What Christmas reading do you recommend?

[TimothyEllis]

I thought I'd start a thread for Christmas themed books you recommend people read.

You can plug your own book, but preferably with someone else's.

Twelve Days of Christmas, by Helen Ellis


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PGNOHDW

Rosanne, Dorrie, Ethel and Charmaine are four Seniors – friends – each battling with their own problems. Why shouldn’t they battle together? The ditzy, loveable, seniors face their first Christmas challenge together, with every one of the twelve days before Christmas causing hilarious situations to be dealt with in their inimitable down-to-earth style...
Christmas is imminent. Ethel decides to festoon the front of the new house and garden with Christmas themed decorations. It’s not as easy as it seems, but Ivan and Bert, new friends, help in their own shambolic way. As Christmas Day approaches, each day throws up a new challenge: from Rosanne’s dysfunctional children, Cherise and Shane; to the visiting, nightclubbing, football team; Raelene’s pool party; Delia’s delicious, but almost lethal Christmas treat, Berry Splurge; Aurora Hepplethwaite’s manic Reading and Discussion Circle; and Roland Ramsay, the wannabe Formula 1 driver, and his talkative budgerigar…
It’s a laugh a minute!

Jane's Christmas, by Timothy Ellis


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019POOSCW

Christmas in space will never be the same again!

The Hunter family stopped celebrating Christmas not long after they left Earth, nearly 600 years ago.

So it comes as a surprise to Jon to be wished a Merry Christmas on what he otherwise thinks is just another day.

As his grip on the day starts to unravel, he's confronted with a crew expecting him to know what is going on. After all, it is his ship, and they think he's the captain, so he must know everything. Jon wishes that were so.

As his day lurches from one thing to another, it seems that only Santa knows the whole plan.

Join Jon, Jane the AI, and the Alpha team, for Christmas day in space.

[Shoe]

The Christmas Carol by Dickens, of course (I own three copies, one printed in 1864).

[Michelle Louring]

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett is the only Christmassy book on my bookshelf, and I'm 100% rereading it this month.

[Maggie Ann]

The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens.

John Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his young wife Dot, their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy. A cricket chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family. One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.

The life of the Peerybingles intersects with that of Caleb Plummer, a poor toymaker employed by the miser Mr. Tackleton. Caleb has a blind daughter Bertha, and a son Edward, who traveled to South America and is thought to be dead.

There are 104 formats and editions of this novella. I chose this one because it's associated with the audiobook, narrated by Jim Dale. I never read the book, but listen to the narration every year.

https://www.amazon.com/Cricket-Hearth-Fairy-Tale-Home-ebook/dp/B005UFPH94/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1576069379&sr=1-1

Here's the Audible book.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Cricket-on-the-Hearth/dp/B00MW8YU18/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1576069379&sr=1-1

[spin52]

 A collection of classic Christmas mysteries, from Arthur Conan Doyle to Ian Rankin.
And of course, you can never go wrong with Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.

I'll also quietly plug my own book, 'Spirit of the Season', a Victorian mystery.

https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Season-Victorian-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B07L5X57X3


In a season of peace and goodwill, it was shocking for residents of the Cotswold town to learn a stranger had been murdered in their midst. It was even more shocking that he died on the doorstep of the town’s police inspector’s home as he was entertaining guests on Christmas Eve. It appeared Daniel Keegan’s only failing had been to fall in love with the wrong person, something that sends a chilling message to two of the inspector’s guests. Newlyweds Jacob Silver and Sarah Simm are used to criticism, but does Keegan’s death mean their own lives may be in danger?

[Vijaya]

My favorites: A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. Great Joy by Kate di Camillo. Silent Night by Mary Higgins Clark.

[Maggie Ann]

I was so excited about recommending my favorite holiday story, I forgot to post my own.



https://www.amazon.com/Santana-Coming-Twelve-Months-Romance-ebook/dp/B00GX0QYYM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Santana+is+coming+to+town&qid=1576108400&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Santana Oliva’s favorite holiday is Christmas and this is the first Christmas she’s been home in three years. But her joy at being home turns into shock and fear when she faces the near loss of her family.

As the Olivas work together to reclaim their lives, Santana realizes that, if she wants it badly enough, the spirit of Christmas just might bring her the greatest gift she’s ever received.

[spin52]

Don't worry. I forgot to include the description with mine. Merry (early) Christmas!

[j tanner]

Christmas makes me want to reread Simon Rich's "Elf On The Shelf" which sadly doesn't appear to be available on The New Yorker or Medium where I think I first read it. It's only in his collection Spoiled Brats:
https://www.amazon.com/Spoiled-Brats-Stories-Simon-Rich/dp/0316368652/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1WW18L9H3Y5EN&keywords=simon+rich&qid=1576139380&sprefix=michael+conn%2Caps%2C450&sr=8-2
(I guess that's a sign to reread more of this excellent collection...)

It's the story of an Elf On The Shelf assigned to one of the worst children imaginable. Hilarious, but not for the easily offended.

[Jeff Tanyard]

This thread reminds me that I need to write a Christmas story some day.

[notthatamanda]

Christmas makes me want to reread Simon Rich's "Elf On The Shelf" which sadly doesn't appear to be available on The New Yorker or Medium where I think I first read it. It's only in his collection Spoiled Brats:
https://www.amazon.com/Spoiled-Brats-Stories-Simon-Rich/dp/0316368652/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1WW18L9H3Y5EN&keywords=simon+rich&qid=1576139380&sprefix=michael+conn%2Caps%2C450&sr=8-2
(I guess that's a sign to reread more of this excellent collection...)

It's the story of an Elf On The Shelf assigned to one of the worst children imaginable. Hilarious, but not for the easily offended.

