If you are looking for a good read this Christmas season, here are five titles that have been popular with book clubs in North Central Washington.
1. 
A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg showcases the author’s warm and humorous style with a quick story about Oswald T. Campbell, named after a can of soup — the “T” standing for tomato. Experiencing poor health, Oswald is advised by his doctor to move to a warmer climate, away from the cold winters of Chicago. He finds his way to a small town in Alabama and is quickly embraced by its inhabitants; including a tame cardinal named Jack, a private investigator nicknamed Stick, and the ladies of The Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society. Did I mention that Oswald has a striking resemblance to a Christmas Elf?
2. If you are a mystery lover, you might enjoy Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie. Wealthy and ruthless, Simeon Lee unexpectedly invites his family home for the holidays. While gathered together, the family overhears a phone call where they hear Simeon tell his attorney he plans to change his will after the holiday. Soon after, on Christmas Eve, he is found dead in a pool of his own blood. Famed detective Hercule Poirot, staying in a nearby village, steps into a house full of suspicion and offers his expertise to solve the crime.
3. In the novel The Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak, the Birch Family is excited to all be gathering together for the holidays for the first time in years. Especially since their eldest daughter Olivia, a doctor who has been off fighting an epidemic in Liberia, will be joining them. Unfortunately, the particular illness Olivia was battling requires the whole family to go into quarantine for seven days. Quarantine means no leaving the house for ANYTHING. While they are excited to be together for Christmas, being in close quarters with your family for seven days can bring about some interesting situations.
4. Taking place at the dawn of World War I, The Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb explores the impact of war on four childhood friends Tom, Will, Alice, and Evie. The friends are split up when Tom and Will enlist and are sent to France to fight. Thinking that the war will be fought and won quickly, they plan on meeting in Paris for Christmas. Told through letters sent between the friends, this novel provides an insider perspective both at what Tom and Will are experiencing in the trenches and what Evie and Alice experience on the homefront.
5. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney takes place on New Year’s Eve as we follow 85-year-old Lillian, who sets out to visit all her favorite haunts in Manhattan before the New Year. Dressed in a mink coat and
wearing her favorite bright orange lipstick, Lillian reminisces about her life and career as an advertising copywriter for R. H. Marcy’s and a published poet as well as a wife and mother.
Access all of these books and more through your local NCW Libraries branch or at www.ncwlibraries.org. In addition to print, all of these titles are available as an e-book and e-audiobook here through our Overdrive Service. A selection are also available through our Hoopla Service.
This list was compiled by Anne Brangwin, our Book Clubs Coordinator. She has worked for NCRL for almost 20 years curating book recommendations and supplying books for the nearly 200 book clubs in our five-county library district. Learn more about joining or starting a book club here.
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