Books For All Seasons: Christmas

​I need a little Christmas. Right this very minute.
 
And nothing gets me in the cheery, warm holiday mood like a Christmas themed book. Ok, after the tree, the stockings, the waxy chocolate advent calendar, and the eggnog latte, nothing gets me in the cheery, warm holiday mood like a Christmas themed book.
 
The problem: a really great holiday read is harder to find than you think.
 
You’ve got your old standby A Christmas Carol – which I read every year starting right after Thanksgiving. This year, I have the joy of finally reading it out loud to my kids. But where to go after Dickens…
 
How about Terry Pratchett? Yes, his books are fantasy, which may put some readers off at first, but this fantasy world does not take itself so seriously. Pratchett created a realm called Discworld - no, it has nothing to do with CDs or Frisbees – where fairies and wizards and even Death tromp around together making stories of hilarity, parody, and profundity.
 
What’s also great about the series is you can pick up any book in it and not feel lost as the plots are not sequential.

---

So it is with Hogfather, Pratchett’s Discworld take on Father Christmas. In this delightful, quick, and in some ways spookily prophetic book, the Hogfather has gone missing right at the height of the season. It falls to a young woman, and of all creatures, Death, to put the season to rights.
 
While on the face of it, this may seem a dour, bah-humbug sort of read, Pratchett’s wise and witty take on holiday traditions will have you ho-ho-hoing into your marshmallowed cocoa, and in facing the potential demise of myth, faith and their world entire, we find again the meaning of the season. And you may just find yourself hooked on Pratchett as I am.
 
Do you have any favorite reads of the season? Do share below!


You may also be interested in...

---

The 10 Best Books I Read

The Realm Series

It's a Sin to Kill a Finch