A Reading List for the Christmas Books Obsessed

I don’t mean to alarm you, but December is almost here. Seasonal coffee beverages have been released. Evergreen wreaths have been hung in shopping centers. Christmas trees are for sale. I even heard Christmas carols in a store this week.

What I’m saying is, I realize we haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but it’s time to talk about Christmas books.

Three years ago, I went on a massive Christmas book binge. Between November and January, I read 15 Christmas-themed books. What possessed me? A potent holiday spirit, I suppose. I probably won’t replicate that gaudy number this year, but I do love reading Christmas. I love it so much that I have a Nook bookshelf dedicated to Christmas books. Full length novels, short stories, novellas, and quite a few classics.

Specifics? Well, if you insist. But first, let’s set the mood:

 

Christmas books I own but have not yet read

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

This is the newest Christmas book in my collection. I picked up the hardcover edition at a local bookstore and refuse to read it until after we have put up our Christmas tree.

Christmas books
How gorgeous is that book cover?

Christmas at the New Yorker: Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art

Another new book. I picked this one up recently in a Nook book sale. While I don’t see myself reading it straight through, it’ll be fun to dip into.

The Burglar’s Christmas by Willa Cather

I’ve had this one on my Nook for a few years. Why have I not read it yet?

Christmas at Thornton Hall by Lynn Marie Hulsman

Apparently, this is a romantic comedy set at an English manor around Christmas. It’s been on my Nook for years, but I’ve not yet read it. Maybe this year … if the mood strikes me.

At Christmas Time by Anton Chekhov

I remember buying this during the Great Christmas Book Binge of 2014.

Annual Christmas books reading list
Christmas books
My first gingerbread latte of the season … three weeks before Thanksgiving.

Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies

The book version of the movie. Last year, I read it over Thanksgiving weekend and might do that again this year.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

This is an all-time favorite. I’ve reread it every year since at least 2000. I am not about to break that streak.

A Highland Christmas by M. C. Beaton

This is the first book I read in Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth murder mystery series. I reread it last year and enjoyed it so much, I’m adding it to my annual Christmas reading list.

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

I discovered this one last year and loved it. It’s excellent bedtime reading.

The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffman

Reading this is like reading Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. It’s enchanting. Bonus: Last year for Christmas, my sister gifted me a translation that is new-to-me.

The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

I have not read this fantastical, witty short story in a couple of years but adored it when I first read it.

What holiday reading traditions are you looking forward to this year?

4 Replies to “A Reading List for the Christmas Books Obsessed”

  1. I bought a paper version of the New Yorker collection so my guests can dip into it too. (Second hand because it’s out of print.) I also have the Jeannette Winterson Christmas book and a bunch of others courtesy of BookBub… Looking forward to getting in the spirit, though I have to admit the number of people who get murdered in English country houses at Christmas can seem daunting ?

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