Have Yourself a Reading Little Christmas!

The stockings are stuffed. Christmas cards are in the mail. Santa is in his sleigh and on his way. All that’s left to do is sit down and enjoy the season. Why not give yourself a gift and stop by Peter White Public Library for a little literary yuletide cheer?

“A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote (808.8 CA) is a classic holiday tale originally published in Mademoiselle magazine in December 1956. Largely autobiographical, it tells the story of Capote as a seven-year-old living with distant relatives in Alabama. Capote lovingly describes the last Christmas he spends with his “best friend,” an elderly cousin who throws herself into holiday preparations with the energy and simplicity of a child. Full of nostalgia and a little sadness, this thin volume will melt the hearts of the scroogiest Scrooge.

“A Different Kind of Christmas” by Alex Haley (FIC HALEY) is a Christmas story for lovers of historical fiction. Set in 1855, the book chronicles the awakening of Fletcher Randall, the 19-year-old son of a politically powerful plantation owner. After making friends at school with Quaker abolitionists, Fletcher joins the Underground Railroad and embarks on a plan to help a large group of slaves escape on December 24th. The narrative has enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your eggnog as Fletcher turns his back on everything he knows to create a Christmas miracle.

For those who like their Christmas tales a little darker, pick up “Different Seasons” by Stephen King (FIC KING). This anthology of four novellas contains King’s only real Christmas story. It’s titled “The Breathing Method” and uses a frame narrative in which an elderly doctor, Emlyn McCarron, tells a gathering at a mysterious gentlemen’s club about a single woman who gives birth to a baby under macabre circumstances. Both grotesque and touching, this novella is a yuletide treat for any horror fan.

If Ralphie and his quest for an Official Red Ryder two-hundred shot range model air rifle is more your style, look no further than Jean Shepherd’s humorous “In God We Trust; All Others Pay Cash” (FIC SHEPHER). The 1983 classic film A Christmas Story was based on several of the essays in this collection. However, the book goes further, painting a nostalgic portrait of the author’s childhood in Hohman, Indiana, with the likes of Schwarz, Flick, and the Old Man. Both hilarious and touching, Shepherd’s stories will move any reader from laughter to tears and back.

Finally, any fan of Charles Dickens will fall in love with Oscar Hijuelos’ novel “Mr. Ives’ Christmas” (FIC HIJUELO). This book tells the story of Edward Ives, an adopted foundling who grows up in New York City. A modern-day take on the Biblical Book of Job, the central story concerns Ives’ struggles overcoming the murder of his son during the Christmas holidays. Ultimately, the novel becomes a moving meditation on goodness and forgiveness, layered with elements of Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.

From ghosts of Christmas to deranged pink Easter bunnies, Peter White Public Library has something to satisfy the tastes of anyone looking for a little extra noel this holiday season.

By Martin Achatz

Adult Programming Coordinator