Christmas reading ranges from whodunits to kids to tales of festivity survival

There are lots of things that say Christmas tiffany jewelry: Trees, cookies, parties and presents, for example. But murder mysteries? Who knew?

Publishers did.

Sales of author Anne Perry’s mystery stories appeared to plateau a few years back. But when the author put out a Christmas novel in 2005, sales shot up, said Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Company on Milwaukee’s east side.

Mystery writers now join novelists, yarn-spinners and memoirists in expounding on the season.

Here’s a roundup of some of this year’s new holiday titles, from graphic necklaces novels to Victorian mysteries to how-to and children’s books.

Unexpected Xmas authors

–”The Dreaded Feast: Writers on Enduring the Holidays,” edited by Michele Clarke and Taylor Plimpton (Abrams Books, $15.95)

Cynical anthology from writers including John Waters, Charles Bukowski, Dave Barry and Hunter S. Thompson. For those who believe that the best spirits of the season come in a bottle.

–”You Better Not Cry,” by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin’s Press, $21.99)

His childhood wasn’t so cheery, so it stands to reason that his holidays weren’t tiffany bangles brimming with happiness, either.

–”Matchless,” by Gregory MaGuire (HarperCollins, $19.99)

The author of “Wicked” puts his spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Match Girl” to celebrate the season.

Graphic-novel greetings

All are $14.99 from HarperCollins.

–”A Kidnapped Santa Claus”: Alex Robinson adapts the L. Frank Baum story.

–”The Fir-Tree”: Comics author Lilli Carre’s take on the Hans tiffany rings Christian Andersen tale.

–”The Gift of the Magi”:

Joel Priddy gives his view of O. Henry’s famous tale.

Christmas chick lit

–”The Christmas Cookie Club,” by Ann Pearlman (Atria Books, $24.99)

Women bond over life and over cookies.

–”Knit the Season,” by Kate Jacobs (Fantastic Fiction, $24.95)

Third book in the Friday Night Knitting Club Series is set in Scotland.

–”A Christmas Promise,” by Anne Perry (Fantastic Fiction tiffany bracelets, $18)

The seventh book in her series of Victorian Christmas novellas.

Winter wonderlands

–”A Christmas Blizzard,” by Garrison Keillor (Penguin Group, $21.95)

Rich man finds the true meaning of Christmas in a South Dakota blizzard.

–”The Gift,” by Cecelia Ahern (HarperCollins, $19.99)

Ahern, the co-creator of TV’s “Samantha Who?” takes on the season.

–”Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story,” by Wally Lamb (HarperCollins, $19.99)

Lamb, famous for “She’s Come Undone,” turns back the clock to Christmas tiffany cufflinks, 1960s style.

–”Christmas Memories: Gifts, Activities, Fads and Fancies, 1920s-1960s,” by Susan Waggoner (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $17.95)

If you ever wondered how the characters on “Mad Men” might have celebrated Christmas, it’s in here.

Murder meets mistletoe

–”Decked with Folly,” by Kate Kingsbury (Berkley Publishing Group, $14)

Holiday season at the Pennyfoot Hotel includes death in a duck pond.

–”Holiday Grind,” by Cleo Coyle (Berkley Publishing Group, $23.95)

After seven stories in the coffeehouse mystery series, authors Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini (a.k.a. Cleo Coyle) set this one during Christmas cookie season. Recipes included.

–”Mrs. Jeffries & the Yuletide Weddings,” by Emily Brightwell (Berkley Publishing Group, $23.95)

Two weddings, the Christmas holiday and a murder. It’s a trifecta.

God is in the details

–”The Christmas Glass,” by Marci Alborghetti (Guideposts, $15.99)

The latest from Alborghetti, famous for her faith-themed books, is being compared to 1995′s wildly popular “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans.

–”Santa Miracles,” by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger (Adams tiffany money clips Media, $12.95)

Think “Chicken Soup for the Jolly Old Soul” for this collection of Santa stories.

–”Christmas Traditions: True Stories that Celebrate the Spirit of the Season,” edited by Helen Szymanski (Adams Media, $10.95)

Writers share their purposeful and accidental traditions from the season.

Holiday kid lit

–”Fly, Santa, Fly,” by Betty Ann Schwartz, illustrated by Steve Cox (Sterling Publishing, $9.95)

Geared to infants and preschoolers, it lets kids control Santa’s flight with a lenticular disc.

–”A Pussycat’s Christmas,” by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated Anne Mortimer (HarperCollins, $9.99)

Beautiful photos ask the questions: Can cats hear snow, smell Christmas trees or celebrate the holiday? Answers inside.

–”Secret Santa,” illustrated by Simone Abel with design and paper engineering by Richard Jewitt (Sterling Publishers, $16.95)

Follow the letter exchange between Santa and a fan with stunning pop-ups that tell the story of the North Pole.

–”Horrid Henry’s Christmas,” by Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (Sourcebooks, $4.99)

Nothing says Christmas like a story that includes Pimply Paul.

–”The Great Reindeer Rebellion,” by Lisa Trumbauer, illustrated by Jannie Ho (Sterling Publishers, $14.95)

Turns out elephants don’t make good replacements when reindeer strike at the North Pole.

Posted by admin   @   25 November 2009

Related Posts

Like this post? Share it!

RSS Digg Twitter StumbleUpon Delicious Technorati

0 Comments

Sorry, comments are closed.

Previous Post
«
Next Post
»
Powered by Wordpress   |   Lunated designed by ZenVerse