Christmas 2016 A flight of books for Christmas reading

THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 19-23 WE WILL BE OPEN 9 AM - 7 PM, CLOSING AT 5:30 CHRISTMAS EVE.

A flight of books for Christmas reading

We all think of books for children at Christmas time – but Christmas is also a time when a book makes the perfect gift for every age. It is wonderful to have the family gather for the holidays but it is also wonderful when they’ve headed home and you have a day to yourself.

There is nothing quite so perfect as a day during the holidays when you can snuggle up on the couch, put on a fire, a beverage of your choice on the coffee table with a plate of cookies, and a good book. A Christmas themed book is the perfect choice at this time – a mystery or something light hearted and humorous – and reading the same book as last year is just fine.

In our home every Christmas Eve we watch the original black and white film of A Christmas Carol, and it is certainly a book you can read in a day. The Penguin classic is my edition of choice – timeless. Of course A Christmas Carol is really the ultimate ghost story and part of a long tradition of reading a ghost story on Christmas Eve. Once as much a part of Christmas celebrations as turkey, eggnog, and fruitcake the tradition of the Christmas ghost story continues today with a series of beautifully illustrated and collectible little books by a number of authors. Perfect for the Christmas stocking!

On Christmas day, in the car or at home, we always listen to A Child’s Christmas in Wales, read by Dylan Thomas. It is still the best Christmas story for all ages – from six to sixty.

Holidays on Ice is a collection of Christmas stories by David Sedaris.  Very funny and very politically incorrect. Just picture David Sedaris as a Christmas Elf at Macy’s. Available in a book or on CD, these stories are perfect for the driving you might have to do over the holidays. Guaranteed that everyone in the car will be laughing.

Of course, some of the best stories on CD are those of Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café. There is a new 4 CD volume of stories, Up & Away, as well as his beloved classic collection of Christmas stories including the essential Dave Cooks the Turkey.

M. C. Beaton offers A Highland Christmas featuring detective Hamish Macbeth, doing his bumbling best to make Christmas a happy time for the residents of Lochdubh. Hamish is constant in his appeal – and if you have a nap in the middle it won’t matter a bit.

Rumpole at Christmas by the late great John Mortimer is another perfect book for holiday reading. Humorous and so very clever, the irascible Rumpole is a great fellow with whom to spend a winter day.

I thought I was finished – then I opened the new Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook – and found a beautiful cornucopia of fabulous recipes not only perfect for Christmas but all winter long. Literally, the cherry on the literary Christmas pudding.

 Bon Appetit!