12 Days of Christmas // Christmas Book Recommendations + a Giveaway

Happy Monday morning everyone! Typically, I don't like Monday mornings because it means saying goodbye to the weekend, but I'm not minding it too much right now. Why? Because no school (oh right. Except for that ASL quiz I taking as soon as I'm done here XD), it's almost Christmas, and this linkup! I have something super fun on towards the bottom of this post...but don't scroll ahead! I've got some other stuff to mention first. ;) 

Namely...Angela! Angela Watts @ The Peculiar Messenger will be joining us in 12 Days of Christmas from here on out! We had some miscommunication and a technical glitch, but she's with us now. So check out her post in the lineup! :D 

Also... Today is day six!! We're halfway through! 6 days until Christmas and 13 days until 2017. Like, whaaaa?? 

Today I have some Christmas book recommendations for you all! Who doesn't want more books to read? *winks* I'll give the cover and summary of each book, followed by my brief opinion of it. :) 

A Christmas Peril // Diane Moody 

Lucy Alexander's Teacup Novellas were inspired by a collection of vintage teacups her Aunt Lucille bequeathed to her. She's excited about writing the next book in the series, a Christmas tale loosely based on her aunt and uncle's love story set in the 1940s. But when a hostage situation lands Lucy's boyfriend in the hospital, she sets her work aside to keep a bedside vigil with Mark. As the long hours of waiting stretch on, Lucy starts to read her beloved aunt's handwritten diary. Shocked to discover a frightening story so eerily similar to the one she's living, Lucy longs to find hope and encouragement in the pages of Lucille's diary.

December 1944 - "The most wonderful things seem to happen when you least expect them," writes Lucille Alexander after a serendipitous meeting with Gary Reynolds, a handsome lieutenant home on leave from the war in Europe. The two are inseparable in the five precious days he has left before heading back overseas just weeks before Christmas. On their last morning together, Lucille accompanies Gary to the train station, already dreading the long separation ahead. But that would be the least of her worries after her brave lieutenant rushes to help an elderly woman in distress.

Lucy finds a strange solace in her namesake's ink-stained journal. Though seventy years have passed between them, would their stories have the same ending?

(Woah. That's quite the summary. XD) *happy sigh* I just love this book. I came across it last year, read it, loved it. And I've read it again this Christmas season and enjoyed it just as much. You know those stories where you just feel like you're there? That's this book for me. Mrs. Moody's writing style is so fresh and amazing. I look forward to reading more of her work. :) 

Beyond the Horizon // Jesseca Wheaton 

Eliana longs to see the world beyond the mountains that tower above Salzburg, Austria, but knows that dream will never see such adventure- and neither will she.

Surrounded by a world of cruelty, she lives for the weekly visits of Aron, a boy she met on one of her rambles through the countryside.

But as the years pass and she begins to grow older, a new and unwelcome world is opened up to her.

On a fateful night at a party she vowed she’d never attend, she comes face to face with a shocking truth.

As the world around her teeters on the brink of war, Eliana struggles to figure out just where her loyalty lies; a decision that will drastically change the course of her life. Will she ever be free to see what lies beyond the horizon? 

If you've been here for the previous days of this linkup, then you know that this book just released a few days ago. I had the pleasure of beta-reading/critiquing and I absolutely LOVE this book. Very Christmasy and just beautiful!! <3 Click here for my full review.

The Lopsided Christmas Cake // Wanda Brunstetter & Jean Brunstetter 

Join the Hochstetler twin sisters on stage as they bumble their way through baking a cake for a charity auction in front of a live audience. The take-charge Elma and the klutzy optimist Thelma manage to entertain their audience—and attract the admiration of two bachelors, an outspoken woodworker and a shy harness maker from a neighboring Amish community. As fall leads into the Christmas season, could romance be blossoming for one or more of the Hochstetler twins? Find out in this brand new romance from New York Times bestselling author Wanda E. Brunstetter, writing with her daughter-in-law Jean Brunstetter.

I recently read this book with a friend *wink* and it was a great little book!! Not too long, not too deep, but a cute, sweet Christmas story. :) I enjoyed it a lot! 

