by Alaina | Dec 4, 2022 | Book Nook
Last week’s post shared some of my favorite Christmas historical fiction reads (check that post out Here). However, if you are still looking for several more Christmas books to add to your reading, today I am sharing some historical fiction Christmas mysteries for you to delve into this holiday season.
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
I have recently started reading more by the Queen of mysteries and it is no wonder why they call her that! One hundred years later and her books are still delightful and unsolvable! This mystery centers around a family, the members have been somewhat estranged from each other for years, but at the request of the aging father whose health is failing, they all acquiesce to spending Christmas with him in their childhood home. Unfortunately, things take a devastating turn as their father ends up murdered right before Christmas. Who could have possibly done it—especially when it seems he was the only one in the room and the door and window remained locked….
The Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
This is the first one in this series. I had very mediocre hopes for this book but was pleasantly surprised! Holly White finds herself back in her hometown for the holidays, having been jilted by her fiancé weeks before their wedding was supposed to take place. Holly is finding that she loved being back in her hometown—that is until one of the town’s residents is found murdered on her family’s Christmas tree farm. In the midst of their busiest time of year, a murder investigation ensues and Holly jumps in to help solve the mystery in order to help her family’s farm to be able to reopen. However, this leads to Holly herself being targeted by the killer. Will the town’s handsome young policeman be able to solve the mystery before Holly becomes the next victim?
It may go without saying that this is no Agatha Christie novel but it was a clean, delightful, holiday read to enjoy this Christmas season.
Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue by Victoria Thompson
A husband is discovered dead, presumably killed by his wife who was found at the crime scene covered in blood. The accused woman’s mother turns up on the doorstep of Malloy’s new detective agency begging for help for her daughter—the only problem is that Mr. and Mrs. Malloy are on their honeymoon. With no one else around to help Maeve, who has always aspired to be a detective anyway, decides to take on the case herself. With the help of Gino, a young officer, they start to put pieces together to solve the mystery.
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
A jaded reporter, Tom Langdon, is traveling by train across the country to see his girlfriend for Christmas. The train, however, is full of different and, shall we say, quirky individuals. Things begin to disappear from different people’s train compartments. The situation gets worse when the train becomes stranded in a snowstorm and food begins to run out. For Tom, things don’t look quite so bleak as he has discovered that an old flame of his is aboard the train. This Christmas book is a funny, heartwarming story with a mystery that keeps you guessing!
I hope this helps to give you some historical mysteries that you can curl up with and enjoy all the magic this Christmas season has to offer!
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
Christmas Historical Fiction
Christmas Books
Books to Slow Down with This Season
by Alaina | Nov 27, 2022 | Sunday Scripture
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
Here in America we just celebrated thanksgiving; the holiday that commemorates when the Pilgrims and the Native Americans came together to have a feast celebrating that the Pilgrims had made it through a tough winter, had been befriended by the Native Americans and now they were giving thanks to God for bringing them through…
The Pilgrims were no strangers to suffering. They had moved from England to Holland to worship as they chose; only to find that after rooting up their lives that Holland was not a great place to worship as they chose. So they had started to look for other options… After being cheated out of their fair by one captain, they finally found another Captain of a ship who agreed to take them to the new world. They stepped out in faith trusting God would see them safely through. He did; despite sailing at just about the worst time of year, none of the pilgrims lost their lives on the voyage over.
However, their trials were not yet over. The Pilgrims arrived in America at the onset of a brutal New England winter. It was very cold, and their food stores were running low. Malnourishment caused many of them to fall ill and die. Still, the remaining ones persevered. That was when God brought Squanto, an English-speaking Native American into their lives. Squanto and the other Native Americans in his tribe befriended the Pilgrims and taught them how to wrest a living from this new land.
Can you imagine being one of the Pilgrims? Here you are just trying to put your faith first, trying to build a new life to worship God in the way you feel is biblical and setback after setback occurs. The pilgrims had to have taken to heart the verse, “In this world, ye shall have trials and tribulations but take heart for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
The Pilgrims had to have questioned God that first winter, while they watched loved one after loved one perish; but instead of turning their backs on God, and trying to find the quickest boat home, they continued to build the life to which they believed God had called them. God rewarded them. He blessed their efforts. A while later they were able to celebrate a bountiful harvest and a friendship with new people. The pilgrims had lived Paul’s words in Philippians 4:11&12, where Paul says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (NIV)
It is so easy to praise God when things are good, but it is much harder to genuinely believe that God is still the loving father He professes to be when your family is starving and dying- but He still is! Could the Pilgrims have truly built a new life if they hadn’t been put through the refining fire? Would they have had the grit to handle the rest of the challenges they would face building a new civilization? God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. The pilgrims believed this- do you?
