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.

A Tardy Christmas List

Books to Read for Christmas

Now that the 2010 Christmas season is behind us, I thought I’d make a list. (I must admit that the fact that Sherry over at the Semicolon blog is dedicating this week’s Saturday Review of Books—links to a variety of reviews by reviewers all over blogdom—to lists of reading suggestions helps, too.) My list is dedicated to books that you must read for your Christmas pleasure. I’ll admit, this is a favorite topic of mine, and sometimes I don’t even wait until Christmastime to read a book or story centered on the Nativity or even any of the legends that have been established all over the world at this time of year. So, if you have an inkling to be Christmas-y during 2011, pick one of these up and enjoy some hot cocoa. Finally, in addition to the Gospel account in Luke 2, and of course (beware of shameless self-promotion) either Something Special at Leonard’s Inn by yours truly, read some of these classics and ought to be classics:

Ø A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Ø How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Ø The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (well-deserved Caldecott winner)

Ø Miracle on 34^th Street by Valentine Davies (an early version of novelization of a popular movie)

Ø The Christmas Chronicles by Jeff Guinn (three novels now available in a single volume, the collection includes

o The Autobiography of Santa Claus

o How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, and

o The Great Santa Search

Ø The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans (others in the trilogy are okay)

Ø Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

Ø The Judge Who Stole Christmas by Randy Singer

Ø Magi by Daniel L. Gilbert

Ø The Christmas Wish by Richard Siddoway

Ø The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

Ø The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere

Ø The Christmas Child by Max Lucado

Ø The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern (the story that inspired the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life)

Ø And don’t forget this year’s collection of stories—The Nativity Collection—by Robert J. Morgan

And while you’re enjoying Christmas reading, don’t forget to find a copy of O Henry’s classic short story “The Gift of the Magi”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone (Sorry I haven’t linked all the books or reviews, but most are available at your favorite brick and mortar or on-line bookstore). To see most of my reviews of books on the list, just click the Christmas link in the “Labels” sidebar

—Benjamin Potter, December 31, 2010