The Best Read to Pair With Your Holiday Mocktail

Whether you’re looking for fizzy or smooth, hot or iced, we’ve got a delicious holiday drink paired with a page-turning read just for you!

Orianna McDavid –
Book Culture Bookish Lifestyle Food & Wine Lifestyle
A stack of books is in the center of the image with an apple cider, a peppermint cocoa, a cranberry fizz, and cocoa with marshmallows, all illustrated in watercolor style on a red sparkly background.

The holiday season is the perfect time to cozy up with a sweet treat and crack into the pages of a fresh read. So get in front of the fire, grab a glass, and get reading one of these recs we’ve paired with our favorite holiday mocktails!

Eggnog 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

White and creamy eggnog with cinnamon on top and a cinnamon stick on top sits in a clear mug with a snowflake on the side.
IMAGE VIA FEEL GOOD FOODIE

This sweet and creamy drink with a rustic feel pairs perfectly with Claire Randall’s adventures in Outlander. Recently reunited with her husband after returning from her duties as a combat nurse in World War 2, Claire is prepared to enjoy their reunion. But, when she touches a boulder arranged in an ancient stone circle, she suddenly transpires to Scotland … in 1743. Clam MacKenzie, which she finds herself inextricably involved with, is on the cusp of war, and she is an outsider with much to learn about the place — and time — she’s been transported to. 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon book cover. On a royal blue background, an orange and yellow crown is illustrated with a tassel coming from the top and what appears to be two feathers or leaves coming out from either side of the top of the crown.
IMAGE VIA BOOKSHOP.ORG

She has no time to grapple with her situation before she must step into the whirlwind of spies, battle, political relationships, and a fierce love that may shatter her heart — and twist her mind in complicated ways if she can return home. 

Wassail 

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke 

An amber-colored liquid with an orange slice, a cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves sits on a wooden cutting block in a round clear mug.
IMAGE VIA THE SPRUCE EATS / SONIA BOZZO

Vibrantly infused with spices, citrus, and a hint of ginger, this traditional version of mulled apple cider is perfect to sip on as you dive into the world of Merowdis Scot. She’s an odd girl, spends her time talking to animals and trees, and feels most at peace when she’s alone (without other humans, that is) walking in the woods.

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke book cover. Embossed in gold with white accents on a dark blue background are vines of holly with berries, a fox in a trot at the bottom, and a bird on either side of the title. The bird on the left has a small sprig of berries in its beak.
IMAGE VIA BOOKSHOP.ORG

On one particular snowy, crisp afternoon, she encounters a fox and a blackbird. As night descends upon the trio, a mysterious figure appears among them and sets Merowdis’ life on an entirely new path. 

Champurrado 

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

A thick and rich chocolate beverage is in a clear mug with a tiny sprinkle of cayenne powder on top as well as chocolate shavings and a cinnamon stick.
IMAGE VIA DINNER THEN DESSERT

This rich and flavorful hot chocolate infused with cayenne offers a zingy kick as you explore The City and Its Uncertain Walls. It starts out simple — a boy and a girl are in love. And when she goes missing, it haunts him for the rest of his life. His search for his lost love follows him through mid-life, when he finds himself journeying between the world he knows as reality and a magical, perhaps imaginary, world where mystical creatures roam. 

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami book cover. Two shadows, one taller and one shorter, are holding hands against a yellowing stone wall. In the foreground is a clock with no hands and listed in Roman numerals.
IMAGE VIA BOOKSHOP.ORG

Following his premonitions, the man travels to a rural mountain town, where he becomes a librarian, and it’s not long before he begins to learn of the mysterious circumstances that surrounded the man who held the position before he did. As time passes, the man wonders more about the barriers between the two worlds and just how concrete they are. Everything changes when he meets a mysterious young boy who shows him the key to what he’s been missing. 

Shirley Temple 

The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis

Two Shirley Temples sit side by side on a wooden table. The cherry-colored liquid is in a tall, thin glass with small ice cubes at the top, a cherry, and a red and white spiral straw.
IMAGE VIA THE BAKER UPSTAIRS

This fizzy and sweet soda drink will keep your palate crisp and refreshed as you embark on a journey of love and danger with Psyche and Eros. Fiery, beautiful Psyche has already turned the heads of every bachelor in town, but she wants nothing more than to escape their gaze. When her father believes that his family is cursed after enraging Aphrodite, he follows the instructions of an Oracle and ties his daughter to a rock where she awaits a terrible, monstrous fate. 

