Christmas

The Bookish Brits Book Club is reading Let It Snow this month, which I requested from the library but it took too long and my request expired. I would definitely like to read it in the future though! I expect that it will become a bit of a YA Christmas classic, likeDash & Lily’s Book of Dares, another one that I’ve yet to get around to reading!

I love big themed short story anthologies, and I really enjoyed The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales, so I’d also like to try The Oxford Book of Christmas Stories.

Christmas, for me, is all about the food! I got my mum this Christmas Cupcakes book a few years ago, but it would be great to have some new ideas, and make cookies too, so I’d like to get hold of Christmas Cupcakes and Cookies – Adorable ideas for festive cupcakes, cookies and other treats.

I love the BBC Good Food books and wholeheartedly recommend the 101 One-pot Dishes and 101 Pasta and Noodle Dishes books, but I’ve yet to try 101 Christmas Dishes, though it looks amazing.

Finally, my second favourite thing about Christmas, after the food, is the decorations! A Fairy-Tale Christmas: Creating Magical Celebrations Inspired by an Enchanted Castle sounds wonderful in the description, though the reviews are so-so. I’d like to have a look at it in real life before I bought it, but it seems to be an import, so honestly I’m much more likely to indulge my inner child with Christmas Decorations to Cut, Fold & Stick! Doesn’t it look fun?

What Christmas-themed books are on your wishlist? Have you any recommendations of books that would help me get into the Christmas mood, or create something delicious or pretty?

I can group this topic into three themes that I’m sure will be familiar to anyone who’s ever read or watched a version of A Christmas Carol:

Christmasses Past

I would love to read about historical Christmasses! From early solstice celebrations to the Middle Ages, the Reformation on to the Victorian era, it all sounds fascinating. Even more recent history has potential for Christmassy interest – I’d love to read about a 1920s/1930s and wartime Christmasses.

Christmasses Present

As I live in the northern hemisphere I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of Christmas on the beach, or Christmas barbeques, like I’ve always been told are the custom in parts of Australia and New Zealand! Different cultures have different customs for Christmas and it would be great to see these feature in fiction.

Christmas…Future

I wonder if Christmas will still be celebrated in the future, and what form it will take. Will people stop sending physical cards and gifts? What fabulous decorations will people design, and what kind of parties will they attend?

Would you like to read more stories set during Christmas? What kind of Christmasses would you like to read about?