Book picks similar to
The Christmas List by Pete Nelson


christmas
non-fiction
fiction
contemporary

A Stranger for Christmas


Carol Lynn Pearson - 1984
    One bets the other that someone will make room for them in their hearts and home.

A Lilac Creek Christmas ( a Lilac Creek Dog Story)


Dana Landers - 2013
    

The Santa Letters


Stacy Gooch-Anderson - 2008
    This first year without their father and husband has been trying. Money is tight, but it's the emotional strain that threatens to snap under the weight of grief. Just as Emma and the children begin to sink beneath the surface, a mysterious package arrives on the doorstep. An ornate wax seal beckons them to open the accompanying note and start on a journey through Christmas. The note is signed simply, Santa, and each day a package arrives to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas - love, family, memories, and, most important of all, Christ.

The Christmas Wish


Richard Siddoway - 1996
    The warm memories of life in a small town and the old-fashioned Christmas holidays he and his grandparents shared sustain him still as a young man making his way in the world.Years later, Will takes a leave of absence from his job in New York City to return home after his grandfather's death to help run the family real estate business. There he discovers something about his grandfather's past that shatters him and the memories of the life he so loved. At dinner one evening, his grandmother tells Will that she has been reading her husband's journals and learned that every Christmas Eve, when she and Will were out doing their traditional last-minute shopping, her husband was seeing a woman named Lillian. This year, his grandmother's Christmas wish is for Will to find out who Lillian is and why Will's grandfather, a seemingly devoted husband, saw Lillian every year for more than twenty-seven years and never mentioned her name.As Will struggles to salvage the family business and learn the truth about Lillian, he approaches a revelation that teaches him a lesson in the power of kindness, forgiveness, and love to uplift an entire community and touch each life within it.With an inspiring message wrapped in an irresistible mystery, this heartwarming Christmas tale will be cherished as a wonderful gift of the season by anyone who appreciates the magic of yuletide classics old and new.

Manchester Christmas


John Gray - 2020
    Soon, she encounters kindness, romance, and is pulled into a mystery centered on an old, abandoned church and the death of a special girl. Are the images that only she can see in the church's stained-glass windows a warning, or is someone trying to reach her, to help heal this broken community? Manchester Christmas illustrates how God often uses the most unlikely among us to spread grace and healing in a wounded world. Full of love, hope, and forgiveness, this debut novel from an Emmy-winning writer will touch your heart and have you longing for Christmas in Manchester.

A Sidelined Christmas


Toni Shiloh - 2018
    Nothing shocks him more than running into his high-school sweetheart, Lucille “Bebe” Gordon.Bebe Gordon returned to Peachwood Bay three years ago with a divorce certificate and her daughter, Hope. When Jahleel returns, all the memories of the past come rushing back. She can’t decide if he’s changed or if her heart is holding onto past hurts.Will Jahleel and Bebe take a chance on love or let life sidelined them at Christmas?

When Love Leads You Home


Jami Crumpton - 2019
    After missing the Olympic team because of injury, and being shut out by her ‘winning is everything’ father, she’s built a career as a top notch, award-winning coach. When a serious student injury propels her to the outside of the gymnastics world, she finds herself broke and alone – until a bequest from a mysterious and unknown aunt takes her on an unexpected journey. Who was Aunt Winnie, and what does the equally mysterious and unknown Mr. Boudreaux have to do with it? Army veteran, Cole Boudreaux, has returned home a hero to Cardinal Point, Texas, but a few things went wrong with his homecoming. His fiancée cut him loose, and he lost his position as a police officer because a wartime injury left him nearly deaf. Then, the woman who was like a mother to him dies suddenly. Cole knows God has a plan, and if he could settle Winnie’s estate and grow his budding security business, he just might figure out what it is. Winnie’s niece is not making it easy. She’s rolled into town with a ton of baggage and secrets she’s not willing to share. Why is Jacey so distant, and why is she so determined to not let him in?

Finding Father Christmas


Robin Jones Gunn - 2007
    Unexpectedly welcomed into a family that doesn't recognize her, and whom she's quickly coming to love, she faces a terrible decision. Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her father? Or should she carry the truth home with her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world? Whatever choice she makes during this London Christmas will forever change the future for both herself and the family she can't bear to leave. Robin Jones Gunn brilliantly combines lyrical writing and unforgettable characters to craft a story of longing and belonging that will stay with readers long after they close the pages of this book.

In Time For An Amish Christmas


Samantha Price - 2017
     Heidi King was one woman who needed a miracle. She left the Amish community years ago and built a life for herself as a successful New York City realtor. Loneliness and regret cause her to cry out to God. Heidi wakes the next morning to the life she would've had if she'd stayed in the Amish community and married Derek, her old Amish love. At first, she was delighted to be Derek's wife and mother to their three children, but soon motherhood and the realities of life in the Amish community overwhelm her. Heidi finds her way back to her city life and her single status. Now with no children and no Derek, will she realize she's made the biggest mistake of her life? Will Heidi be able to find her way back in time for an Amish Christmas?