The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis book cover. One figure with long, slightly wavy hair stands with its face towards the middle of the page, while another figure with curly hair, upside down and facing the first, descends from the top of the page in the same pose as the first. They both have their eyes closed and lips slightly parted as if they are about to kiss.
IMAGE VIA BOOKSHOP.ORG

Eros, the deity of desire, lays eyes upon Psyche and decides they cannot follow through with their promise to their mother, Aphrodite. Instead, Eros whisks Psyche away to a palace, hidden from the eyes of the gods — and of the outside world. In their hidden oasis, night after night, Eros and Psyche fall in love. A love forbidden by the gods, and protected only by Eros’s flight each morning before sunrise. For if they were to remain with Psyche through daylight, the spell that keeps their castle hidden would be broken. 

Before long, safety turns to boredom, and infatuation leads to questions. Psyche sets a chain of events in motion that will put them both to the test and make ripples in the heavens themselves. 

Peppermint Hot Chocolate 

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo-Calvino

In a ribbed faded blue mug is a hot chocolate with a dollop of whipped cream in the middle, along with chocolate shavings and candy cane crumbles dusted on top. There is a spoon in the mug and a crushed candy cane surrounding the mug.
IMAGE VIA DETOXINISTA

Minty and smooth, the refreshing chill of peppermint cocoa will keep you on your toes as you dive into the world of Calvino’s masterpiece. Bending the conventions readers take for granted about the mechanisms of storytelling, Italo Calvino challenges our assumptions and pushes the boundaries of the vehicle of literature.

In an iconographic, almost comic-style illustration there is a lamp on a small round table that shines a very sharp triangle of light onto the floor around it. There is a closed book and a cigarette propped up on an ashtray, but still lit and only half burned as if someone may come back for it. in the background is a bridge with four arches and a steam engine pulling five cars behind it under a cloudy sky.
IMAGE VIA AMAZON.COM

The story starts off simple enough, a reader buys a book. It’s the latest Calvino. But is this the book you’re reading? Was that you buying the book in the bookshop? Are you the reader? Assumptions beware as you dive into this mind-bending delight.

Mulled Pomegranate Cherry Juice 

I Love Hearing Your Dreams: Poems by Matthew Zapruder

In a double-walled modern cup is a deep red liquid with pomegranate seeds and an orange slice in the drink, as well as one on the side of the glass. The cup sits on a wooden coaster, and there are pomegranate seeds around the cup.
IMAGE VIA GOOD LIFE EATS

Tart, sweet, and brimming with spices, this vibrant mixture is a grounding partner as you explore Matthew Zapruder’s world of dreams. This collection is a reverent, whimsical journey through dreamscapes, the emotions of dreamers, and reflections on the possibilities they illuminate.

I Love Hearing Your Dreams: Poems by Matthew Zapruder book cover. In a watercolor/inkpen style, a rabbit wearing a peach-colored dress with long sleeves and a shawl holds a decorated easter egg and looks up at a crescent moon. Between the rabbit and the moon is a large hill with pine trees on the left and in the distance and shrubs on the right. Dark teal-colored bands on the top and bottom resemble the sky above the moon and a river beneath the hill.
IMAGE VIA BOOKSHOP.ORG

Abstractly beautiful and deeply touching, I Love Hearing Your Dreams explores the world as we see it, and the opportunities for expansion beyond our waking imaginings. 

Cranberry Ginger Fizz 

The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder Through Science & Poetry by Maria Popova

A light pink drink is in a tall textured glass with a sprig of thyme resting on the edge, as well as crushed ice and cranberries floating in the drink. The drinks are on a wooden round plate with thyme and cranberries surrounding them.
IMAGE VIA THE SOCIAL SIPPER

This sparkling and refreshing juicy fizz will alight your taste buds as Maria Popova takes you on an enlightening journey between the worlds of poetry and science. She describes the two as “instruments for knowing the world more intimately and loving it more deeply.”

The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder Through Science & Poetry by Maria Popova book cover. On a navy blue background, botanical illustrations in orange and shades of blue weave around each other. In the center appears to be an orange poppy with a blue center, and a variety of roots and leaves and closed blooms wind around it.
IMAGE VIA BOOKSHOP.ORG

From the delight of discovery to the toil of research, the intelligence of octopi to the mysteries of deep space, she weaves into these stories a raw, human element and the tale of the people who infuse their passions into their work. These short stories show a side to scientific exploration that is not often put in the headlines, the story of deeply loving your craft and what it allows us to learn about the world. 

From fizzy and fruity to rich and creamy, one of these holiday bevs and book pairings is sure to brighten up any cozy evening curled up by the couch, book club, or chilly morning!

Loving themed pairings? Click here to check out our thoughts on holiday read/cookie pairings!

Click here to check out the Bookstr team’s recommendations on Bookshop!

FEATURED IMAGE VIA BOOKSTR / ORIANNA MCDAVID