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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2008 > December > 14 > Entry
dashing through the books….
New seasonal books are piled high as snowdrifts. Here are some of my favorites:
“The Christmas Chronicles as told to Jeff Guinn,” (Tarcher Penguin, 735 pages, $19.95): This mammoth edition combines Jeff Guinn’s modern Christmas classics, “The Autobiography of Santa Claus,” “How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas,” and “The Santa Search.” Guinn’s history of Santa Claus spans centuries. Then Guinn spins fiction around the Christmas March of 1647 and finishes up with a modern tale of Santa versus reality TV.
“The Curious World of Christmas — Celebrating All That is Weird, Wonderful, and Festive,” by Niall Edworthy, (Perigee, 189 pages, $16.95): Have you ever wondered about the origins of Christmas traditions? This book explains some obvious ones like kisses beneath the mistletoe as well as utterly unfamiliar ones. Fascinating.
“The Man Who Invented Christmas — How Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits,” by Les Standiford, (Crown, 241 pages, $19.95): “The Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens is a fabulous Christmas story. When he wrote it, his career was in a shambles and Christmas was barely celebrated in England. That all changed after Dickens wrote his incredible tale of Scrooge. This is the amazing story behind the novel that has inspired more movie adaptations than any other.
“The Handmaid and the Carpenter,” by Elizabeth Berg, (Ballantine Books, 153 pages, $10): When a poor carpenter and his pregnant wife sought lodging in Bethlehem, they were turned away like ordinary people — no room at the inn. Almost 2008 years later, their story is regarded by millions as extraordinary. The world changed forever that night. Elizabeth Berg imagined that young couple as just ordinary people. Berg has delicious fun with the traditional Nativity story. Finally available in paperback.
“Nothing With Strings — NPR’s Beloved Holiday Stories,” by Bailey White, (Scribner, 193 pages, $24): Fans of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” know the voice of Bailey White. In tones dripping with gravel and molasses, White enthralls listeners with sweet tales of small-town life in the South. In her title story, “Nothing With Strings,” “Louise and her sister, Lily, were standing in the middle of the parking lot of a Super Walmart in Despera Springs, Fla., trying to decide where to sprinkle their mother’s ashes.” Just imagine the Sweet Potato Queens meeting up in Lake Wobegon.
“Holidays on Ice,” by David Sedaris, (Little, Brown, 166 pages, $16.99): The humorist David Sedaris is another public radio staple. This updated version of the Sedaris holiday chestnut contains his marvelous reflections on life as a Christmas elf at Macy’s, as evergreen a classic on the air as on the page. There’s a good reason why this collection has sold more than 800,000 copies; it’s hilarious. There’s also an extra goodie in our stockings this time around — a Sedaris story that has not been published before. And if you absolutely must have these stories told in that distinctively whiney Sedaris voice, then you should pick up the audiobook version. It’s unabridged, and the author gets a boost from his equally funny sister, Amy Sedaris.
Vick Mickunas
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