One for the Books: Christmas stories for your Christmas holiday
- Mary Louise Ruehr
To get into the holiday spirit, I found a few stories set during the Christmas season.* Mostly, I was looking for heartwarming and cheerful, and mostly, I found it. Some of these are short and sweet, so I’ve included the number of pages in each.
"The Christmas Book Flood" by Roseanna M. White is set in Reykjavik, Iceland, in December 1944. Tatiana works at her uncle’s book publishing company. Her sister, in medical stress, asks Tatiana to keep her daughter, 7-year-old Elea, for a few weeks. For Tatiana, Elea “was, quite possibly, her favorite person in the world.” And there’s another person she especially likes: Anders, an author who works with her. He also is attracted to her, but the two are unaware of the other’s feelings. Anders thinks his family disapproves of him because he’s not a fisherman, as they are. But at the publishing house, “These were his people. Other lovers of books, of the written word. ... Here, he was understood. Appreciated.” After the city’s book publishers agree to put out one combined book catalog, so many orders flood in that everyone has to pitch in to fulfill orders in time for Christmas. (This is based on a true event.)
I had long heard that in Iceland people give each other books on Christmas Eve and then spend the evening reading them. It’s true! The author writes, “Then, as now, books were the primary gift that Christmas. ... As I researched this tradition, I learned that Iceland is a nation of storytellers. From their epic poems to their sagas to the stories they tell around their dinner tables, the people of this small island nation are considered some of the most avid booklovers in the world.”
This was a fun read that I really enjoyed. Its’s Christian fiction, and it’s OK for any age, with a quiet romance and a heartwarming family tale. I also learned some other Icelandic traditions, including the mischievous Yule lads, who sort of take the place of Santa Claus. A different one visits each night, with names like Stekkjastaur and Hurthaskellir.
Many "Christmas" books are simply set in December and have nothing to do with the holiday. But not this one! It’s definitely Christmassy! 175 pages.
"The Christmas House" by Beverly Lewis is another Christian fiction/Amish romance, so it’s OK for any age.
Liz, age 22, runs her own horse-drawn buggy tour business in Lancaster County, Pa. Her usual driver is busy, so her father finds a temporary replacement, who turns out to be a special guy. Meanwhile, an Englisher family has moved in nearby and “lavishly” decorated their house for Christmas, upsetting the plain-minded community and creating traffic jams that spook the horses. Right after that family moved in, “they did something that put them at odds with everyone around them: They installed electricity.” As an Amish character puts it, “Some folks got quite ferhoodled.”
It’s a nice, comforting read, like eating a warm cookie just out of the oven, and I learned some Amish holiday traditions. It’s very Christmassy and even comes with two Christmas recipes. 146 pages.
"Dear Santa, Send Coffee (and a Carpenter)" by Mia Merrybrook is another Christian fiction romance.
Lucy is the new doctor in a small town, assigned to work in a clinic building that’s falling apart. She needs a handyman, so her friend Rosie sends in her brother, Caleb. The town immediately gossips about Caleb and Lucy. Oh, sure, they’re attracted to each other, but she’s temporary. She’s meant to be there for only six more months to fulfill a contract to pay for her medical schooling and has plans to go back to the “big city.” When she starts having feelings for Caleb, Lucy thinks, “Suddenly, my contract feels like a ticking clock I wish I could silence.” But “He’s steady. Rooted. The human equivalent of a four-poster bed.” Of course, there are family complications that get in the way. Can she reconcile her new “maybe boyfriend” with his estranged father?
I enjoyed the book. And it has tiny chapters. (I love tiny chapters.) The characters make several references to Hallmark movies, and this is very much like one. It’s set in December, but it’s not very Christmassy. 121 pages.
"The Secret Christmas Library" by Jenny Colgan is set in the Scottish Highlands of today. The main character is Mirren. "Mirren was a lifelong book obsessive, who never felt she had quite enough books, who could really only feel secure with half a dozen unread paperbacks propped up by her bedside table, three library cards, two Kindles, and an emergency set of Douglas Adams." My kind of person.
She’s a bit famous because she once found a valuable missing book, so she’s hired by a Scottish laird to find a special book hidden somewhere in his ancient castle. He also hires her rival book-hunter, “the devastatingly handsome Theo,” who’s an expert on antique books — and was once her love interest. Jamie, the laird, will lose his estate if he can’t pay the upcoming taxes. His late grandfather left clues to the location, somewhere on the estate, of a super-valuable book. But when the book-hunters get to the castle, they find out granddad was a book hoarder beyond belief.
It has romance, mystery, and a great setting: snow is a major character. There’s one rather spicy love scene. I really liked it, but I doubt the ending is plausible.
Snowy, but not Christmassy. 317 pages.
"Cratchit: A Christmas Carol Continues" by R.M. Bouknight is set 13 years after the events of "A Christmas Carol." Scrooge is gone, and his clerk, Bob Cratchit, now owns his own business. But Bob has fallen into bad habits and his life’s gone downhill. His wife has left him. His son Peter warns him that the men he’s been doing business with are using him: “They are liars and thieves preying on a vain old man too proud to admit he’s been duped!” But Bob will not listen. So the spirits come. This follows the pattern of ACC with three ghosts showing Bob the errors of his life and inspiring him to improve — so there’s a happy ending.
There are villains to hate, but no one to love. It’s set at Christmas, but it’s dark. 152 pages.
"Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife" by Martin Edwards starts with a murder-mystery game. Six people have been invited to play the game at Christmastime at a secluded retreat in North Yorkshire. The event is hosted by the members and staff of the Midwinter Trust, six in all. Each invitee has something to do with mystery or crime fiction, and all have had bad luck in their careers. As we go along we learn about each character and about the mysterious Trust. And when they’re snowed in and somebody’s found dead, suddenly murder isn’t so fictional. Uh-oh. Is this like "And Then There Were None"?
The reader can solve the clues to the fictional game’s murder and try to figure out who’s killing the "real" characters and why. Actually, there are several mysteries, including why the game is being held in the first place. I got pretty involved in the plot, but not with the cardboard characters. I was able to figure out whodunit among the characters, but not in the game. It’s snowy and set in December, but it’s a bit violent and isn’t Christmassy at all. 419 pages.
*I looked for stories set during Hanukkah, but found very few, and the ones I read, I wouldn’t recommend.
Happy reading!
Mary Louise Ruehr
Mary Louise Ruehr is a books columnist for The Portager. Her One for the Books column previously appeared in the <em>Record-Courier</em>, where she was an editor.