Reading Christmas

Last year I posted a suggested reading list for Christmas enjoyment. I personally like to read two or three (more if time permits) books that focus on a Christmas theme during the holidays. Here are some of the criteria that keeps a Christmas book on my shelves for visiting later:

A Christmas book must:

• Be set during the Christmas season (duh!). It can be biblical or otherwise as long as it happens at Christmas time.
• Include an overall Christmas theme. These themes include the birth of Christ (Christmas, get it?), selflessness--in love, giving, or general demeanor of the characters, sacrificial giving, learning to care for others. You get the point.
• Heart-rending moments. If I don't cry somewhere along the way, it just ain't a good Christmas book (even if it is a good book in general).
• Christmas characters--Santa Claus, reindeer, angels, church settings, talking animals, and the like.

These criteria also fit for a good Christmas movie. I know that many of the Holiday movies these days are trying to get a big laugh, but there has to be some sappy sentimentalism or it won't work for me.

Here is a list that might get your Christmas reading started this year:

• Pony Express Christmas by Sigmund Brouwer.
• The Promise and The Drummer Boy by Ted Dekker (recent reviews)
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
• a few from last year's list
• The Nativity Collection by Robert J. Morgan
• Magi by Daniel L. Gilbert
• Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright
• some that I haven't read, but might fit the bill
• The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
• Finding Christmas by James Calvin Schaap

That ought to be enough to get us going. Enjoy your reading this Christmas and may the Light who is the Season warm your hearts.