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Christmas Hope

by Donna VanLiere

The Christmas Hope series by Donna VanLiere has 11 known books (11 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with The Christmas Shoes (2001).

Books
11 known books (11 novels)
Published
11
First published
2001
Status
ongoing
Shelved under
Literary Fiction
Start here: The Christmas Shoes (2001) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of The Christmas Shoes
The Christmas Shoes (2001)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Christmas Shoes

    Novel
    The Christmas Shoes opens the Christmas Hope series in 2001, Donna VanLiere's debut novel inspired by the popular Christmas song of the same name about a boy buying shoes for his dying mother's final Christmas. Its unexpected success as a New York Times bestseller led to a 2002 CBS film starring Rob Lowe and the rest of the series.
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  2. The Christmas Blessing

    Novel
    The Christmas Blessing arrived two years after The Christmas Shoes, continuing the Christmas Hope series in 2003 with another self-contained story of loss, hope and family at Christmastime, and was itself later adapted for television.
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  3. The Christmas Hope

    Novel
    Written by Donna VanLiere, The Christmas Hope appeared in the series in 2005, another mostly standalone entry set in a small American town at Christmastime, and one of several titles beyond the first to be adapted for television.
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  4. The Christmas Promise

    Novel
    Running 224 pages, The Christmas Promise was published in 2007 as part of the Christmas Hope series, continuing Donna VanLiere's roughly once-every-one-to-two-years run of loosely connected Christmas-season novels.
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  5. The Christmas Secret

    Novel
    Published in 2009, The Christmas Secret belongs to the Christmas Hope series, one of several titles beyond the original Christmas Shoes that was also adapted for television.
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  6. The Christmas Journey

    Novel
    The Christmas Journey is the sixth novel in the Christmas Hope series, published in 2010, another self-contained story of loss, hope and family in a small American town at Christmastime.
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  7. The Christmas Note

    Novel
    The Christmas Note follows The Christmas Journey in the Christmas Hope series, published in 2011 as Donna VanLiere continued her loosely connected run of Christmas-season novels roughly once every one to two years.
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  8. The Christmas Light

    Novel
    The Christmas Light precedes The Christmas Town in the Christmas Hope series, published in 2014, another mostly self-contained story sharing the series' recurring small-town setting and occasional overlapping characters.
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  9. The Christmas Town

    Novel
    The Christmas Town sits between The Christmas Light and The Christmas Star in the Christmas Hope series, arriving in 2016 as Donna VanLiere's loosely connected Christmas-season novels continued into their second decade.
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  10. The Christmas Star

    Novel
    At 307 pages, The Christmas Star is the longest book in the Christmas Hope series, published in 2018 and continuing Donna VanLiere's run of self-contained stories of loss, hope and family at Christmastime.
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  11. The Christmas Table

    Novel
    Following The Christmas Star, The Christmas Table arrived in 2020 as the latest entry in the Christmas Hope series, closing out roughly two decades of Donna VanLiere's loosely connected Christmas-season novels.
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Key facts about the Christmas Hope series

The Christmas Hope series has 11 books on our list. Since all 11 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with The Christmas Shoes, since it opens the publication order in 2001. The Christmas Blessing is book 2, from 2003. The Christmas Hope is book 3, from 2005.

The Christmas Promise is book 4, from 2007. The Christmas Secret is book 5, from 2009. The Christmas Journey is book 6, from 2010.

The Christmas Note is book 7, from 2011, while The Christmas Light is book 8, from 2014. The Christmas Town is book 9, from 2016. The Christmas Star is book 10, from 2018, while The Christmas Table is book 11, from 2020.

Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions. The catalogue marks it as ongoing, yet no next book has a date so far.

The books came out between 2001 and 2020, while their length runs from 63 to 307 pages. That is a run of 19 years.

Donna VanLiere has 16 books on our list. Additionally, they write End-Times Trilogy. We shelve the books under inspirational fiction.

About the Christmas Hope series

The Christmas Hope series began with Donna VanLiere's 2001 debut novel The Christmas Shoes, itself inspired by the popular Christmas song of the same name, about a boy buying shoes for his dying mother's final Christmas. The book's unexpected success -- a New York Times bestseller adapted into a 2002 CBS television film starring Rob Lowe -- led VanLiere to continue writing a loosely connected series of Christmas-season novels roughly once every one to two years for two decades.

Rather than following one continuing cast, each Christmas Hope novel tells a new, mostly self-contained story of loss, hope, and family centered on a small American town at Christmastime, with occasional overlapping characters and settings connecting the books loosely to one another. Several titles beyond the first were also adapted for television, including The Christmas Blessing, The Christmas Hope, and The Christmas Secret.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to read the Christmas Hope books in order?

No -- each novel tells a mostly self-contained story; the series is connected loosely by setting and occasional shared characters rather than one continuing plot.

How many books are in the Christmas Hope series?

Eleven, published from 2001 to 2020.

Which Christmas Hope books were made into movies?

The Christmas Shoes, The Christmas Blessing, The Christmas Hope, The Christmas Secret, and The Christmas Note were all adapted into television movies.

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