Aleteia logoAleteia logoAleteia
Friday 29 March |
Good Friday
Aleteia logo
Art & Culture
separateurCreated with Sketch.

7 Classic Christmas books for adults

MAN READING,CHRISTMAS TREE

Stuart Pilbrow | CC BY SA 2.0

Zelda Caldwell - published on 12/14/17

Forget 'Love Actually,' here's some Christmas fiction that will put you in the spirit of the season.

Please consider a gift for Aleteia!
Help us spread the joy of Christ's victory.
Aleteia depends on your support.

Join our Lenten Campaign 2024.

DONATE NOW

The internet is spilling over with lists of “Christmas movies,” classic and not so classic, to get you in a holiday frame of mind.

For some, watching Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life is as indispensable a Christmas ritual as decorating the tree. For others, the completely secular Love Actually or the action thriller Die Hard somehow help ignite Christmas spirit, presumably just because they are set amidst the lights and tinsel of the season.

If you are looking for something more – something that comes a little closer to celebrating the reason for the season, or at the very least, doesn’t leave you feeling worse off than before you saw one of those films, why not try a Christmas book this year? Here are a few classic tales that might put you in a legit yuletide frame of mind:

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Reading Charles Dickens’ tale of an old miser who is transformed and redeemed will give you an idea why it is so often imitated and why it has never been out of print since its publication in 1844.

2. Christmas at Thompson Hall: And Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope

This Penguin Christmas Classic collection brings together the English novelist Anthony Trollope’s best Christmas stories set in Victorian England.

3. A Merry Christmas: And Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott

The author of Little Women evokes Christmas in 19th-century America with these favorite stories.

4. The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

If you find Victorian Christmas tales run too sweet for you taste, you might enjoy Gogol’s Russian tale, featuring the Devil himself, running amok on the night before Christmas.

5. The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann

Fans of Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” will love reading Hoffmann’s story from which it was adapted. So might those who could never make heads or tails out of the ballet and want to know why in the world the prince had to become a nutcracker.

6. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Not exactly Christmassy, but a romance set in Russia during the winter may be just what you are looking for.

7. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

For those of you who find curling up with a detective story the epitome of coziness, even when there are slit throats involved, this Agatha Christie mystery set during Christmastime will set you up just right.




Read more:
The Best Christmas Music You’ve Never Heard: Goosebumps Guaranteed

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Tags:
BooksChristmas
Enjoying your time on Aleteia?

Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you.

Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more.

jour1_V2.gif
Daily prayer
And today we celebrate...




Top 10
See More
Newsletter
Get Aleteia delivered to your inbox. Subscribe here.