Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah!
Get ready, we’re going into the new year with candles and jelly donuts and latkes and it’s going to be a party!
Like last year, I’ve put together eight care packages designed to make your winter more fun, mellow, warm, and entertaining.
Just in time for the beginning of 2026!
First: my Hanukkah wishes for you tonight and for the next eight: may each candle lit lead to another and another, until we have all connected to bathe the world in light and warmth. May there be peace in our lifetime.
Now, let’s talk about what’s in the care packages. I used to be super great at care packages because my kids went to sleepaway camp – not the type of camp where the care packages included Gucci bags and Loro Piana slippers wrapped in an Hermes scarf or anything – and I LOVED putting them together.
I still sort of send care packages now that they’re in college because I have to send them things pretty regularly, but that’s a small item in a bubble mailer. This is a whole ass box.
So what’s in the care package?
I’m not telling!
Well, I’ll share some details so you know what to expect, but some of it will be a surprise. It might rhyme with “schmeggo.”
In keeping with my wishes for all of you to have a cozy and warm 2026, the care packages will include:
- things that are fuzzy
- things that are warm
- things that are soothing
- things that are fizzy
- things that are indulgent
- things that are fun!
And, like last year, I reached out to folks I know in publishing, and have assorted books, of course! There will be several books in each package, including some major titles from this year. And maybe an ARC or two (shhh!).
This is a way for me to thank you for being part of yet another lovely year here at SBTB. We are still here, and it’s because of you hanging out with us each day. It’s been a big year, and we’re looking forward to more mayhem and silliness in 2026!
SO, ready to enter to win?
To enter, please comment and tell us what book (or recommendation of any sort!) that you found at SBTB that you most enjoyed?
It doesn’t have to be a 2024 book, of course. Any book that you haven’t read is a new book! But what did you discover this year at SBTB that you really liked?
Standard disclaimers apply: We are not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and ready to be warm and cozy. May cause increased feelings of security, warmth, and delight.
Comments will close 21 December 2025 at or near 11:59am ET, and winners will be announced shortly afterward. Packages will be shipped out in January 2026.
Thank you to the indefatigable Kristen Dwyer of LeoPR for their generosity!
Good luck, Happy Hanukkah, and thank you for being part of Smart Bitches! May you have a lovely holiday, and for everyone, a peaceful new year.
Congrats to our winners! If your comment was selected, you’ll have an email in your inbox from me. Congratulations and thank you for making this year’s care package extravaganza so much fun!
- Libby
- Eleine
- Becky
- lorenet335
- EditChief
- Kaelie C.
- Darlynne
- Heather L
Happy Hannukah! I will always be thankful to SBTB for getting me into the Psy-changeling series by Nalini Singh. It has brought me so much enjoyment and comfort over the years.
This year, I read two of the Graves Glen series by Erin Sterling (The Ex Hex, The Kiss Curse) and really loved them! I found out that the author is Rachel Hawkins, writing under a pseudonym, so it’s no wonder I really enjoyed them. Highly recommend the books for the fun witchy vibes.
I discovered so many new to me authors through SBTB, T Kingfisher and Courtney Milan being the most life altering. I recommend them, and this site, to all the readers I know.
People Watching was one I learned about here that I really enjoyed. Happy Hannukah!
Murderbot!! Thanks
Happy Hanukkah!My favorite rec ever from SBTB is everything from Sarina Bowen!
“Kills Well With Others”- really appreciate books that explore being past 40 in unconventional ways.
Happy Hanukkah!
An unoriginal but heartfelt thank you for introducing me to the comfort authors that helped me get through tough times – Martha Wells, T. Kingfisher, and Katherine Addison.
Happy Hanukkah!
These Summer Storms.
Happy Hanukkah! So nice to see a Hanukkah event amid all the Christmas 🙂 I absolutely loved Proper English by KJ Charles– and in fact I just recommended it and a bunch of other SBTB recs to a friend who told me her girlfriend was looking for wlw romance! Thank you guys for another wonderful year of joy and discovery.
If we are looking way back, I would say Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
So many books – lately I read Hench! I will be going back to MurderBot soon though if the world gets too hairy.
The Witch’s tale! Plus a million more
T Kingfisher’s Paladin’s Grace will always be one of my so time favorites because it sounded so not me but turned out to be deliciously offbeat in the perfect way.
I found Murderbot and C.S. Poe’s Memento Mori series from readers comments at SBTB this year. And I joined the bad decisions book club while catching up on these series. Thank you so much for all of your hard work that helps me find new authors and series to enjoy.
Gouda Friends by Cathy Yardley. I had read the first one in the series and didn’t realize the next had come out. How can you not love a heroine with emergency cheese?
There are too many to mention, but I first got into Anne Bishop’s The Others series because of SBTB. I’d seen it around before, but felt like I wouldn’t be into it (I’d just been through a werewolf vampire phase). Gave it a second thought when I saw it maybe on a daily deal. It’s been one of my faves since then.
Happy Hanukkah! My favorite new book this year discovered through SBTB was Anne Bishop’s Turn of Fate – I devoured it in one sitting! I’d read her Black Jewels long ago but didn’t know she had started a new series. Also discovered lots of other favorites through the years.
My 2025 answer to this question is The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies. I dragged my feet on reading it in 2024 because of the title and cover, but when the sequel came out and was also well-reviewed, I decided to give it a shot. (I also turned 42 this year just like Gus and Julia and it felt relevant!)
So grateful to SBTB for this rec. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
I’ve been following you since 2008 and it has impacted my life in good ways. I have found a ton of great books. Pretty sure I found Sarina Bowen through you back in the day. Definitely found Kate Canterbary’s The Worst Guy back in the day. Still love it. Found Cate C Wells thanks to DiscoDollyDeb; I may not love all her recommendations but she does push me beyond my comfort levels and that is good.
But, beyond the books, what The Bitches have given me is a community that not only shares many of my interests but celebrates them, that thinks critically about what we are reading and also the impact books and readers can have. It’s given me more confidence to be open with others about what I read. And what I have read has helped me open my mind and understand more about the people around me.
In addition, The Bitches have been my unknowing support, sometimes my only support, through some of the darkest events in my life and through the depression they triggered. The Bitches and the books they read have allowed me to feel emotions I was hiding and have allowed me believe that, somewhere, there might actually be a happy ending.
SBTB has introduced me to Olivia Dade! Is it OK to pick a favorite author rather than just one book?
Absolutely it’s ok!
Always and forever Murderbot. But also this year specifically I picked up multiple of Alexandra Vasti’s books because of SBTB. And as a bonus, I got my best friend to read Killers of a Certain Age and she loved it.
So many great things, so much beyond books. Kate Canterbary is an author I would have missed entirely. Thanks to SBTB, I’ve enjoyed hours and days of total delight between the pages.
Happy Hanukkah! 🕎 I have been hooked on so many books from SBTB. I literally have to hide my wallet. I discovered Olivia Waite through SBTB years ago. And this year loved Murder by Memory.
Happy Hanukkah to all! Like so many have remarked, I’ve discovered more books than I can count thanks to SBTB. HARD to pick favourites but Cecilia Grant’s A Lady Awakened and Alexis Hall’s A Lady For a Duke are certainly in my keeper pile.
Best wishes for 2026 to everyone
The majority of the fiction I read is through SBTB. I am so grateful for a site that is fun, informative and open to amazing people. Really enjoyed Killers of a Certain Age and the sequel by Deanna Rayburn. Thank you for being here!