Christmas Reading Beyond A Christmas Carol and A Visit From St. Nicholas

 

Appalachian Christmas

Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb blends two plotlines of Christmas in the region.  In one, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood has to serve an arrest warrant in one of the “hollers,” while in the other Nora Bonesteel is called on to investigate a haunting. As usual, McCrumb does a wonderful job of capturing the people and places of Northeast Tennessee.

Mama, Me, and the Holiday Tree:  A Contemporary Fantasy by local author Jeanne G’Fellers has Centenary Rhodes returning home to try to make peace with her mother.  It may take magic to make that happen.     

Christmas Stories by North Carolina Writers and Twelve Poems, Too edited by Ruth Moose is a wonderful collection of stories, remembrances, and poems including contributions from Lee Smith, Sue Ellen Bridgers, and Kaye Gibbons.  The selections are perfect for that little break in between holiday chores. 

Lee Smith’s Christmas Letters tells the story of a family over three generations through the annual Christmas letter. The story begins in 1944 with Birdie, who is both a new bride and a new mother. She’s living with her in-laws while her husband is overseas fighting the war.  The letters follow Birdie, then her daughter, and finally her granddaughter. Besides getting to know the characters, and then seeing them from a different perspective, the reader also is aware of how times change while some traditions -- like the Christmas letter-- remain the same.

Christmas Fiction

Christmas at the Cat Café by Melissa Daley is a heartwarming tale told through the eyes of Molly, a former stray cat who has found a home with Debbie and her daughter.  Then Debbie’s sister moves in and tensions rise in the family. Not only that, but two of Molly’s kittens go missing. It’s going to take a miracle to make things right again. Even though I am a sucker for cat books, I still was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.  Part was the setting (UK) and part was having the book told from the cat's viewpoint as she worries about her kittens and about what is happening with her human family as well.

Irish author Felicity Hayes-McCoy’s The Mistletoe Matchmaker celebrates the season with a tale set in the Finfarran Peninsula.  Canadian Cassie decides to visit her grandparents and to see where her father grew up in Ireland. She is soon immersed in the lives of the villagers in this warm and cozy tale of families, friendships, and secrets, filled with memorable characters. It’s the third in a series but can be read as a standalone. 

Luther Krank has decided to skip Christmas. No presents, no tree, nor cards or festive parties.  Instead they’ll go on a cruise and get away from all the madness. Obviously, thing are not going to go as planned. . . John Grisham’s take on the holiday is memorable fun, but don’t take our word for it. Just read Skipping Christmas for yourself. There is also a movie entitled Christmas with the Kranks.  The library has a copy of the DVD.

Even though it's a considered a children's book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is beloved by adults as well.  Who can forget the Herdmans? Laugh out loud funny, it still gets to the meaning of Christmas in a way few stories do.

Christmas Memories

An Irish Country Christmas by Alice Taylor is a short but lovely memoir of a rural Irish Christmas in the 1940s. Alice was one of six children who grew up on a farm.  Her account covers the traditional twelve days of Christmas as her family celebrated, and includes details of rural life. (Don't get too attached to the goslings.  Just sayin'.) 

A Gift from Bob is James Bowen’s account of a difficult Christmas. Bowen was an addict struggling to get clean with the help of his friends and a stray orange tabby cat. It's a sequel to the best-selling book A Street Cat Named Bob.  Two movies were made from the books, A Street Cat Named Bob and A Gift from Bob.  Both books and movies are recommended for being sweet but not saccharine, and for being uplifting.  The library holds both books and movies.

A Foxfire Christmas collects stories of Appalachian holiday traditions, including how to make toys like corn husk dolls, recipes, and party games.  These were collected by students in Georgia and are a charming window into the past.

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd is a semi-autobiographical collection of essays about a little boy and his burning desire for a Red Ryder air rifle.  Sound familiar?  It should, because Shepherd’s tales became the basis for the beloved movie.  Originally published in two other collections, the stories were pulled together for this special edition.

 

Christmas Series

A number of authors have regularly turned out Christmas tales which have proven very popular.  The list includes Anne Perry, Richard Paul Evans, Debbie Macomber, Donna VanLiere, Susan Mallory, Janet Dailey, Nancy Thayer, Elin Hilderbrand, “Cape Light” series by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer, and Donna Andrews.