The Next Best Book Club discussion

I was thinking about books with a Christmas theme. I always try and read one or two around the holidays.

This Christmas I am going to be reading Skipping Christmas
and The Christmas Train
I have read these before and love them both

Others I have enjoyed:
The Handmaid and the Carpenter: A Novel

AND

The Autobiography of Santa Claus

What "Christmas" books have you enjoyed over the years?

I have been recommended these books (and plan on reading them):

Holidays on Ice
Santaland Diaries
On Strike for Christmas

My book club at home always reads books that center around a Christmas theme.

They are all by Donna VanLiere:
The Christmas Shoes, The Christmas Blessing and Christmas Hope
They are such touching Christmas stories!

I'll be starting A Different Kind of Christmas by Alex Haley soon, which looks promising.

I loved Skipping Christmas, but my favorite would have to be The Christmas Shoes.

I haven't read many but 'The Polar Express' is an awesome read to get your Christmas spirits high.
Check this out:-
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42...

Christopher Moore's 'The Stupidest Angel' has to be my pick. Hilarious, not exactly traditional but perfectly Moore's style.

I just read a book that was released recently called Let It Snow. It's three short stories that are interconnected all taking place on Christmas Eve by John Green, Maureen Johnston and Lauren Myracle . I absolutely loved it!

In another one of my groups, we are having a Christmas challenge. So the books I have or will have soon are as follows:

C - A Christmas Carol
H - Holidays on Ice
R - A Redbird Christmas
I - An Irish Country Christmas
S - Stories of the Great Miracles of Christmas
T - A Treasury of Christmas Miracles
M - A Magical Christmas
A - An Angel for Emily
S - The Spy Who Came for Christmas

D - A Dog Named Christmas
A - The Angel Inside
Y - Yuletide Christmas

These are all Christmas-based books. I am looking forward to reading each and every one of them. I thought this might give someone some ideas for Christmas books.

Ben Hur is sort of Christmas-related. It's starts with the Magi and their trip to see Jesus born.

@ Operandi: I am doing that challenge too, but the only Christmas book I have is A Christmas Carol. Maybe I will edit my list to include more Christmas books.

A couple that I know of. Cursed Comes Christmas is a paranormal romance, To Marry at Christmas is a straight romance, and of course A Merry Little Murder mystery.

Cursed Comes Christmas
A Merry Little Murder
To Marry At Christmas

I don't usually read Christmas-y books, though.

Every year since my boys were born, I have bought some sort of a Christmas book. A few we have are...

SMALL ONE, THE NUTCRACKER, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE POLAR EXPRESS... and others.

I have right now THE STUDIDIEST ANGEL by Christopher Moore to read. It looks funny.

Last year was the first year I did any fictional christmas reading. I read

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0-Hilarious and totally turned me on to Moore, as it was the first of his that I had ever read.


The Gift: A Novel- get your box of tissues ready. Not the best written, but a heart string puller nonetheless...

As usual, some excellent ideas!
thanks everyone

Another one: Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich. I'm not a huge fan of her non-numbered books, but it was still a quick, funny read.

I loved Skipping Christmas

I have Holidays on Ice at home to read.

I also am on hold at the library for On Strike at Christmas.

This is an awesome thread as I love "theme" months/books! I know these have been mentioned but I'm planning on reading Holidays on Ice and The Stupidest Angel...now I have more books to get...this is just in time too since I set up my Christmas tree yesterday! Yay!

I've read a lot of Christmas books. A lot of them are not the best written, but sweet stories nonetheless. I love to read these kinds of stories during the holidays. Here's a few I liked:
The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans has a few other Christmas stories that are nice too
Christmas on Jane Street
The Christmas Jars
The Christmas Train
The Christmas Quilt
Christmas in Harmony
I also have a lot of children's books listed in my books if anyone's interested. I love Christmas picture books too!!

Gotta add The Last Noel by Michael Malone...but have your tissues ready...definitely sappy, but in a good way...

As a kid I loved The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and a book telling the story of the Nutcracker Suite (I can't remember what it was called).

A Christmas Carol is a favorite.

