MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!
(If you celebrate it, that is. If you don’t and don’t feel like reading this post, I still have something to share with you! It’s an adorable cat video. You’re welcome.)
SO. I’ve written somewhat-bookishly-inspired Christmas posts before, but I’ve never written a post specifically about Christmas-themed books! And I should fix that. Without further ado, here is a quick list, assembled by yours truly.
+ The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsberg. This one is listed first because it’s the best! The film version is actually pretty good for an adaptation of a kid’s story and is actually my favorite Christmas movie, but… there’s just no way it could ever surpass the original. This is one of my very favorite picture books, with its understated-yet-sweet plot and gorgeous illustrations. (It won the Caldecott Medal for “most distinguished American picture book” in 1986.) Since I first read it I’ve dreamed of riding the Polar Express myself…
+ A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I love short classics, don’t you? Reading
them makes you look so highbrow (especially in public!), and they’re not as daunting as those six-hundred-page classics. And people reference “A Christmas Carol” a LOT, too – Scrooge, and Tiny Tim, and the Ghost of Christmas past. Everyone should know this story.
+ How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. And this is basically the humorous, picture book equivalent of “A Christmas Carol!” I LOVE this story, what with the Whos of Whoville and the Grinch (whose heart was “two sizes too small”) and… gah. This is one of my favorite Seuss books!
+ My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins. Now this is a recent find – I reviewed it on the first of this month! My True Love Gave to Me is a YA collection of twelve short stories about holiday-themed romance. It’s adorable!
+ Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert E. Barry. If its number of Goodreads ratings are anything to go by, this picture book isn’t very well-known – but I adore it. Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree is too tall, so he cuts off the top of it. Then a cute animal wants that bit for their tree, but it’s too tall so they chop off the top again… and the cycle repeats several more times. It’s a really fun story!
Now it’s your turn: Tell me about the Christmas-themed stories that YOU love!
P.S. Hmmm, I just now noticed that all my choices were secular (versus religious). Well, that’s not very surprising, considering how I was raised. It’s interesting to see how differently people celebrate the same holiday, isn’t it?
Musings From Neville's Navel 
I like the more secular ones as well, haha (considering my whole family is very strongly atheist). I also really like Let it Snow and this one by Cornelia Funke called When Santa Fell to Earth. Haven’t read Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares yet, though.
Anyway, Merry Christmas from Australia!! 🙂
*atheist high-five* I’ll have to take a look at When Santa Fell To Earth!
Thank you!! Happy Christmas (do you say that there? Idk) from the USA! 😀
Does the Carmilla Christmas special count.
Why do you ask me such silly questions? OF COURSE. Come, flail over it with me. 😀 😀 😀
Oh my goddddd that whole thing was gold.
–I need a sweater that says “murder her for christmas” or like “a holiday where you can’t murder people is a stupid holiday” or something anything oh my god
–LaFontaine was awesome and the hints of LaF/Perry were just //screeches
–Carmilla just there while her gf is threatened with life or death in the background
–the villain was so good and her actress did an amazing job tbh
–11/10 must watch again
-I need that sweater too!
-I JUST LOVE LAFERRY SOOOO MUCH OMG
-I adore Carmilla’s facial expressions
Basically… omg, it was so silly and all the characters were dorks and I just love them so much. 😀
–apparently there’s an official carmilla merch store now and I need everything in it it’s for science I swear
–SO. FREAKING. CUTE.
–ikr like sarcastic gay girl vampires are like ❤ now and it's all Carmilla's fault
–speaking of Carmilla's fault, I now really want a pair of leather pants and that corset-top-thing she was wearing in like e9 and this is totally all because of that show
–so I found out that Danny is 6'2" and Laura's 5'2" and omfg babies
-Yeah, I know! I NEED that “useless lesbian since 1680 shirt.” 😀
-Yes!!!! I love Carmilla’s clothes. They probably wouldn’t look good on me because I don’t have the attitude to get away with wearing stuff like that, but oh well. A girl can dream, can’t she? 🙂
-Oh my gosh, that’s adorable! And she’s still taller than me. xD Oh man, I am so tiny.
-I really want a Silas University biology hoodie though. Also yesss that useless lesbian shirt is so cute omfg (get it) (send pics)
-Dude tbh I don’t either
but her attitude is pretty damn hot.And dude, you’d look good in anything. If you love it enough to buy it, you’re gonna fucking rock it no matter how you wear it. (love urself ur an amazing person (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧)-That height difference thoughhh. And same dude we’re freaking hobbits. (though I think T makes you grow if you start it early enough, and since I’m thinking of starting low-dose T we’ll see if I actually get taller)
OK, I will send pics if I get it. 🙂
Ooh, yay! …ish. Pffft. Yay for T, but also *sulks if you’re gonna eventually be taller than me* 😛 And you can really start that now?! There’s no, like, prescription for it or anything? That’s awesome.
*laughs if I’m gonna eventually be taller than you* uwu
Actually, a requirement for starting T is you have to get a recommendation letter from a gender therapist, and it takes at least 3 visits (3 months) before the gender therapist will even consider starting you on T. And then once you get that rec letter, you have to bring it to your normal doctor, and they have to write you a prescription for T (usually at/before this point is when your parents come in, if you’re underage). And some doctors won’t even consider HRT unless you’re at least 16, but hopefully if that happens I can get put on puberty blockers or something.
