December 23rd and the Library Books for Christmas

When I collected my books from  Novembers Library van visit, there were three seasonal ones amongst them..............
Jeanette Winterson  - Christmas Days; 12 stories and 12 feasts for 12 days.

The library website summary says
" Everybody loves a Christmas story. The tradition of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' is a tradition of celebration, sharing and giving. And what better way to do that than with a story? Read these stories by the fire, in the snow, travelling home for the holidays. Give them to friends, wrap them up for someone you love, read them aloud, read them alone, read them together. Enjoy the season of peace and goodwill, mystery, and a little bit of magic. There are ghosts here and jovial spirits. Chances at love and tricks with time. There is frost and icicles, mistletoe and sledges. There is a Christmas Tree with mysterious powers. There's a donkey with a golden nose and a tinsel baby that talks. There's a cat and a dog and a solid silver frog. There's a Christmas cracker with a surprising gift inside. There's a haunted house and a disappearing train. There are Yule-tides and holly wreaths"

I read and enjoyed but wasn't overwhelmed.

Although the latest book - Nine Lessons - by East Anglian author Nicola Upson isn't necessarily a Christmas book it is set during the Christmas season in Cambridge. This is the 7th in her crime series featuring Josephine Tey, so well written and an excellent read. If you like historical crime and haven't read these it's best to start with the first, look at Fantastic Fiction for more info 

 

From Col's room on the 10th floor at Addenbrookes he could just see the top of Kings College Chapel, which is the pictured on the front of the book and famous for it's Nine Lessons and Carols service on Christmas Eve.

Still here from November is Edward Marston's latest offering " A Christmas Railway Mystery" - that will be a quick and predictable read, actually I might not even read it because I've just remembered that I abandoned his last one as it was so dreadful.
I also have half the November books still here, what with one thing and another, didn't seem to get much read.

But on Thursday it was Decembers library van day and I collected another load of ordered books and there is yet another Christmas book amongst them

On the far right is Tidings; A Christmas Journey by Ruth Padel. The library summary says.......

"In the tradition of Charles Dickens and Dylan Thomas, 'Tidings' takes us on a journey into the heart of Christmas, showing us celebrations down the ages and across the globe - as dawn sweeps from East Australia to Bethlehem, from London to the Statue of Liberty in New York. This is Christmas in all its magic, reminding us that it is a time not only of good tidings, but of loneliness and longing, compassion and connection.

I've read it, took less than an hour, it's a poem in a small book.

Plenty of other interesting books there too.

Thank you to everyone for lovely comments yesterday. It was such a surprise that Colin could come home as the consultant told us early on that he would need at least 3 weeks after the transplant and that meant definitely stuck there for Christmas. When he had his own stem cells back in 2016 he was in hospital for 7 weeks, due to various problems, so we had been quite prepared for that to happen again.

 Back Tomorrow
Sue