holidays – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Delaware at Christmas

Title: Delaware at Christmas
Author: Dave Tabler
Genre: Nonfiction
Publisher: Self-published
Source: iRead Book Tours
Format: Paperback
Release Date: July 4, 2025
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Delaware at Christmas uncovers the rich and surprising ways Delawareans have celebrated the holiday season across four centuries. From colonial-era customs brought by Swedish, Dutch, and English settlers to modern multicultural observances, this book blends history, folklore, and festive tradition into a vivid portrait of Christmas in the First State.

Readers will discover the origins of outdoor Christmas decorations, the rise of the state’s holly wreath industry, and the stories behind local favorites like eggnog, wassail, and plum pudding. The book shines a light on forgotten practices — from mumming parades and house tours to the music of handbell choirs and the enduring power of church lovefeasts.

Delaware at Christmas also gives voice to the holiday experiences of Black Delawareans during the antebellum period, alongside the customs brought by Irish, Italian, Polish, and Hispanic communities who shaped the state’s evolving identity.

Whether exploring 19th-century sleigh bells, Victorian Christmas cards, or the curious history of IBM punch card wreaths, Dave Tabler captures Delaware’s holiday spirit with meticulous research and a storyteller’s eye.

Perfect for history lovers, regional readers, and anyone drawn to the enduring magic of Christmas traditions.

Review:

This book describes the traditions that were brought to the state of Delaware from immigrants around the world. Europeans and Hispanics brought their traditions of family gatherings and different foods, such as indoor Christmas trees and the Feast of the Seven Fishes. There were also sections about Christmas traditions that seem essential now but weren’t always part of the celebrations, like Christmas cards and outdoor decorations.

Delaware at Christmas is an interesting look at Christmas traditions in America!

Thank you iRead Book Tours for providing a copy of this book as part of a sponsored campaign!

Have you read Delaware at Christmas? What did you think of it?

Review: The Holiday Honeymoon Switch

Title: The Holiday Honeymoon Switch
Author: Julia McKay
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Viking
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

When doppelgänger best friends trade one’s cabin Christmas vacation for the other’s Hawaiian would’ve-been-honeymoon, both might just find love they weren’t expecting.

Holly Beech and Ivy Casey are bury-the-body besties. They’re so in sync, they even look alike. So when Holly’s fiancé jilts her, leaving her in shock and with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Holly convinces Ivy to switch places. Ivy will go on the Hawaiian honeymoon her best friend can’t bear to take alone, while Holly escapes to Ivy’s rented Hudson Valley cabin to binge-watch holiday movies and heal.

But Holly’s wallowing is interrupted when her rugged Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival who’s had a major glow-up. Meanwhile, Ivy’s (now Hawaiian) annual solo art retreat is upended when Holly’s ex-fiancé checks into the honeymoon suite—with a new woman. Raging and bedless, the last thing Ivy expects is for the hot hotel bartender to come to her rescue. Against all odds, this Christmas might prove the most magical yet.

Review:

On the night before her Christmas wedding, Holly Beech’s fiancé breaks it off. She’s too devastated to go on their honeymoon in Hawaii, so she sends her best friend Ivy Casey on the trip instead. Holly takes Ivy’s solo trip to a winter cabin in a small town. When Ivy arrives in Hawaii, she discovers that Holly’s ex-fiancé decided to go on the honeymoon with his new girlfriend. She finds a new place to stay with the bartender at the resort. Holly meets her teenage rival and crush in the small town on her trip. Both women have vacation flings that develop into real feelings.

This was a cute holiday romance. It started with heartbreak for Holly, but the rest of the story was positive and uplifting. Both women had very different holidays, with Ivy in tropical Hawaii and Holly in a Christmasy small town. It had such a cute, heartwarming ending!

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is a fun holiday rom com!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a digital copy of this book!

Have you read The Holiday Honeymoon Switch? What did you think of it?

Review: Let It Glow

Title: Let It Glow
Author: Marissa Meyer, Joanne Levy
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Aviva Davis and Holly Martin meet at the holiday pageant tryouts for their local senior’s center, they think they must be seeing double. While they both knew they were adopted, they had no idea they had a biological sibling, let alone an identical twin! The similarities are only skin deep, though, because while Aviva has a big personality and even bigger Broadway plans, Holly is more the quiet dreamer type who longs to become a famous author like her grandfather.

One thing the girls do have in common is their curiosity about how the other celebrates the holidays. What better way to discover the magic of the holidays than to experience them firsthand? The girls secretly trade lives, planning to stage a dramatic reveal to their families at the pageant. Two virtual strangers swapping homes, holidays, and age-old traditions–what could possibly go wrong?

Review:

When Holly Martin and Aviva Davis sign up to perform at a holiday pageant at a senior’s residence, they discover that they are identical twins. Both the girls know they’re adopted but they didn’t know that they had a twin. Holly’s family celebrates Christmas and Aviva’s family celebrates Hanukkah. They are both curious about each other’s holidays, so they decide to switch places for a few days until they can reveal their identities at the pageant. However, the girls don’t know much about each other, so they have to work hard to hide their identity in their new families.

This was such a fun holiday story! The Parent Trap is one of my favourite movies, and this story was like a holiday version of it. My family celebrates Christmas so I knew the Christmas traditions that Holly’s family did. I liked learning about Hanukkah in this story. Aviva was also learning about her family’s traditions, so her and Holly were both being taught throughout the story.

Let It Glow is a fun middle grade holiday story!

Thank you Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing a digital copy of this book!

Have you read Let It Glow? What did you think of it?