Where Treetops Glisten // Cara Putman, Sarah Sundin, & Tricia Goyer 

The crunch of newly fallen snow, the weight of wartime

Three siblings forging new paths and finding love in three stories, filled with the wonder of Christmas

Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of America’s involvement in the Second World War change the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana. 

In White Christmas by Cara Putman, Abigail Turner is holding down the Home Front as a college student and a part-time employee at a one-of-a-kind candy shop. Loss of a beau to the war has Abigail skittish about romantic entanglements—until a hard-working young man with a serious problem needs her help. 

Abigail’s brother Pete is a fighter pilot hero returned from the European Theatre in Sarah Sundin’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas, trying to recapture the hope and peace his time at war has eroded. But when he encounters a precocious little girl in need of Pete’s friendship, can he convince her widowed mother that he’s no longer the bully she once knew?

In Tricia Goyer’s Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Meredith Turner, “Merry” to those who know her best, is using her skills as a combat nurse on the frontline in the Netherlands. Halfway around the world from home, Merry never expects to face her deepest betrayal head on, but that’s precisely what God has in mind to redeem her broken heart.

The Turner family believes in God’s providence during such a tumultuous time. Can they absorb the miracle of Christ’s birth and God’s plan for a future?

Awww, I just loved this compilation of WWII Christmas stories!! They were all absolutely amazing, but White Christmas was probably my favorite. I read this book last year and want to read it again soon!! :D 

At the Christmas Lodge // Rebekah A. Morris 

When Desirae Richey agrees to go home with some college friends for Christmas, she expects a small family gathering. Instead she is taken to the Christmas Lodge in the snowy mountains of Canada to a noisy, fun loving, adventurous group of family and friends who welcome her as one of their own. Everything seems to be going as planned until an unexpected snowfall occurs.

This was a super sweet Christmasy story! Not my absolute favorite, but I really enjoyed it. :) Click here to see my review.

A Christmas Gift for Rose // Tricia Goyer 

Born in the midst of the hardships of The Great Depression, Rose grew up in Berlin, Ohio, in the arms of a loving Amish family. But as she prepares to marry, she's thrown into confusion when she learns the truth of her birth. She was born Englisch and abandoned when the family moved on in search of work. Was she meant to be Amish or would she have been better off growing up with her own kind---Englischers? And was her intended's gift of discovering her birth family given out of love or fear?

Ahhhh, I loved this book!!! :D The story of Rose's quest to find her birth family once she learned she was adopted was really well written. Curtis and Joseph were probably my favorite characters. :) 

Giveaway... 

That's right, people! A giveaway of MercyMe's It's Christmas CD!! :) But...there is a catch. I can only ship to addresses in the US. :( I know we have several out-of-country friends among us, and I'm terribly sorry about that! (But hey, maybe you could enter anyway if you have friend in the US and I'll ship it to them! XD haha!) 

Anywho, here's the giveaway. :D 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Other stops in the linkup...

>> Visit Marrok MacIntyre for Christmas song recommendations

>> Visit Counting Your Blessings One by One for a music video

>> Visit The Peculiar Messenger for some Christmas songs

>> Visit 9 Kids Plus 2 for some family Christmas traditions

>> Visit Creative Scribbles of a History Detective for part one of A Finnish Christmas

>> Visit RebekahAshleigh for a fun post to get you in the Christmas spirit

>> Visit Rebekah's Remarks for some wintry pictures

>> Visit Twin Thoughts for the conclusion of Katie's Christmas

>> Visit Living for the Other Side for a fun post titled 'Christmas with a Capital C'

>> Visit Whimsical Writings for a Christmas story and some teasers

>> Visit Victoria Minks for the second half of Jonas & Olivia: A Christmas Tale

>> Visit Simply Sisters for white Christmas themed DIY decorations

>> Visit Rebekah's Reading Room and deck the halls!

>> Visit Christ, Chocolate, and Chickens for Seneca's third post on St. Lucia Day

Have a good day, everyone! I'm outta here... ;)

~Faith

**Summaries and cover images from Goodreads.**