My brain just treats holiday movies differently than holiday books. The medium of TV allows you turn holiday movie watching into an ambient or even social activity that doesn’t necessarily demand your full attention the way a book does. Watching holiday movies is a passive activity; reading requires active engagement. 

Movies let you multitask—you can glance up while baking cookies, playing games with family, or working on a festive adult coloring book. But with a book, if my attention starts to wander, it’s game over. Books demand focus; they rely on your imagination to bring the scenes to life. If a book isn’t a hard-hitting page-turner with relatable characters or compelling substance, I’m out.