Books Good Christmas reads

[dumbo]

What books about Christmas, or set during Christmas, are worth checking out? Some less well known ones would be most welcome.

I recommend A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. A lovely melancholic short. If you've read In Cold Blood then you've probably read it but it's still worth a mention.

Now give me all the Christmas books.

 

[SteveJ]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_Black

 

[littlepeasoup]

Death Comes at Christmas by Gladys Mitchell

It's mostly about pensioners getting their boilers replaced.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_Black

Serious responses only, surely Steve? Anyway;

 

[EwanI Ted]

I'll be reading Box of Delights to my boy this Christmas for the first time, which is a weird kind of fantasy novel set around Christmas.

 

[SteveJ]

Serious responses only, surely Steve?

The narrator's story is told on Christmas Eve, chief, and celebrates the Victorian/Edwardian tradition of families telling each other ghost stories at that time of year.

Besides, it subtly teaches the reader about empathy and the perils of its absence (hence the children's edition of the book being newly available, I guess); the Woman is not only a villain but a victim too.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

What books about Christmas, or set during Christmas, are worth checking out? Some less well known ones would be most welcome.

I recommend A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. A lovely melancholic short. If you've read In Cold Blood then you've probably read it but it's still worth a mention.

Now give me all the Christmas books.

I'd recommend 'Spot's Magical Christmas' to a man of upstanding literary tastes such as yourself.

 

[Sweet Square]

I'll be reading Box of Delights to my boy this Christmas for the first time, which is a weird kind of fantasy novel set around Christmas.

Thought for a second you were talking about reading the back of milk tray box to your kid.

 

[ivaldo]

I'd recommend 'Spot's Magical Christmas' to a man of upstanding literary tastes such as yourself.

It's shit. I rarely leave a book unfinished but I got about 2/3s of the way through and couldn't go on.

 

[dumbo]

The narrator's story is told on Christmas Eve,

Lucky. I was about to shout at you. But it is such a great story, and Susan has such horrible friends. The TV adaptation and the stage play are wonderful too. I have a thick MR James collection that I might plough through again too. Any other good Christmas ghostlies while we're here?

I'll be reading Box of Delights to my boy this Christmas for the first time, which is a weird kind of fantasy novel set around Christmas.

I might give this a go, should I read the previous book first?

Death Comes at Christmas by Gladys Mitchell

It's mostly about pensioners getting their boilers replaced.

I'm on it, if I can find it in the library.

 

[SteveJ]

The TV adaptation and the stage play are wonderful too.

The tv adaptation almost scared me to death at one point.

 

[Garethw]

Die Hard novelisation