Ship of Fools: Christmas reading

Thread: Christmas reading Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by HCH (# 14313) on :

Aside from Scripture, are there other items you read every Christmas? I myself find time each year for: "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" by John Milton (read aloud) and two Damon Runyon short stories ("Dancing Dan's Christmas" and "The Three Wise Guys"). I sometimes also read Madeleine L'Engle's "Dance in the Desert".

Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :

A child's christmas in wales. Not every year, more like every 2 or 3 years.

Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :

Most years I re-read the Narnia stories. I also tend to watch The Box of Delights on VHS.

Cattyish, possibly needing to watch that right now.

Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :

I usually read a story by some guy named Charlie Dickens. It has ghosts and things. The title makes it sound like it is about a group of carolers, but actually they play a very small part in it.

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

Last year in an after-Christmas half-off sale, I picked up a copy of a Christmas devotional guide that was a bit offbeat-- All I Really Want by Quinn Caldwell. I found it delightful in the dead of January so I'm looking forward to reading it in December this year.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Another vote for A child's Christmas in Wales, which my father used to read to us at tea time on Christmas Eve. I suppose it helped that he had the right accent!

Posted by Niminypiminy (# 15489) on :

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. Beautiful and atmospheric (if not at all Christian).

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

On the theme of children's books, as well as "The Dark is Rising", I quite like "The Box of Delights" and the "Dulce Domum" bit from "The Wind in the Willows". I also enjoy "The Christmas Carol".

I wouldn't say I read them every Christmas but close enough. My personal Christmas tradition is to watch "Scrooge" the musical with Albert Finney. It's so gloriously over the top, you can't help but enjoy it and hum along.

[ 30. November 2015, 08:22: Message edited by: Ariel ]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

I've just finished reading "The Santa Klaus Murder" by Mavis Doriel Hay - a typical Country House Murder mystery of the 1930s, recently reprinted.

Typical of its genre, pretty convoluted and wordy - but quite enjoyable. It would make quite a good TV drama in the "Poirot" style.

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

Nothing I read every Christmas. I'm more of an extensive reader than an intensive one. When my nieces and nephews were a bit younger, I would memorise and recite Twas the night before Christmas. I think they know by now that I didn't write it.

One of my habits is that when I finish my Christmas shopping, I reward myself by buying a book. Then I read it the following year as I do the next round of Christmas shopping. So last year, I read through Kate Fox's Watching the English, the year before that Rebecca Skloot's superb The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. This year, I shall soon be embarking on my first foray into the works of Slavoj Žižek with his On Belief.

Posted by MrsBeaky (# 17663) on :

Each year I use a different devotional book to prepare myself for the wonderful feast.
All very lovely.... however I feel the need to confess that most years I also re-read a childhood favourite "Castaway Christmas" and Jilly Cooper's hilarious spoof on Christmas (it's like her book "Class") [Hot and Hormonal]

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

When teaching, I used to read either "The Thirteen Days of Christmas" by Jenny Overton, or "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (AKA "The Worst Kids in the World") by Barbara Robinson to my classes. Both books would disappear from the book corner and became quite difficult to replace.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
When teaching, I used to read either "The Thirteen Days of Christmas" by Jenny Overton, or "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (AKA "The Worst Kids in the World") by Barbara Robinson to my classes. Both books would disappear from the book corner and became quite difficult to replace.

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" is one of my almost-annual traditions. Not the movie -- the book (as is true with most things) is much better.
[Smile]

Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :

By a strange coincidence, I read Connie Willis's short story 'Newsletter' last night... and today the first Christmas newsletter of the year arrived through the post...

They'd written it in haikus. [Help]

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
When teaching, I used to read either "The Thirteen Days of Christmas" by Jenny Overton, or "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (AKA "The Worst Kids in the World") by Barbara Robinson to my classes. Both books would disappear from the book corner and became quite difficult to replace.
"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" is one of my almost-annual traditions. Not the movie -- the book (as is true with most things) is much better.

There's a movie? Nah, you'd lose the observer voice, wouldn't you?

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

When I was younger, I'd always read "The Littlest Angel" every Christmas. The book is long gone, but I think about replacing it every time Advent comes around!

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