Favorite Christmas-related literature?
December 23, 2024 8:31 AM Subscribe
I had the thought that I'd like to create a literary advent calendar with short works related to Christmas that could be read each day. Parameters: chapters or scenes from books, poems, articles, essays etc. are all okay, but they should take less than half an hour to read aloud. They don't need to be sincerely pro-Christmas, but they can be. I'm good with more than 24 because I can reorder them each year. I have a kid so kid stuff is okay, not obligatory. Thanks!
I think this is just a bit longer than a half-hour to read, as the YouTube version narrated by Truman Capote is 37 minutes, but it's so wonderful: A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.
posted by shornco at 8:47 AM on December 23 [4 favorites]
posted by shornco at 8:47 AM on December 23 [4 favorites]
Christmas Every Day by William Dean Howells
Down Pens by saki
Gift of the Magi of course by O Henry
posted by evilmomlady at 9:18 AM on December 23
Down Pens by saki
Gift of the Magi of course by O Henry
posted by evilmomlady at 9:18 AM on December 23
One of my favorite science fiction authors, Connie Willis, has written a bunch of Christmas stories over the years, the updated version of the compilation is A Lot Like Christmas. My personal favorite is Newsletter.
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:23 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:23 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
Might be a little long, but Joyce's "The Dead" is one of the greatest short stories ever written. Could be spread across a couple of days.
posted by one_bean at 9:40 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by one_bean at 9:40 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
Oooh! I love this question!
This book has short stories/memories of Christmas:Christmas Memories/Good Old Days. There are a few others of the same ilk as well.
Little House on the Prairie has some chapters related to Christmas (sorry I don’t have the books right here to check which chapters in which books).
posted by Sassyfras at 9:47 AM on December 23
This book has short stories/memories of Christmas:Christmas Memories/Good Old Days. There are a few others of the same ilk as well.
Little House on the Prairie has some chapters related to Christmas (sorry I don’t have the books right here to check which chapters in which books).
posted by Sassyfras at 9:47 AM on December 23
Some of the stories in This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy could work.
posted by XtineHutch at 9:51 AM on December 23
posted by XtineHutch at 9:51 AM on December 23
Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus from “Little House on the Prairie.”
posted by Melismata at 9:57 AM on December 23 [3 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 9:57 AM on December 23 [3 favorites]
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas seems to be read less now than it used to be, but still a classic and pretty delightful.
posted by ojocaliente at 9:58 AM on December 23 [11 favorites]
posted by ojocaliente at 9:58 AM on December 23 [11 favorites]
Little House on the Prairie has some chapters related to Christmas (sorry I don’t have the books right here to check which chapters in which books).
Great suggestion, this is actually chapter 4 of Little House in the Big Woods when Laura gets her doll.
posted by ojocaliente at 10:06 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
Great suggestion, this is actually chapter 4 of Little House in the Big Woods when Laura gets her doll.
posted by ojocaliente at 10:06 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
There’s also a great chapter in a later Little House book where their family friend walks through a blizzard to bring the family presents from Santa. There are sweet potatoes and the girls are thrilled that they each get a penny and their own tin cup!
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:08 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:08 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
If there’s any way to fit in a picture book, Winter’s Gift is pretty great. I think the text would hold up without the pictures.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:13 AM on December 23
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:13 AM on December 23
Yes, as Melismata says, and Winnie the Proust, it is in Little House on the Prairie where Mr. Edwards saves Christmas in Chapter 19.
Heartily endorsing Connie Willis.
Also check out Jeanette Winterson's book of stories called Christmas Days.
"Home for Christmas" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is a wonderful fantasy novelette. It's available in various anthologies, including the anthology Season of Wonder. It might be too long for your purposes, but I highly recommend it.
posted by gudrun at 10:27 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
Heartily endorsing Connie Willis.
Also check out Jeanette Winterson's book of stories called Christmas Days.