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
Grateful in Everything
The Power of Forgiveness
Cracking the Door Open
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
by Alaina | Nov 20, 2022 | Sunday Scripture
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Psalms 139:23
It was a beautiful labor day, the perfect kind of day to go biking with family! My husband had to work on this particular Labor Day, but my parents, aunt and uncle were biking on a beautiful stretch of trail with lots of little bridges over creeks and streams still lush with green summer foliage along their banks. I decided to meet them at the trailhead for a day filled with biking fun. Or so I thought…
We arrived at the trailhead and were busy unloading our bikes from our cars when I realized that along with these beautiful little bridges there were lots of cement poles (designed to keep motorized vehicles off of the trail). I am not a fan of those kinds of poles. Why must they be so narrow? They are intimidating. I think they work great to keep cars and 4-wheelers off of trails but they very nearly keep bicycles off too—you really have to make sure you are lined up before going through them so as not to hit one of the poles or scrap your leg on one.
We had biked quite a distance and I had made it successfully through all of the poled entrances without incident, and we had just turned around and were on our way back. I had gained some confidence over this ride and was now sailing right through those poles with hardly a second thought! Slow down for them? Please—that is for amateurs!
As we headed back to our cars there were two poles that I had to ride through—I confidently lined up my handlebars and without slowing proceeded through them. Almost. I remember having the fleeting thought that these poles were higher than the others and I just might hit my handlebar as I felt a huge jolt go through my body as I went flying over the handlebars, landing painfully on the ground. My knee and wrist broke the fall, and I landed face down on the trail. I laid there, very closely observing the asphalt trail and started to laugh. It was not because I had not gotten hurt—I had skinned myself up pretty well but rather because here I was a young 20-something biking with four geriatrics (they were all over 60) and who got hurt? Me! I should have been the fast one without balance issues but no, I was the one to misjudge and went flying over the handlebars!
We see instances of pride tripping people up all throughout scripture. Saul becomes proud and when the women sing David’s praises. It literally drives Saul crazy. We see Judas Iscariot, the respected treasurer, betray Jesus for 20 silver coins. We see Hamman build a scaffold to hang Mordecai, only for the tables to turn and instead Hamman himself is hung from this scaffold. The Bible is clear about these messages: pride goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Just like I went flying over the handlebars of my bicycle so each of these people went flying and landed face down on the proverbial ground as well.
It is, of course, good and healthy to take pride in certain things in life; our family, the way we do a job, and so forth, but the harm comes when we make any of these good things an idol. Let us always have the heart David did when he wrote, “Search me oh God and know my heart.”
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
by Alaina | Nov 17, 2022 | Book Nook
All right, I know—Thanksgiving isn’t here yet but I think it’s time to start lining up some Christmassy reads! I have so many good memories of curling up before the fireplace with a good Christmas story. (A wood stove was our only source of heat growing up, so reading in front of the fire really did happen!) To this day it is still one of the main things I look forward to around this time of year. Here are some historical fiction Christmas reads for you to consider reading this holiday season.
Under the Walnut Tree by Charles Todd
We follow Lady Elspeth Douglas as the First World War breaks out in Europe. Elspeth promises herself to the brother of her good friend only to second guess her decision when she meets Captain Peter Gilchrist. Elspeth becomes a nurse and, as such, experiences the horrors of war personally, as does her fiancée who comes back from war a very changed man causing Elspeth to further question her decision to pledge herself to such a man. I enjoyed this book very much but only a small portion of it takes place at Christmas. This is a good book to kick off your holiday reading early on in the Christmas season.
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
Talk about a cozy book to curl up with! This heartwarming story takes place in England in the 1950s and is about college age Megs’ quest to find out from Mr. C. S Lewis himself what parts of Narnia are true on behalf of her beloved brother George. George is seven and has a serious heart condition—Megs and her family never know when they might lose George. When George asks Megs to find out what inspired C. S Lewis to write Narnia, Megs is unable to refuse—even though as a math major she simply can’t figure out what fictional story could possibly matter in real life. The process of discovering this answer changes Megs and how she views the world. This book is full of all the warmth and comfort of the Christmas season! An added bonus is that if you are a Narnia fan, you will really enjoy the glimpse behind the curtain to the creation of Narnia that this book offers.
