Dunklin County Library Gift to Readers

In celebration of the upcoming holidays, many readers choose to seek out holiday books during this season including everything from classic tales to Christmas romance novels. Even if the plot doesn't explicitly center around a holiday, reading a book set during December usually evokes a cozy mood, and it doesn't hurt to play some classic Christmas songs to set the mood. The Dunklin County Library has a gift to Libby users this December. Novels with no waiting! The three adult novels and the one young adult fiction selection are available now through January 15, 2025.

Libby is a free app through the Missouri State Library and the Dunklin County Library. Library patrons may obtain a free account by completing a request form at any Dunklin County Library location. Patrons will receive a username and pin number via email to begin using this free reading and audiobook application. If someone on your holiday gift list may be receiving an e-reader or tablet, visit your nearest Dunklin County Library for assistance in setting up a Libby account so reading may begin seamlessly.

Hot Cocoa Hearts by Suzanne Nelson is a young adult novel selection. Emery Mason hates the holidays. She’s so over tinsel, secret Santas, and excessive cheer. To make matter worse, her parents are forcing her to work as an elf in their Santa photo booth at the mall. Then she meets Alejandro Perez, who works at the hot cocoa shop next door. He’s so annoyingly full of the holiday spirit he should be the one wearing elf get-up! A Secret Santa surprise turns her world upside down, will Emery finally embrace the magic of the season? Or will she miss her chance to kiss the perfect boy under the mistletoe?

Carmen, newly laid off, reluctantly takes a job at a bookshop in historic Edinburgh, at the behest of her sister, Sofia, who she's not exactly on the best terms with. Will she be able to help save the bookstore, and repair her relationship with her sister, in time for the holidays? Jenny Colgan’s The Christmas Bookshop will have you laughing and considering good deeds in your neighborhood!

The Somerville sisters believe in love, but they’ve lost faith it will happen for them. Reggie hasn’t been home since the end of the world’s shortest engagement and encounters an old friend. When her parents decide to renew their vows, she buffs up her twinkle to help with the Christmas wedding. Dena is pregnant and on her own on purpose. But then a gorgeous, sad-eyed songwriter checks in to a room at her inn. As the Christmas wedding draws closer, these two sisters just might unwrap the most treasured gift of all in Susan Mallery’s The Christmas Wedding Guest.

It is Christmas Eve. The Lee family reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture, followed by a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. But when Hercule Poirot, who is staying in the village with a friend for Christmas, offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie is a fascinating, detailed read with surprises and growing tension!