Carly Alexander, THE EGGNOG CHRONICLES
Catherine Hapka, THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS
Lisa Plumley, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Janet Dailey, MISTLETOE AND MOLLY
Christie Rigeway, MUST LOVE MISTLETOE
Jennifer Crusie, SANTA BABY
Shirley Rousseau Murphy, CAT DECK THE HALLS
Kerrelyn Sparks, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A VAMPIRE
Christine Feehan, A HOLIDAY TREASURY

A Christmas Carol vs Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence.

Here's one - a mystery:

Not a Creature was Stirring

All of hers (Jane Haddam) are based on holidays. I've enjoyed them.

OOooooh, I second The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is one of the handful of books I've read that made me laugh uncontrollably.

has anyone read An Irish Christmas? it's the December pick for my library book club. i don't have it yet, i'm going to hit Half Priced Books this weekend to see if they have it there.

i don't usually seek out holiday themed books, but i don't mind them.

The Christmas Box. Great book.

Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham is the only book I've read recently that takes place during the holidays, and it is definitely not the traditional holiday story, but I loved it immensely.

Susanna, I agree with you about The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and A Christmas Carol, two favorites of mine. I was substituting in an English class yesterday where they are reading and listening to A Christmas Carol. It made me want to read it again before Christmas this year. The audio that the students were listening to was an excellent production read by Jim Dale. In fact, I just ordered it today.

I, too, love The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and how about "A Christmas Memory"-Truman Capote.

I'm so glad you brought up A Christmas Memory! In college, our last day before Christmas break, my English Professor spent the whole class reading aloud that story to us. We were mesmerized by it! It proves we're never too old to enjoy being read to! After that, I feverishly read everything Truman Capote had ever written, and loved them all!

I'm so glad a few have mentioned Capote's "A Christmas Memory." I have posted several notes(themes ,threads...I don't know internet lingo very well) about it. PLEASE PLEASE read it. Truman is long dead(I never knew or even met him) and I get no royalties for saying so ,BUT this story is one of the finest stories OF ANY KIND ever written.When I was teaching I had Axe murderers who cried at the ending.
The writing is perfect.No one had such a command of the language as did Truman.There may have been better writers, but none was quite the wordsmith. It's easy to read.If you have a child or a grandchild (or even a beloved pet)PLease read it to them or with them.They will never forget it was you who turned them on to it.

Sermon Ended. Best. Joe

What a nice post, Joe! I'm going right to my library web catalog and reserving it! Thanks.

What about any of his other books? Do you recommend any others. (I've not read anything by him.)

1. A Classic Christmas Crime - Tim Heald (edited)

2. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow- Peter Hoeg

Joe.
I'm going to see if I can mooch that book RIGHT NOW!
:)
P.S. That's funny about the Axe murderers.

Truman Capote was a gifted and interesting writer. In Cold Blood is the definitive true crime drama, I think it actually ushered in that whole genre. It is frightening, disturbing, provocative, and an edge of your seat read!

I also loved The Thanksgiving Visitor(another short story much like A Christmas Memory) and Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Anything by Truman is well worth reading.His latest work(part of which has been published after his death)is entitled Answered Prayers, I believe. This was his tell- all book that betrayed the confidences of many of the "glitterati" with whom he was quite close. He lost many friendships over the book and was confused as to why his important friends dropped him.His reply to those who seemed shocked he would do such a thing was ,"Didn't they know they were with a writer?"
The Grass Harp and Music For Chameleons come to mind, but it's been a while."Miriam " was the short story that got him started.
Finally, I wonder how many of our friends realize that a young Truman was the character, Dill, in his friend Harper Lee's wonderful novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Best.
P.S.His Black and White Ball was one of New York City's most talked about (and attended) social events ever.(There are a few very good biographies. I think Gerald Clarke did one.)

I just got Home for the Holidays by Lisa Plumley and Dashing through the Snow by Carol & Mary Higgins Clark. Can't wait wait to read them!!

At the library I saw another Christopher Moore book with a Christmas theme Santa and Pete A Novel of Christmas Present and Past, has anyone read it?

Just read a review-guess it's a different Christopher Moore-still looks interesting though.

I read Santa & Pete, I liked it!

Christmas celebration always shows that you are too much happy on Christmas and you are wishing your dear once with great poems. This is time for Christmas 2014 and everyone want to wish their loved once so here we have large collection of Christmas poems for their loved once, Christmas poems for family and friends etc.

Famous Christmas Poems