This month, our book club has chosen Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews. It's a short and sweet story about Weezie Foley and her Savannah antique shop. All she wants for Christmas is a blue ribbon in the shop decorating contest, an engagement ring from her fiance and to find out who keeps sleeping in her shop display window every night with her teddy bear. Not a tall order, right?
One of my all time favorite holiday reads is Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris.
I especially love Santaland Diaries from Holidays on Ice. If you have not read it, this hilarious story details the holiday season that David Sedaris spent as an elf in Santaland at a New York City Macy's department store. Just imagining a grown man in tights with the elf name "Crumpet" doing Santa's bidding makes me giggle. Then imagining David Sedaris read it aloud in his famous dead pan nasal voice makes me belly laugh.
You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs is also a funny Christmas memoir, but a little darker. It opens with a story of how the writer's curiosity of his family's decorative wax Santa lands him in the hospital after he eats off it's face...I said it was a little dark.
As a family, we are reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. I remember my grade school teacher reading this to our class. I loved it and so far, the kids do too. The Herdman kids take over the church Christmas pageant because everyone else is too afraid to audition against them. In the end, everyone learns a little something about the Christmas spirit.
Check out some of these great holiday themed books I found at the library last week:
Five Alien Elves by Gregory Maquire: When aliens land in a small town in Vermont, they mistakenly think the Santa suited mayor is "Santa Claws" and fight to free the 'slaves' (otherwise known as elves) from the evil workshop. This is a funny, fast paced read for kids grades 3-5. 
A Little House Christmas Treasury Festive Holiday Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder: When I was in 4th grade, I loved the Little House books. I could not get enough and read them all. I was excited to find this on the shelf in our local library...a collection of holiday stories from the Little House Books! This collection features six short stories and one Christmas Carol. Some of the stories included are Christmas in the Big Woods and Christmas on the Prairie. I will probably save this one for when Baby Girl is a bit older and maybe we can enjoy it together. 
Judy Moody & Stink: The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald: When The Fourth Grader was in first grade, he loved the Stink books by Megan McDonald. We read all of them and listened to some on CD. In this book, all Stink wants for Christmas is snow. Unfortunately, it hasn't snowed in Virginia in more than 100 years. With a new mailman who has an odd resemblance to an elf...and his name is Mr. Jack Frost...who knows what will happen?
Flat Stanley's Christmas Adventure by Jeff Brown In this Flat Stanley book, Santa has decided he is done with Christmas and the kids don't appreciate him. Enter Sarah Claus, Santa's daughter, who calls the Lambchop family to save the day!
Since I loved the Little House books in grade school, I was drawn to the Dear America book Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift by Kathryn Laskey. Minnie, a twelve year old in Indiana, keeps a diary during the month before Christmas. It details the ups and downs of their family and shows that the Christmas spirit prevails. After we finish The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I'd love to read this before Christmas.
Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas by Pauline Chen looks hilarious. It is the kind of book that, if it were an adult read, that I'd snatch it off the shelf. So, along with my other two picks for the kids this holiday season, we'll be reading it as well. Poor Peiling Wang has never celebrated Christmas, even though her family has been in America since she was a toddler. With the help of her uncle, the 11 year old tries to convince her family to join in the holiday festivities. I was hooked when Peiling asked her grandpa if he had ever celebrated Christmas in Taiwan, and his response was that the chocolate the American soldiers distributed gave him the runs. How can you not love that?
One of my favorite movies is Arthur's Perfect Christmas by Marc Brown. This year, we are reading the book. Join Arthur and his friends as they wish for snow, special presents and spend time with their families. This book explores both Christmas and Hanukkah.Do you have a favorite holiday book that you read every year? Or maybe a special one from your childhood that you share with your kids? Feel free to share by leaving a post in the comments below!
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