Requested Spoiled Brats from my library. Thanks.

[j tanner]

Requested Spoiled Brats from my library. Thanks.

Not Christmas related, but I highly recommend Sell Out in that collection too.

[dgcasey]

I could recommend my own book, Into The Wishing Well. It is a story centered around the Christmas season and what happens to a young woman when it all comes apart. Link below in my signature line.

[notthatamanda]

Christmas makes me want to reread Simon Rich's "Elf On The Shelf" which sadly doesn't appear to be available on The New Yorker or Medium where I think I first read it. It's only in his collection Spoiled Brats:
https://www.amazon.com/Spoiled-Brats-Stories-Simon-Rich/dp/0316368652/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1WW18L9H3Y5EN&keywords=simon+rich&qid=1576139380&sprefix=michael+conn%2Caps%2C450&sr=8-2
(I guess that's a sign to reread more of this excellent collection...)

It's the story of an Elf On The Shelf assigned to one of the worst children imaginable. Hilarious, but not for the easily offended.

Holy crap that was brutal. Now I have to decide which friend to give the book to next.

[Bill Hiatt]

Not especially in the traditional Christmas spirit but possibly good for horror fans: Stephen Chobosky's Imaginary Friend. I haven't quite finished it, but it reminds me a great deal of some of the early Stephen King works. (It's not at all like Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chobosky's first big success). It's fairly violent (a movie version would certainly be R), so not for the faint of heart.

Why would horror fans read this around Christmas time? Because it's Christmas that the plot works up to. "EVERYONE'S GOING TO DIE ON CHRISTMAS DAY" is an off-repeated refrain some of the main characters keep hearing in their heads.

A small town being infected by some kind of overwhelming evil is a pretty common trope, as if kids being able to see things their parents can't, but Chobosky makes his material feel fresh. The action is split between reality and The Imaginary World, sometimes with suspense being heightened by having concurrent (and often related) crises in both. It's clear among the human characters who the good guys, but not always clear among the imaginary ones, which leads to some radical plot twists.

Anyway, if you like chills that come from something other than the cold weather, this one might be for you.

I don't really have a Christmas story of my own to plug. But if a feel-good short story would suit you, there's "Angel Feather." Hal, a teenager with lots of problems finds a feather in his backpack with an attached note saying the feather is really an angel feather and can grant one--but only one--miracle.  With so many problems in his life, how will he choose? You can find the Amazon link in my sig (third from the right). It's also available at other major retailers. If you don't usually buy single short stories, you can use this BookFunnel link (configured so that email signup is optional). https://dl.bookfunnel.com/iizvgg40jg

Happy holidays!

[notthatamanda]

Requested Spoiled Brats from my library. Thanks.

Not Christmas related, but I highly recommend Sell Out in that collection too.

I read all of them. Good stuff. And the library called. They have Julie Andrew's new autobiography for me, the one about making Mary Poppins and the Sound of Music. It's the most wonderful week, book-wise.

[j tanner]

I read all of them. Good stuff. And the library called. They have Julie Andrew's new autobiography for me, the one about making Mary Poppins and the Sound of Music. It's the most wonderful week, book-wise.

Simon Rich is a treasure, but can be too much of a good thing.  The Andrews book should be a nice palette cleanser.

[notthatamanda]

Ha, my kid had to read The Chosen for summer reading this year and went right back to Captain Underpants afterwards (14 years old!) I said, "What did you need to cleanse your literary palate?"

[Vijaya]

lol

[Kate Elizabeth]

For any fans of Sophie Kinsella, I highly recommend the latest in the Shopaholic series:  Christmas Shopaholic.

For anyone interested in a Christmas short story for all ages, my pen name Kate Russell wrote one a few years ago: The Case of the Nearly Disastrous Day Before Christmas.  It features Jack Frost and his sister Mrs. Claus opening a detective agency.  I must admit that I'm a bit fond of it.  Plus, I can remind myself that I actually wrote a mystery.

[notthatamanda]

For any fans of Sophie Kinsella, I highly recommend the latest in the Shopaholic series:  Christmas Shopaholic.

Requested from my library, thanks!

[Lorri Moulton]

This is an older thread, but does anyone have a new Christmas book this year?  Mine is below.

[Luke Everhart]

I don't have a Christmas reading recommendation (nor a release which is what revived this thread) but I've a ridiculously early Christmas movie recommendation that concerns an author and a book and is a brilliant, must-see movie: The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) It's about Charles Dickens and his indie publishing (yep) of his inspired A Christmas Carol book.
"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another."

[Jeff Tanyard]

At the start of this year, I planned to write a Christmas story. 

Then 2020 happened.

Now I'm just hoping to make it to 2021 with my sanity intact.

[TimothyEllis]

Now I'm just hoping to make it to 2021 with my sanity intact.

That's your mistake, right there.

Once you go insane, everything becomes so much easier to deal with.

  

[Jeff Tanyard]

Now I'm just hoping to make it to 2021 with my sanity intact.

That's your mistake, right there.

Once you go insane, everything becomes so much easier to deal with.

  

[Maggie Ann]

I don't have a Christmas reading recommendation (nor a release which is what revived this thread) but I've a ridiculously early Christmas movie recommendation that concerns an author and a book and is a brilliant, must-see movie: The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) It's about Charles Dickens and his indie publishing (yep) of his inspired A Christmas Carol book.
"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another."

It was a wonderful movie.

[Vijaya]

I don't have a Christmas reading recommendation (nor a release which is what revived this thread) but I've a ridiculously early Christmas movie recommendation that concerns an author and a book and is a brilliant, must-see movie: The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) It's about Charles Dickens and his indie publishing (yep) of his inspired A Christmas Carol book.
"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another."

It was a wonderful movie.

I agree. Loved it.