Last Christmas In Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
This book takes place during World War I. It is written in letter form between Evie Elliott, her brother Will, and Will’s best friend, Thomas Harding, tells the story of young people coming of age during the First World War—a war they believed would end by Christmas. While this book does not take place exclusively at Christmastime, key parts of it are centered around the four Christmases that elapse during World War I, and a love that grows over the years.
Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva
This story imagines what the backdrop could have been behind the creation of Mr. Dickens’ famous tale: A Christmas Carol. It is a little over a month before Christmas and Dickens thinks he has everything sewn up having just dropped his latest novel off at his publishers and is off to plan his elaborate Christmas party when his world is turned upside down. His publisher has rejected his latest manuscript due to failing sales of his last book. Dickens’ choices are nil: either write a new book before Christmas or face financial ruin. He decides to try for a new story. The question is will he be able to do it in time to save his Christmas?
When Christmas Comes Again by Beth Seidel Levine
This story is geared for middle grade readers but is such a sweet story! I love young Simone (the main character) and enjoy being immersed in her world as she tells first of life as the daughter of the social elite, but also of life as a telegraph operator from overseas on the front line of the fighting. If you have a young reader, this is the perfect book to read with them. Or if you are just looking for something sweet and uplifting this book is great for that too!
A Season of Giving by Richard Peck
Again this book is geared for middle grade and young readers but Richard Peck is an excellent author with a great way of describing characters, showing you what they are like with his descriptions rather than just telling you the facts. This is the story of young Bob, the son of the town’s new preacher, and we follow him through all kinds of misadventures leading up to Christmas as he learns about his new town. Again, lighthearted but not frivolous this is a sweet, funny read for this holiday season!
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
by Alaina | Nov 13, 2022 | Sunday Scripture
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV
It is very hard for me to believe that we are getting to the end of yet another year! 2022 has flown by and soon we will be seeing all the end of year lists floating across social media. We’ll be seeing the highlight reels of people’s best moments of 2022; people will be recounting the best books they have read; the trips they’ve been on, etc., etc. We live in a culture where we know more than ever before. We know more not just about the world, science, and technology, but we know more about each other in real time than in the decades before us … at least on the surface.
I can see from my home in Pennsylvania what my cousins and their kids in Florida are doing that day. I can see what my cousin overseas had for dinner at a new restaurant he tried. I can see how my friend’s vacation went when she posts pictures on the way home before I even talk to her. From the surface, it looks like we are the most connected and happy culture in all of history. But research shows we aren’t. We are the most lonely, isolated, depressed generation that we have yet seen.
This isn’t a new topic—I’m sure you’ve heard all of it before. We talk about how “Kids these days spend too much time on their phones.” But they aren’t the only ones who are always on their phones. Perhaps this might be a problem for you too? Have you ever thought you should call a friend to see how they are doing, really doing, as you start to scroll then you see a picture of your friend clearly enjoying life, and you’re struggling so you decide to just keep scrolling? You don’t call—you’re really not up for hearing about how great someone else’s life is right now.
We see these snapshots of people’s lives and we forget that everyone has their struggles. We forget about the hard time they were going through while we were having a fabulous year. We allow self-comparison to shut us down. What is worse, we don’t just let it shut us down but we also allow it to make us a martyr. We congratulate ourselves for not calling the friend to rain on their parade and we think what a good friend we are for not calling. How messed up is this? When did we start living so superficially?
Of course, we don’t want to put all the messy details of our lives out on the internet for all to see, but we should crack open the door to our messy lives and hearts with the handful of our closest friends. Did you ever think when you are deciding not to call that friend that perhaps God put them in that position, at that time, to lift you up? Have we lost sight of the fact that we can’t all be going through the same rough patch at the same time because who would be left to be strong and lift us up? We have lost sight of that because we have bought the lie that perfect is better than authentic at all costs.
We need to have people in our lives who we can show the best and the worst of ourselves. “A cord of three strands is not as easily broken,” the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:12. Who is your second or third strand?
If you have inadvertently, or even intentionally, drifted away from some of your closest friends, I’d like to encourage you to reach out to them, be a tad vulnerable, and crack the door open. Tell them what is going on with you, and ask what is going on with them. Let them know that what you need is a friend and most likely they will be happy to share some of their happiness with you!
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
All You Who are Weary
The Comfort of a Friend
Cracking the Door Open
