Classics, tearjerkers and tales of growth to add to your holiday reading list
Some childishly wonderful, others pensive yet wholesome —pair a book or two from this selection with a cup of hot chocolate to warm the soul this chilly season.
Anne of Green Gables
L M Montgomery
When unmarried siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert find the orphanage has sent them 11-year-old Anne Shirley instead of a boy to help out on the farm, the pair initially consider returning her. But the bright-eyed, curious lass — red of hair and quick of mouth — soon wins them over with her joyful demeanour, bringing light and happiness to Green Gables and the Cuthberts. This classic tale of a dramatic, intelligent and insecure youth longing to be loved is full of humorous childhood antics, including smacking a bully over the head and accidentally dyeing her loathed orange locks green, and wholesome lessons on the values of hope, kindness and family.
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Who among us read this masterpiece as a child and did not attempt to levitate a pen with our minds, hoping for even a semblance of the titular protagonist’s powers to be real? Roald Dahl’s story of how Matilda Wormwood, a precocious prodigy, fights back against her uncaring, narcissistic parents and tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull, never fails to amuse, infuriate and thrill readers of all ages with its comical moments of vigilante prank-justice. Most memorable of all is the girl’s growing bond with her sensitive and compassionate teacher Miss Honey, who fosters her astute intellect and newfound telekinetic abilities, eventually becoming Matilda’s adoptive guardian — though the 18in chocolate cake is a close second.
Waiting to Exhale
Trry McMillan
Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria and Robin are not just sick of the unreliable men in their lives; the friends each crave some form of cultural and familial acceptance, attempting to cope in their own ways until the right guy finally comes along. A brilliant combination of social commentary, Black female relationship dynamics and breathtakingly realistic renderings of its characters, Terry McMillan’s acclaimed third novel paints a vibrant journey of how four women come to resolve their preoccupations with preserving heritage and overcoming feelings of alienation by relying on each other and growing together, forgoing unhealthy romances and ultimately finding a renewed sense of identity.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
This first instalment from Douglas Adams’ “trilogy of five books” thrusts readers into a colourful, high-octane world where Earth is solely survived by Englishman Arthur Dent. While roaming space with a cast of wacky personalities, Dent discovers the planet was in fact a supercomputer made to generate life’s ultimate question, created by yet another supercomputer which had already generated life’s ultimate answer — unfortunately, the Blue Marble was destroyed five minutes before completing its calculations to make room for an expressway. The gang gallivants through the cosmos pursued by extraterrestrial civil servants, intergalactic police officers and hyperintelligent pan-dimensional mice in this comedic tale of absurdity and adventure.
All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot
Late British veterinary surgeon James Herriot’s memoir recounts his most heartwarming, tragic and funny animal patients. This collection of experiences begins in the author’s youth, when Herriot first heeded his calling and made his way through practices in rural Yorkshire. Herriot’s memories of the most influential visits are inspirational, ranging from painfully difficult moments of owners scraping together their earnings to afford proper care for their animals, to lighthearted tales about pampered pups. As the doctor throws himself into treating each creature to the best of his abilities, this autobiography reveals how Herriot found his endless passion and love for veterinary medicine and the animal world in every case.
We'll Prescribe You a Cat
Syou Ishida
The Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in Kyoto, Japan, can only be found by those in true emotional turmoil, but that is not the most fantastical thing about it. When disheartened businessman Shuta Kagawa turns to the institution for a cure for his insomnia, he is given an eight-year-old mixed breed kitty by the elusive Dr Nikké as his prescription for the next two weeks. This unusual episode is one of five best-selling issues, now collected into a novel and translated by E Madison Shimoda, about patients finding their hearts healed by their four-legged “remedies”. Soothing and magical, We’ll Prescribe You A Cat is an homage to the irreplaceable comfort offered by a furry companion.
A Man Called Ove
Fredrik Backman
This tear-jerker might seem out of place in our line-up of books that hug you with their pages, but beneath the curmudgeonly complaints of its grumpy yet lovable main character is a profound story of laughter and optimism. Fifty-nine-year-old Ove, recently retired, grumbles and swears his way through his suburban life, still mourning the loss of his beloved wife. Things change when he strikes up an unexpected friendship with the young couple and their two daughters who move in next door — plus a stray cat. Equal parts sarcastic wit and intense emotional depth, this poignant account of the loneliness of old age reminds us that one can always find a new lease on life.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
James McBride
A bracing tale of solidarity during a period of racial discrimination, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store opens with the discovery of a skeleton in Pennsylvania, the US, in 1972. James McBride then casts us 40 years into the past, to when the area was the dilapidated neighbourhood of Chicken Hill, occupied by African American and Jewish immigrants. Residents Moshe and Chona Ludlow, owners of the eponymous shop, are asked to hide a deaf Black boy, whom authorities are trying to institutionalise. As truths unfold and the townspeople, persistently marginalised by white Christian America, mobilise to help the child, this uplifting read shows how love and community are what unite and sustain us.
This article first appeared on Dec 8, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
