Old Christmas by Washington Irving

I've just taken delivery of a new reprint of some Christmas stories by Washington Irving. It is beautifully illustrated with over a hundred illustrations.

DK Christmas Anthology

Dorling Kindersley are well known for their beautiful books. This new Christms anthology is no exception.

Christmas With Hans Christian Andersen

I spotted this lovely small Hans Christian Andersen Christmas collection from 2022 the other day. An American Signature production it contains four charming stories - The Fir-Tree, The Snow Man, The Little Match-Girl and The Last Dream of the Old Oak. Paperback, 54 pages. Lovely.

The Winter's Tale and Twelfth Night

These lovely books retells the story of Shakespeare's late and lesser known Winter's Tale  and the sseasonal Twelfth Night. They are beautifully illustrated and would be a great present for a child or an imaginative adult. I'm loving them. The reteller is Georghia Ellinas and the artist Jane Ray. It is done by Shakespeare's Globe.

Two Nice Children's Books

I picked these two up at a nearby charity shop today. The first one gives it straight and has a bonus CD of Peter, Paul and Mary singing it. The second adapts Clement Moore slightly to make it even more child friendly.

Great Children's Books

I picked up these excellent small paperbacks for kids today at The Works

Penguin Christmas Classics

There is a lovely collection of uniformlydesigned hardbacks that came out a few years ago from Penguin. There are six titles altogether - Christmas at Thompson Hall (Anthony Trollope), The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (Frank L Baum), A Merry Christmas (Louisa M Alcott), A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens), The Nutcracker (E T A Hoffman) and The Night Before Christmas (Nikolay Gogol). I have most of them and have read a number. Great stuff.

The Oxford Handbook of Christmas

I am hoping the family will club together and get this for me for Christmas. (They did!). It is an academic book so has a crazy price tag. Looks lilke fun, however. PS They did! And it it was fun. Not all read this Season.

Christmas is Murder

I have a little collection of Christmas books here at home that come out once a year for a month or so. Many of them are in the crime fiction genre and include two volumes by P D James. When I saw a third volume that looks uniform with the first two but is by Val McDermid I thought I'd get it. I inadvertently sent for a paperback version, which took the edge off it a little. None of the stories are that Christmassy either. McDermid is a more modern writer and includes two lesbian stories. I think P D James is probably a better writer but I'd be hard put to prove that. So slightly disappointed.

Christmas Lore and legend Yuletide Essays by Llewelyn Powys

A few years ago I bought this little collection of essays gathered from various sources, all on a Christmas theme. I've dipped into it in the past but this year I read them all consecutively. Powys died in 1939 so they are quiteold fashioned but that is a bonus. Like many a pagan this son of a vicar wants to keep all the bits of Christmas he likes. Lovely short book.

Christmas Stories by P D James

These two books of Christmassy detective stories were put together in recent years from magazine items and so on and are worth a read. There are four tales in the first and six in the second. The second is less Christmassy than the first.  It is an interesting phenomenon the detective story and the late P D James is clearly a master of it. Very enjoyable.