by Sparkle Abbey

It’s hard to believe that it’s December but here we are. Some of us are looking forward to big family gatherings for the first time and a while and others are planning something much more low key for the holidays. Some of us have Christmas shopping done and others have not even begun. Some of us love holiday books and movies and others are…meh.

What’s your view? 

We love holiday movies but we both lean toward classic movies. And actually we share the same favorite of the season – “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

 We simply can’t let the holidays go by without at least one viewing. (Maybe more than one because we’re certain our families need to see it again, too.)

And then there are other great classics. 

Here are some that top our list: 

• Miracle on 34th Street
• A Christmas Carol 
• Holiday Inn
• Christmas in Connecticut
• A Christmas Story
• White Christmas
• The Preacher’s Wife

And more recently films such as “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and “The Holiday” also make the list. 

We also love holiday-themed books though our taste there runs a bit more to crime. Mary Higgins Clark comes to mind as favorites over the years. Her website has a list of MHC Christmas Books. 

There are several resources if you’re looking for ideas.  Bibliofile provided this list of the 50 Best Christmas Mysteries and our go-to is always Janet Rudolph’s Mystery Fanfare for recommendations and the most complete listings. Here’s the recent list of Hanukah Crime Fiction. 

Just like movies we all have different tastes in books and just like you all, we’re always looking for new recommendations. So we’d like to hear from you. 

What’s your favorite holiday movie and your (most recent) favorite holiday-themed book?

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook,and Twitter their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.