As a child, I was captivated by Christmas's traditions, rituals, meaning, and magic, which always signaled a time for introspection and hope. These books capture all of that. For me, the holiday is a time to pause and reflect, and revisiting these works helps remind me of what is important in life and where we should be pointed, where our humanity lies.
I love this book because it shows the sentimental side of the lauded author known for gritty mysteries and psychological novels—of which I’ve read more than 100. (He published some 400 novels and sold 500 million books.)
It features his earmarked lean prose and affecting Parisian settings and characters. His example and thoughts on craft have greatly influenced my writing, including one key admonition he got from his literary colleague Colette: “Cut, cut, cut!”
Three seasonal stories set in Paris at Christmas, from the celebrated creator of Inspector Maigret.
It is Christmas in Paris, but beneath the sparkling lights and glittering decorations lie sinister deeds and dark secrets...
This collection brings together three of Simenon's most enjoyable Christmas tales, newly translated, featuring Inspector Maigret and other characters from the Maigret novels. In 'A Maigret Christmas', the Inspector receives two unexpected visitors on Christmas Day, who lead him on the trail of a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white. In 'Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook', the sound of alarms over Paris send the…
I love this book because the characters are just as odd as the author and just as interesting. Also, Capote’s rural childhood environment reminds me of aspects of my own. And, as usual, his writing is top-notch. Moving and heartfelt stories that transported me to a lost era and the sweetness and anxieties of childhood.
A holiday classic from "one of the greatest writers and most fascinating society figures in American history" (Vanity Fair)!
First published in 1956, this much sought-after autobiographical recollection from Truman Capote (In Cold Blood; Breakfast at Tiffany's) about his rural Alabama boyhood is a perfect gift for Capote's fans young and old.
Seven-year-old Buddy inaugurates the Christmas season by crying out to his cousin, Miss Sook Falk: "It's fruitcake weather!" Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd but enduring friendship and the memories the two friends share of beloved holiday rituals.
“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.
At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…
Dylan Thomas’s compressed and lyrical account of a young lad’s Christmas has always enchanted me, and it continues every time I read it or hear it read. I recommend listening to the author reading it, available on YouTube. It is delightful poetic prose, moving, amusing, and always surprising. I envy his style here and his wit, feeling, and language proficiency. I wish I could write like that.
Dylan Thomas's classic account of his childhood Christmases, with full colour illustrations by Peter Bailey. The special gift edition for Thomas's centenary now in paperback, with a beautiful gold-foiled cover.
All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street...
Dylan Thomas's lyrical account of his childhood Christmases in a small Welsh town, featuring wolves, bears, hippos and Mrs Prothero's cat, has become deservedly famous. This re-designed edition celebrates the centenary of his birth, and features full colour artwork from illustrator Peter Bailey.
This is my favorite ghost story, one I return to repeatedly. I am always moved by Scrooge’s transformation, which signals there may be hope for even the most curmudgeonly among us. I can identify with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and even Scrooge—the fear, hope, sourness, and glee they represent and visit each of us occasionally.
Tom Baker reads Charles Dickens' timeless seasonal story.
Charles Dickens' story of solitary miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taught the true meaning of Christmas by the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, has become one of the timeless classics of English literature. First published in 1843, it introduces us not only to Scrooge himself, but also to the memorable characters of underpaid desk clerk Bob Cratchit and his poor family, the poorest amongst whom is the ailing and crippled Tiny Tim.
In this captivating recording, Tom Baker delivers a tour-de-force performance as he narrates the story. The listener…
I love this book because it compiles great Christmas stories by some of America’s finest writers, from Jack London and Edna Ferber to Katherine Anne Porter and John Updike.
I like the substantial emphasis on humor, with stories by Damon Runyon, Dorothy Parker, and Mark Twain, as well as the moving and thoughtful tales of American life the book contains. I like that it is thoroughly American, showing the country from the Wild West to New York and points in between, all landscapes, social classes, and cultures.
Library of America and Connie Willis present 150 years of diverse, ingenious, and uniquely American Christmas stories
Christmas took on its modern cast in America, and over the last 150 years the most magical time of the year has inspired scores of astonishingly diverse and ingenious stories. Library of America joins with acclaimed author Connie Willis to present a unparalleled collection of American stories about Christmas, literary gems that showcase how the holiday became one of the signature aspects of our culture.
Spanning from the origins of the American tradition…
This is my account of a fateful childhood Christmas with my family and a nation on the brink of change and lost innocence. It depicts Christmas Day 1953 as seen by me, a six-year-old, who learned on Christmas Eve that my father's layoff at a steel mill threatened our country home. The cast of affecting characters includes forbidding grandmothers, tribal country kids, a destructive vacuum cleaner salesman, and affectionate parents who create an aura of hard yet unfailing love. I take us on a sensory journey to frozen lakes, frosted fields, squawking jays, and the muted palette of gray Illinois winter afternoons, carrying us into a past of coal stoves, hand pumps, and independence, as well as to fragrant markets and redbrick alleys of a segregated St. Louis.
Cleo Cooper is living the dream with ocean-dipping weekends, a good job, good friends, fair boyfriend, and a good dog. But, paradise is shaken when the body of a young woman is dragged onto a university research vessel during a class outing in Hilo Bay.
This is Detective Chief Superintendent Fran Harman's first case in a series of six books. Months from retirement Kent-based Fran doesn't have a great life - apart from her work. She's menopausal and at the beck and call of her elderly parents, who live in Devon. But instead of lightening…
