Should you find yourself with any free time this holiday and are looking for some festive reading, allow me to make a few suggestions (most of these I own).
The Joy of Peanuts is a compilation of Christmas-themed cartoons dating as far back as the 1950s up until the 1990s. Fans of Peanuts or vintage cartoons will enjoy this little Hallmark volume. Here’s an example of one of my favorites:
The Greatest Gift, which is actually a short story published in book form, probably isn’t that well known, but I bet EVERYBODY has seen “It’s a Wonderful Life.” What do these two things have in common?
Well, The Greatest Gift is a short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern “privately printed as a Christmas card to the author’s friends in 1943,” and it’s what the iconic Christmas movie is based on. How would you like to be one of those friends and get that enclosure in your Christmas card? (probably worth a small fortune today). Even better, I would love to have him as a relative. That would be pretty cool too. : )
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is cute and sentimental and will feel familiar to anyone who has ever been in their church Christmas pageant (I never was, but I think my brother was a shepherd once). The plot revolves around the Herdman family and how they’re sort of the misfits (picture Cousin’s Eddie’s kids in “Christmas Vacation”) who don’t fit in because they’re poor, they’re dirty, and somewhat badly behaved. However, the adult in charge of the pageant takes pity on them and everyone ends up learning a lesson from the Herdmans. (available on dvd too)
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote is a compilation of three holiday stories inspired by Capote’s childhood growing up in the South. According to the dust jacket, “A Christmas Memory” and “The Thanksgiving Visitor” were inspired by Capote’s early years with a family of distant relatives in rural Alabama. These two childhood tales pay loving tribute to an eccentric old-maid cousin, Miss Sook Faulk, who became Capote’s best friend. In “A Christmas Memory,” Miss Sook, Buddy (the narrator) and their dog, Queenie, celebrate the yuletide in a hilariously tipsy state. In the poignant reminiscence “One Christmas,” six-year-old Buddy journeys to New Orleans for a reunion with his estranged father that shatters many illusions.
What I remember about “A Christmas Memory” is that they were very poor, so the only presents they got were homemade kites they made for each other (and young Buddy certainly wasn’t very happy about that).
The only other pleasure was homemade fruitcake. Speaking of fruitcake, in “One Christmas” young Buddy takes one to New Orleans and gives it to his father who is less than impressed, especially when Buddy tells him he helped make it. “One Christmas” is also a movie (streamable for $1.99 on Amazon Prime) starring Henry (“the Fonz”) Winkler, Swoosie Kurtz and Katherine Hepburn.
The Christmas Sweater is an interesting and sentimental story with a twist. Don’t let who the author is put you off, because you would never know it if his name wasn’t on the dust jacket. I promise you this is definitely a memorable story, and not super long either, so take a chance and check it out.
According to Google books, The Christmas Sweater is “the story of a young boy who finds the true meaning of Christmas in the most unlikely of places. Eddie wants a bicycle for Christmas, but his mother knits him a homemade sweater instead.” There’s a lot more to it than that, but like Mr. Capote’s story, it’s sentimental and might make you appreciate all the blessings we have, even with the pandemic this year.
If you’re an animal lover I would direct you to The Dogs of Christmas, which has a bit of everything – a little mystery, lots of snow (it’s set in Colorado), puppies, and even a little romance, without being too overly sentimental or romantic. According to Google books, “While nursing a broken heart, Josh Michaels is outraged when a neighbor abandons his very pregnant dog, Lucy, at Josh's Colorado home.”
If you’re like many of us around this time of year, you might not be feeling it, especially when listening to Christmas song after Christmas song and receiving Christmas cards with idyllic scenes - none of which actually matches reality for most of us. One way to maybe get more in the holiday spirit (perhaps while sipping a holiday spirit while reading it) is to pick up either A Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas or Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas Treasury. Both are chock full of heart-warming stories that will definitely restore your faith in humanity. After the year it’s been, I think everyone could benefit from a dose of Chicken Soup in book form (and perhaps the actual soup too).
If those are too saccharine and sentimental for you, then check out David Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice, which, like Truman Capote’s book, is also a compilation of stories including the funniest elf story ever, “SantaLand Diaries.” The audio book is even better! If you’re never heard the true story of the Christmas Sedaris worked as an elf at Macy’s, then you definitely need to download or stream this book or audio recording. Warning: it’s somewhat R rated and perhaps not for little ears, so maybe wait until the offspring are in bed before listening to it if you opt for that version.
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci is a much
better version of “Murder on the Orient Express” set on Amtrak. Actually, I’m
not sure if anyone gets murdered, but the journalist is there to investigate a
mystery (it’s been a few years since I’ve read it). Here’s the summary on
Amazon.com:
“Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington to Los Angeles in time for Christmas. Forced to travel by train, he begins a journey of rude awakenings, thrilling adventures, and holiday magic. He has no idea that the locomotives pulling him across America will actually take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart, as he rediscovers people's essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost.”
Like many of the other books, this is also a (Hallmark)
movie, so take your choice, though I always recommend reading the book first.
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