(and considering I haven’t come out to the parents yet, I was going to try and find a gender therapist and just tell them it’s a normal therapist bc reasons, and talk to the gender therapist and try to figure out a safe way to come out, but here’s the problem: everyone I can find in my area either doesn’t have an insurance plan so I’d be paying out of pocket, doesn’t work with minors, or doesn’t have experience with nonbinary people. So I’m kinda stuck rn.)
*grumpy noises* If that happens I’m gonna make you fetch things from high shelves for me. xD
Yeah, that’s what I thought, but then the way you said it made it sound like you could just START. So. Gah, that really sucks. 😦
Pfffff, okay, but you have to put up with my height jokes. 😛
It doesn’t exactly help that FL is really southern, either. ;-;
But yeah, such are the problems of this QTPOC.
OK. 😛 Most of my IRL friends already call me a hobbit anyway. xD
*patpat* I would say “come to Indiana!” but I’m not sure that it’s that much better here either. 😦
My friends all do the weird tall-people thing where they use you as an elbow-rest, a headrest, or a full-torso rest. (the last one only happens with this one guy I know who’s like 6’4″)
Cali is looking pretty damn awesome as of late tbh. (wish I still lived there)
Ehehe, yeah, everyone in my family does that to me. *facepalms*
Ooh, you lived in California? Lucky you! I was there a few years ago and it was pretty awesome. I’d love to live in SF someday, but the rent there is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally high. *pouts*
Tall people are annoying sometimes tbh
Yeah, for a few months. I was a kid though, so I didn’t fully appreciate the potential of living there. (bro omfg the hills in San Fran are demonic I stg some of them are so. steep.)
Gah, yes.
dslghdlsgahldsghasdgl But it would be worth it. 🙂
All I can say is have fun parking lol. (bro there was this one slope like 5 minutes away from my relative’s old apartment that was so steep you could p much be walking up it and you’d be able to reach out and touch the sidewalk)
Imagine roller-blading down those hills, tho. 😀 😀 😀
I’d prob trip and skin everything off my elbows tbh.
I would cover you in pillows and other soft things first so that wouldn’t happen! Of course, it would also make you look like a human marshmallow, but I suppose that’s better than being injured…
I am Baymax yes good.
I still need to watch Big Hero 6… 😛
Oh my god it’s so good you should watch it at your earliest opportunity.
OK! Do you know if it’s still in theaters?!
(And YOU, friend-person, need to read V for Vendetta. IT’S SO AMAZING AAAAH IT’LL RIP YOUR HEART OUT AND STOMP ON IT.)
Uh yeah I think it is. I went to watch Selma today with my bff and they still had the BH6 poster up so I’m pretty sure it is…?
(that doesn’t sound like a positive endorsement)
OK! (And how was Selma?! I’ve been thinking about seeing that but I dunno just yet.)
Nononono it’s awesome. It’s a classic dystopian AND a graphic novel. *nodnod* Plus it has tragic post-apocalyptic British lesbians.
Selma was fuckin awesome, yo. Like omfg yes, I’d totally rewatch it. You need to go see it bro, everyhting about it was great. (Not to mention the fact that it’s been very relevant recently, but…)
You had me at lesbians. I’ll go check the library 😛
Oh, AWESOME! I might go see it with my brother, then. 🙂 🙂 🙂
(IKR?!)
Excellent.
Yes yes do the thing. And then tell me what you think.
Will do. 🙂 And let me know what you think of V for Vendetta!
I think the books that I associate most with Christmas are all of Noel Streatfeild’s books, and Little Women.
(Oi you! Go check your NaNo PMs for your Christmas present!)
Hmmm, I’ve never heard of Noel Streatfeild… what does he write about?
(‘K, I will.)
She, actually. She wrote a ton of middle-grade books in the 1940s and 50s about British children in show business. I had them as audiobooks when I was younger and by this point I can’t read them without the proper accents and inflections that the narrator used. The main reason they’re Christmas-y for me is because there are chapters devoted to Christmas, though I read them during the rest of the year too.
(You did. :D)
Ehehe, those definitely sound like your kind of book. 😀
I haven’t read ANY of these, sadly (except How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Dr. Seuss is the best!). And no Christmas-themed-snowy stories for me, either. (Although I was pleasantly surprised to find three books in my stocking!) I’ve been meaning to read My True Love Gave to Me! So many of my blogger friends are reading it, and I’ve heard such good things about all the authors who’ve contributed. 😛
I think you’d really like it! 😛 It’s super-sweet and adorable.
Yeah, I’ve been a bit hesitant about reading it, because I’m not such a big fan of romance. But, well, if Engie recommends a romance… now this I must try! (Oh, and on the topic of romances, have you read I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson? What did you think of the LGBTQ+ characters there?)
Yeah, I’m pretty picky about romance… I think I’ve read maybe 5 or 6 this year that I actually liked?
(I haven’t read it yet, actually – SOOOOOO many books to read! gah! – but I want to. I plan to review it for Reading The Rainbow.)