More Christmas Reading

In my recent post “‘Tis the Season for Christmas Reading,” I included titles to consider in the days leading up to Christmas. But there are many more to know about.

One I should have included comes from the category of fantasy, by one of fantasy fictions greatest practitioners, J. R. R. Tolkien. For twenty years Tolkien wrote and illustrated letters from Father Christmas, delivered from the North Pole to his own children. So here is my entry for best fantasy fiction for this year: Letters from Father Christmas, by J. R. R. Tolkien (in hardback or paperback). You may be inspired to write your own letters from Santa or Father Christmas to children (your own, or someone else’s).

The rest of this post will be updated as I’m able, with More Christmas Reading:

Fantasy Fiction

• Letters from Father Christmas, by J. R. R. Tolkien

General Fiction

• The Christmas Box Collection, three stories by Richard Paul Evans
• The Christmas Dog, by Melody Carlson
• One Imperfect Christmas, by Myra Johnson

Humorous Fiction

• Wishin’ and Hopin’, by Wally Lamb

Hymns and Carols

• The New Oxford Book of Carols, ed. Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott

Miscellany

• Christmas at the New Yorker: Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art

Mystery & Suspense

• A Christmas Promise, Anne Perry (published 2009, this is the seventh in the holiday series by Anne Perry)
• Decked with Folly, by Kate Kinsbury
• Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, Agathie Christie
• Holly and Homicide, by Leslie Caine
• Slay Bells, by Kate Kingsbury

Non-fiction—Social Commentary

• Tinsel: A Search for America’s Christmas Present, by Hank Stuever

Poetry

• Christmas Poems, ed. John Hollander and D. J. McClatchy

Thematic

• The Dreaded Feast: Writers on Enduring the Holidays, ed. Michele Clarke and Taylor Plimpton (with introduction by P. J. O’Rourke)

Note: Though I’ve been careful in selecting these titles, I haven’t read all of them myself.

Original Post: ‘Tis the Season for Christmas Reading

Related Posts by Doug Geivett:

• Eating Movies Like Popcorn
• Now Reading “Little, Big,” by John Crowley
• Living Too Fast with Books
• Speculative Fiction by and for Christians
• Michael Dirda on “The Knowledge Most Worth Having”