Christmas on Mistletoe Mountain (Grace Nest, #1)


Dora Hiers - 2016
    A warm cozy fire. Two hearts that desperately need grace and healing and a Christmas miracle. This Christian romance novella, Christmas on Mistletoe Mountain, is the first novella in the Grace Nest series.After college, Kane Kirkland returned home to Mistletoe Mountain a changed man, fifty pounds lighter and a new Christian. Six years later, with a successful real estate career and a fresh boost of confidence, all he wants for Christmas is a chance at love with longtime crush Sydney. Something happened to his friend while he was away. Something dark and life-altering ripped the joy from her spirit. And he intends to find out what…After a disastrous relationship unraveled Sydney Camden’s life, broken and devastated, she gave up all hope for her happily-ever-after. Those silly fantasies belonged only in romance novels, not in real life. Besides, who has time for love? Her life is crazy busy caring for a disabled father and volunteering at Grace Nest, a home for pregnant teens. But then Kane turns up the heat. The gentle giant has always attracted her, but the idea of loving and losing her friend terrifies her. Because when he learns about her hidden sin, surely he’ll vanish from her life forever. A snowstorm forces them together and unleashes their fears. Kane worries if Syd still sees him as the overweight kid from their past and questions whether a future together is God’s will or his most treasured dream. Syd wrestles the demon of lies as she relives horrendous memories. Grace Nest…where broken hearts heal, chains are loosened, and hope is restored. Where love finds its way home during Christmas.Scoop up this inspirational Christian romance, a story bursting with grace, healing, and love. Another Heart-Racing, God-Gracing Romance from inspirational Christian romance author, Dora Hiers.

Forever Christmas


Christine Lynxwiler - 2007
    But after two broken engagements, she's content to forget romance and run her Christmas shop in Jingle Bells, Arkansas. She thinks her biggest fear is making it down the aisle as maid of honor in her best friend's Christmas wedding, with at least one ex-fiancé looking on. But when her beloved Jingle Bells is threatened, Kristianna struggles to sort through her jumbled feelings concerning the handsome lawyer hired to change the town name and her childhood sweetheart who has returned just in time to come to her aid. Will her heart discover the truth before both her town and her Christmas spirit is extinguished?

The Ultimate Gift


Jim Stovall - 1991
    But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family."Although to date your life seems to be a sorry excuse for anything I would call promising, there does seem to be a spark of something in you that I hope we can fan into a flame. For that reason, I am not making you an instant millionaire."What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.

Secret Santa


Anne Osborn Poelman - 2000
    In the depths of the Great Depression, poor families like the Van Slotens are lucky to have a roof over their heads. Work is scarce, and there hasn't been enough of it to provide even the necessities, let alone a luxury like a holiday celebration. But when Tom, the oldest son, takes it into his head to provide a Christmas for his family, the stage is set for a story that will warm your heart and restore your faith in the true spirit of the season!

The Spirit of Christmas: Stories of the Season: Fictional Christmas Stories by Beloved LDS Authors


Jennie Hansen - 2008
    Will Sophie really be able to get what she needs by spending the holidays alone? Will Miss Eugenia be able to give a struggling family the Christmas they want? Has five-year-old Janie's visit from Santa really been cancelled because she was bad? Take a journey into the minds and hearts of three engaging characters who each need to believe in their version of Christmas-and discover that believing in people is what the spirit of Christmas is all about. A perfect assortment for sharing and celebrating the holiday season.

The Bridge


Karen Kingsbury - 2012
    Molly Allen lives alone in Portland, but she left her heart back in Tennessee with a man she walked away from five years ago. They had a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since.Ryan Kelly lives in Nashville after a broken engagement and several years on the road touring with a country music duo. He can still hear Molly’s voice encouraging him to follow his dreams; Molly, whose memory stays with him. At least he can visit The Bridge—the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin—and remember the hours he and Molly once spent there.For thirty years, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing the people of middle Tennessee with coffee, conversation, and shelves of good books—even through dismal book sales and the rise of digital books. Then in May, the hundred-year flood swept through Franklin and destroyed nearly every book in the store.Now the bank is pulling the lease on The Bridge. Despondent and without answers, Charlie considers the unthinkable. Then tragedy strikes, and suddenly, everything changes. In the face of desperate brokenness and lost opportunities, could the miracle of a second chance actually unfold?The Bridge is a love story set against the struggle of the American bookstore, a love story you will never forget.