Some Christmas Reading

Around Christmas, I find I get the desire to read stories that take place during the holidays. What I read each year depends on what's available and what I feel like reading just like anyone else.

In the past, I've read The Stupidest Angel: a Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore. It's quite an offbeat tale involving a child with a wish for Santa to come back from the dead and an angel with a less than bright halo looking for a child to grant a wish to. Humor and craziness abound.

Last year I read a novella, Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb. It takes place in the same setting as her ballad novels. There is both a plot from Christmas past and one from Christmas present. "When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowwood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing for a neighbor, it begins to look like they may all spend Christmas away from home. In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most loved characters who know there is more to this world than the eye can see, especially at Christmastime. " (Goodreads)

This year I've read the novella Bryant & May and the Secret Santa by Christopher Fowler. It's a  mystery from the Peculiar Crimes Unit. "The streets of London are covered in twinkling lights and freshly fallen snow, but the mood inside the Christmas department of Selfridges is decidedly less cheery. Bryant and May have arrived there to investigate the death of an eleven-year-old boy who inexplicably fled the store after a routine visit to Santa’s Wonderland. Their only clue is a torn scrap of blue cloth discovered at the scene. Now, Bryant and May are making a list of suspects, but they’d better check it twice to catch a shifty culprit in disguise." (Goodreads)

Currently, I am reading Joy to the Worlds - Mysterious Speculative Fiction for the Holidays by G. Clemons, Maia Chance, Janine A. Southard, and Raven Oak."Joy to the Worlds brings together eight short works that explore mysteries across time and space. Ranging from dark dystopian worlds to comedic retro-futures, four diverse writers find new ways to combine these disparate worlds." (Goodreads)

What do you like to read during the holiday season? Do you have some books that you reread every year? Or do you read whatever is new in the genre? What are you reading this holiday season?