Christmas Books

I'm an author. Of course I have to take about Christmas books!

I've even contributed to the genre: Snowbound Colorado Christmas (with my Book of the Year finaling novella, , Dressed in Scarlet); Wild West Christmas; and A Woodland Christmas.

Three stories stick in my mind as ones I have read, reread, and love beyond belief. A fourth is a sentimental favorite, introduced to me by my mother. So here they are in ascending order:

4. Sentimental favorite: A Pickwick Christmas, from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Mom had the story on tape, and before long, I could quote the lines as well as she could. A tale of a quintessential Victorian Christmas.

3. The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry. This story (plus O'Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief") is one of the reasons I love the story form. And if you've never read
Gift of the Magi, find it. An amazing story of love and sacrifice that captures the spirit of Christmas.

2. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. One of my seminary professors ended every fall semester by reading this YA book. If you've never encountered the Herdman family and the Magi who brought ham to the Messiah ... you're in for a treat.

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What can I say? Simply the best Christmas story known to man, aside from the truth of Christmas, which makes a grand story but best of all is true. From Fezziwig's Christmas, to Tiny Tim, to Scrooge's reformation--the images live with us all.

What are some of your favorite Christmas stories? Several more came to mind as I wrote this, but I decided to leave it with the first impressions.