Reading a Summer Christmas

Dec 19, 2023 | Blog

I really enjoy all those cheesy Christmas Romcoms. For me, they are the perfect way to relax, partly because they are entirely predictable. This includes the movies and also book. At the end of a busy year, they are a great way to relax.

There is just one problem.

I’m in Australia. We celebrate Christmas in Summer. Usually, the weather is warm.

There have been some years where it’s been cooler, and I can remember one Christmas where it was snowing in some parts of Victoria, but usually we don’t need to wear a jumper and the idea of a full cooked lunch is not quite what we’re after as it’s way too hot to put on the oven, let alone eat a hot meal.

I have seen a few movies that have been set in warmer climates, but not many. There also aren’t many books around either.

Recently, I read Tangled By Tinsel by Phillipa Nefri Clark, a short romance story set in a small Australian town around Christmas. This is the sort of story I have been looking for along with Snowy’s Christmas by Sally Murphy, a lovely picture book featuring a white kangaroo that I read last year.

When I was browsing in a local bookshop yesterday, all the Christmas novels were from the Northern hemisphere! Almost all the picture books involved snow in some way too.

I am aware that there are some novellas out there, however they aren’t available as print books, my preferred method of reading.

I am on a hunt for more books that are set in an Aussie Christmas, or at least a Christmas where snow doesn’t feature. If you know of any, please send them my way. And before anyone suggests it, yes, I am trying to formulate my own Aussie Christmas stories too.

Latest Blogs

Worth Reading: The Very Strange Orange

Worth Reading: The Very Strange Orange

I learned about this picture book through a kidlit Facebook group and was able to download a free copy on Amazon. The Very Strange Orange is a picture book that is aimed at older readers and kids who ask questions like 'If an orange is blue, is it still an orange?'....

BTS – Lilly’s Library

BTS – Lilly’s Library

Lilly's Library is a junior fiction story about a little girl who loves books and doesn't want to wait until she grows up to have her own library. The idea for this book came to me one day and I started to write, then it sat for ages until I saw it when I was going...

What I’ve Read – May 2026

What I’ve Read – May 2026

It's already the end of May, and my mum's birthday. It was nice to end the month with a roast dinner with family followed by birthday cake. Here are the books I read during May: The Hare who Wouldn't Share by Steve Small - a lovely picture book about a hare who...