALS also has a wide collection of memoirs, including new this season: “The Light We Carry” by Michelle Obama; “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” by Matthew Perry; or “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy.
And for anyone who already has the New Year (and a new you) in mind, you can’t go wrong with Marie Kondo’s “Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life.”
Regardless of your reading (or listening) habits, CALS has something new for you, two weeks at a time.