Christmas Books!

Still in a Christmas mood?  Got a little gift money or a gift card to spend?  Let me recommend to you some of my favorite Christmas books.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
If you have never actually read the book, you're missing out.  I'm not even really a big Dickens' fan, but I think this novella -- for it's not really a full book, but it is rather long for a short story -- is superb.  The characterization, the setting description, the sarcasm all get lost in movie versions.  You really need to read the original.  (This Dover edition is only 95¢ on Amazon.  It's hard to beat that.)

Another classic must-read: The Father Christmas Letters by JRR Tolkien.
If you like Tolkien, particularly if you like the books as opposed to what has happened in the movies, if you like The Hobbit the way Tolkien wrote it, as opposed to the completely different story it has become on screen, then you should read these letters.  Tolkien began by answering his son's letters to Father Christmas, but the story that developed over the years is clearly the background for the entire LOTR series.  Elves vs. goblins.  A good, wizard-like man.  Polar bears (think Beorn).  Underground caverns.  All of that is there.  This is marvelous stuff.

Alan Bradley's Flavia De Luce series is fabulous!  If you read mysteries, don't miss out on it.  (I'm counting days until the next installment is released in January.)  I Am Half Sick of Shadows (yes, it's a line from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallot") is set at Christmas -- with murder and mayhem as folks are snowed it.

Naughty by Steve Hockensmith is a collection of short mystery stories set at Christmas.  Most of them are hilarious.  I believe this one is e-book only, but don't miss out on it!

Paige Shelton is my hands-down favorite cozy writer, and this one -- Merry Market Murder-- is her brand spankin' new mystery set in a farmers' market.  I gobbled it up.  If you want a Christmas cozy, this is the one to get.

And why waste a good opportunity for self-promotion?  Clockwork Christmas is four steampunk humor Christmas stories for 99¢ on Kindle.  It's a great way to spend an hour after the Christmas rush.
You can also enter to win a copy right here.