"Home for Christmas" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is a wonderful fantasy novelette. It's available in various anthologies, including the anthology Season of Wonder. It might be too long for your purposes, but I highly recommend it.
posted by gudrun at 10:27 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I love that people read The Dark Is Rising in real time over Christmas, a chapter a day starting on the 20th December. Can be done with the book of course or the brilliant BBC radio adaptation. Could be great with your kid though I’d read it first if you don’t know it and they are easily scared. I think I was nine when I read it.
posted by tardigrade at 10:31 AM on December 23 [5 favorites]
posted by tardigrade at 10:31 AM on December 23 [5 favorites]
Moby Dick - Chapter 22 - Merry Christmas. It’s not your typical Christmas story, but it is a bracing read.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:41 AM on December 23
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:41 AM on December 23
Selected Shorts has a Christmas short story called, "The H Street Sledding Record." The text is here if you wanted to read it aloud yourselves. It's mostly sweet, domestic, and pro-Christmas with some PG allusions to sex.
posted by gladly at 10:48 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
posted by gladly at 10:48 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
Mod note: URL from Winnie the Proust's comment fixed
posted by loup (staff) at 11:51 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by loup (staff) at 11:51 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
High Spirits by Robertson Davies is a fun collection of christmas ghost stories written to be read aloud at an annual UofT christmas party.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:36 PM on December 23 [3 favorites]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:36 PM on December 23 [3 favorites]
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle.
posted by praemunire at 2:43 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 2:43 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
The Christmas Gift by Francisco Jimenez is a children's book, and you probably didn't have children's books in mind for this question.
Nonetheless, have a look at this, because it is wonderful. Jimenez is the Fay Boyle Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Santa Clara University. Before that he was the child of Mexican migrant farm workers in California. The book is a true story of one of his childhood Christmases, when his family had no money for gifts and when what he wanted most was a ball, like the kind they had at school. This isn't like most sentimental Christmas stories; he doesn't get the ball.
But what speaks to me most about this story isn't Francisco's story, but how empathetically he shows the story of his mother. Maybe because I had recently had my son when I first read it, but when I read this I don't cry for Francisco, but for his mother, who must endure the pain of not being able to give her son even something so simple. I am lucky to never have been in such a situation, and I find it wrenching to even imagine. And also it paints the picture of how Francisco's father recognizes the mother's constant self-sacrifice and that she too deserves to feel appreciated and recognized, not just to provide for the needs of her family.
Jimenez has written other memoirs including for adults and for older children, and I imagine some version of this story appears in other books he has written. I suppose I shouldn't say without having read them, but I somehow feel certain this one is the best.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:02 PM on December 23
Nonetheless, have a look at this, because it is wonderful. Jimenez is the Fay Boyle Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Santa Clara University. Before that he was the child of Mexican migrant farm workers in California. The book is a true story of one of his childhood Christmases, when his family had no money for gifts and when what he wanted most was a ball, like the kind they had at school. This isn't like most sentimental Christmas stories; he doesn't get the ball.
But what speaks to me most about this story isn't Francisco's story, but how empathetically he shows the story of his mother. Maybe because I had recently had my son when I first read it, but when I read this I don't cry for Francisco, but for his mother, who must endure the pain of not being able to give her son even something so simple. I am lucky to never have been in such a situation, and I find it wrenching to even imagine. And also it paints the picture of how Francisco's father recognizes the mother's constant self-sacrifice and that she too deserves to feel appreciated and recognized, not just to provide for the needs of her family.
Jimenez has written other memoirs including for adults and for older children, and I imagine some version of this story appears in other books he has written. I suppose I shouldn't say without having read them, but I somehow feel certain this one is the best.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:02 PM on December 23
To Everything There Is A Season but warning, it reveals Santa’s identity
posted by warriorqueen at 4:16 PM on December 23
posted by warriorqueen at 4:16 PM on December 23
If bleak is your thing, there's always the Junky's Christmas by Burroughs.
posted by Admiral Viceroy at 4:45 PM on December 23
posted by Admiral Viceroy at 4:45 PM on December 23
The Father Christmas Letters by JRR Tolkien is wonderful for both kids and adults.
posted by peperomia at 5:05 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by peperomia at 5:05 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
The “Christmas Shopping” chapter from Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown.
