November looked at WWI – a very serious subject – but in December we are being more frivolous – holiday titles – any holiday title. Jeremy has already created a BIG display near his desk on the second floor so you have lots of choices. Does your family have a holiday classic that is read every year?
Maybe you’d like to start a tradition. Here are some possibilities
Christmas at Thompson Hall brings together the best of the Christmas stories of Anthony Trollope. Characterized by insightful, psychologically rich, and sometimes wryly humorous depictions of the middle class and gentry of Victorian England—and inspired occasionally by missives in the “lost letter” box of the provincial post office that Trollope ran—these tales helped to enshrine the traditions of the decorated Christmas tree, the holiday turkey, and the giving of store-bought gifts. Today, they open a window onto a time when carolers filled the streets and each house’s door displayed a wreath of evergreen boughs, a time at once distant and yet startlingly familiar.
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens – I don’t have to tell you anything about this one
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry – a short story for those who find the holidays very busy
A Christmas Memory – Truman Capote – longer than a short story but short and filed under heartwarming Christmas stories
Days of Deliverance: Essays on Purim and Hanukkah by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
and lots and lots of mystery authors have holiday titles – apparently the holidays immediately bring thoughts of murder to some people.
Or maybe you have a favorite holiday story from your childhood – come and share it with us.
A Child’s Christmas in Wales is another good one.
I was thinking that we might have books about family traumas at holidays since we always hear how difficult they are – maybe everyone just blogs about it. Are you aware of anything that falls into that category. Jonathan Tropper’s This is Where I Leave You is about that kind of family but sitting shiva is hardly a holiday.