While I do believe that Christmas is really about the intangibles -- love and family and hope and joy -- it has been so much fun doing some of the other stuff too. And you're mostly here for the books, right? So while I don't read any specific Christmas story every year, I like to read something Christmas-related during December. This year, with the help of this list, I decided to dive into some classic Christmas stories. I mostly chose ones I had hidden in my home "library", but there are some other great suggestions on that list as well. A lot of these are in the public domain and available as free or inexpensive ebooks if you're looking for a last minute holiday read.
Charles Dickens
- A Christmas Carol & A Christmas Tree
- Stories for Christmas (I won't be reading this whole collection, but I do hope to read a few more of the stories over the next week or so. Of course, this also contains the above two stories, but I'm reading those from an illustrated edition.)
O. Henry
- The Gift of the Magi
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Blue Carbuncle (from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
- The Elves and the Shoemaker
Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales & Stories
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier
- The Little Match Girl (This one is super sad.)
- The Fir Tree (Also kind of sad -- it really is true that fairy tales are pretty dark!)
- The Snow Queen
Picture Books
Of course, we have also read a lot of newer Christmas picture books, but I thought I'd stick to the "classics" for this list. Do you have any favorite holiday reads? Please share in the comments. And don't forget to enter my Christmas giveaway! (Ends midnight on Sunday)