posted by elphaba at 5:16 PM on December 23 [4 favorites]
posted by elphaba at 5:16 PM on December 23 [4 favorites]
Lovely question! The carol-singing field-mice in Chapter V of The Wind in the Willows. Various chunks of A Christmas Carol - Christmas Past at Fezziwig's, Christmas Present with the Cratchits or the nephew. Several of the Chalet School books have lengthy passages describing the school's Christmas plays - Chapter XVIII of The Chalet School and Barbara, for instance. Elizabeth Enright's The Four-Storey Mistake has a Christmas chapter, and Enright also wrote a short story, A Christmas Tree for Lydia.
posted by paduasoy at 5:51 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by paduasoy at 5:51 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff, set in the Tudor period, also has a Christmas scene. And there's Jenny Overton's The Thirteen Days of Christmas, based on the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
posted by paduasoy at 6:01 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
posted by paduasoy at 6:01 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
If Jane Austen is your bent: https://syriejames.com/2022/12/12/jane-austen-regency-christmas-traditions/
posted by freethefeet at 6:30 PM on December 23
posted by freethefeet at 6:30 PM on December 23
And Christmas Quotations from Jane Austen and the Brontë Sisters.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:35 PM on December 23
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:35 PM on December 23
Seconding Maeve Binchy, and the particular story you want is "The Ten Snaps of Christmas". ("The Christmas Baramundi" is also good but has sexual themes.)
posted by foursentences at 7:12 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
posted by foursentences at 7:12 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
This will only work if you include the illustrations: Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed. He took a story his father told about one of his own childhood Christmases and turned it into a picture book. Most of the illustrations are his own drawings/paintings - but at the very, very end, there is a photo. The first time I read this book, I was in my 30's - and yet when I saw that photo, for a few seconds I found myself believing in Santa again.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:32 AM on December 24
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:32 AM on December 24
Miracle on 34th Street was a book before it was a movie.
Dorothy Sayers wrote a radio play of the Christmas story titled The Man Born To Be King. Give each person a part to read. There are also short Peter Wimsey stories set at Christmas in Hangman's Holiday.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:29 AM on December 24 [1 favorite]
Dorothy Sayers wrote a radio play of the Christmas story titled The Man Born To Be King. Give each person a part to read. There are also short Peter Wimsey stories set at Christmas in Hangman's Holiday.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:29 AM on December 24 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks all! These are fantastic, keep them coming! I wanted to see what other people would come up with, but here are some of my faves that haven't been mentioned yet:
On the Banks of Plum Creek 36-40: Pa gets trapped in a snowbank and eats the Christmas candy.
David Sedaris, Santaland Diaries & Six to Eight Black Men
Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus, has a few chapters about Christmas
(elphaba, I adore that chapter from Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, nice one!)
If I turn this into a web-based thing for next year, I will post it in Projects.
posted by chaiminda at 5:44 AM on December 24 [5 favorites]
On the Banks of Plum Creek 36-40: Pa gets trapped in a snowbank and eats the Christmas candy.
David Sedaris, Santaland Diaries & Six to Eight Black Men
Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus, has a few chapters about Christmas
(elphaba, I adore that chapter from Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, nice one!)
If I turn this into a web-based thing for next year, I will post it in Projects.
posted by chaiminda at 5:44 AM on December 24 [5 favorites]
Yes, please let us know what you settle on. It’s such a great idea.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:53 AM on December 24
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:53 AM on December 24
MR James’ ghost stories are always a good read for me this time of year. I believe he wrote the stories for his friends to be read every Christmas.
posted by FightsGameraAction at 10:11 AM on December 24
posted by FightsGameraAction at 10:11 AM on December 24
Small Things Like These, a really excellent novella. It was just made into a movie, but I haven't seen so can't say whether it was a good adaptation. It's a lyrical little book with a serious theme.
Arthur Conan Doyle's Captain of the Polestar is a good old-fashioned spooky as hell Christmas ghost story.
posted by Miko at 8:40 AM on December 27
Arthur Conan Doyle's Captain of the Polestar is a good old-fashioned spooky as hell Christmas ghost story.
posted by Miko at 8:40 AM on December 27
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posted by ojocaliente at 8:46 AM on December 23 [4 favorites]