Christmas By The Book by Anne Marie Ryan

5 Stars Jan 05, 2025

My review

5/5 stars

Nora and Simon are facing the closure of the bookstore they have run together for 30 years, and in a moment of Christmas kindness, they decide to send 6 books out to strangers who have been nominated by loved ones for needing a little boost in the festive season. Those 6 books bring people together in a way that Nora and Simon could never have foreseen.

I LOVED this book. It covered the spectrum of human experience in such a beautiful way and wrapped it all up in a Christmas bow.

Nora and Simon were a lovely calm example of a long-term relationship in how they faced the world in total support of each other. I enjoyed the minimalistic nature of their marital drama throughout the book, and the fact that they focused on gratitude for each other through all things.

The sense of community between these people whose paths cross most days but they don't actually know each other was so charming. Some would argue that it was overdone, but it felt so hopeful to me that I completely fell in love.

I was particularly enamoured of the bookshop setting. I know the power of books, but it was so delightful to see it so perfectly demonstrated in the pages of this story. Books bought people together, books helped people work through their feelings and challenges, and books made scary topics feel more manageable. This book covered loss, grief, mental health, loneliness, family relationships, and many other things, but never felt dark or heavy - the magic of the words on the page.

I can see this being a book that I re-read every Christmas, though having read it just after Christmas, I can attest to the fact that it can be read at any time of the year and still feel relevant (the book is set at Christmas, but it is not pivotal to the plot). Love, love, love!

Book blurb

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....