The east coast is experiencing its last blast of heat this month before slipping into the cooler climate of the fall. For many people, post-Independence Day begins the countdown to Halloween while many others skip straight to Christmas. If you're looking forward to pine trees and twinkling lights decorating your home once again, then take some time to read a few of the Christmas books on this list that will appeal to any reader—from sweet romances and classic stories to fantastical twists on holiday favorites.
Many people believe that Christmas did not exist in the way we celebrate it today until Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Thanks to Dickens's work, the holiday season was revived for the urban British citizen and reading (or watching) A Christmas Carol is now a modern-day tradition.
Another holiday custom for many families is watching It's a Wonderful Life. However, a slightly lesser-known fact about the Jimmy Stewart classic is that it is based on the short story, The Greatest Gift, by Philip Van Doren Stern. Originally self-published as a pamphlet in 1943, the story follows George Pratt, who bleakly considers his existence and wishes he was never born. With the intervention of a stranger, who grants George's wish, George is able to see that the world would, in fact, not be better without him in it.
While Louisa May Alcott's Little Women isn't strictly a holiday book, Christmas often features into the plot for the March family. The book opens with a Christmas scene as the sisters each receive a novel from Marmee, their mother, only to discover her gone and visiting the poor and sick. However, a scene later in the book on that same Christmas is the one most fans remember when the March family donates their own celebratory dinner to the poorer Hummel family and spends the evening performing Jo's play for the entertainment of all.
Debbie Macomber's Mr. Miracle is perfect for anyone who loves the nostalgia of Touched by an Angel or The Preacher's Wife. In Mr. Miracle, Harry Mills is a guardian angel come to earth to help 24-year-old Addie Folsom get her life back on track—and find love along the way. When Addie moves back to her small town to finish her degree at the local community college, she never thinks she'll find love with former high school jock and her neighbor, Erich Simmons, but with a little nudge from Harry these two find love amidst the magical backdrop of a small town Christmas.
If you're looking for a little murder mystery to go along with your mistletoe, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (also previously published as Murder for Christmas and A Holiday for Murder) delivers. When Simeon Lee is found dead on Christmas Eve—after a window-rattling commotion and wailing screams worthy of any Dickensian ghost—Hercule Poirot arrives to assist in the investigation. However, he does not find a mourning family, but one stoked with suspicion for one another.
If you want to leave murder and mystery behind—although there's still plenty of Death—turn to Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. Evil-doers of Pratchett's Discworld attempt to undermine belief in the Hogfather (the Discworld's Santa Claus) by abducting him. However, Death steps in to save the day and takes Hogfather's place in his sleigh drawn by pigs.
The holidays may call for a more satirical approach for some and Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris certainly delivers. This essay collection ruminates on Sedaris family traditions, holiday scandals, and the thankless job of being a department store elf.
Each of these books offers a slightly different look at the end-of-year holiday season as characters explore every emotion that time of year can bring. Will you get into the holiday spirit with any of these books or will you save them for post-Thanksgiving reading?
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