Top Ten Reasons to Read and Love ‘A Christmas Carol’….Plus Other Great Books

A Christmas Carol

To help nudge myself into the Christmas spirit, I recently reread Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It provided everything I could want in a holiday, fireside read and more. I was shocked to discover it had received 10,907 one-star ratings on Goodreads (out of 1,056,409…but still)! This motivated me to write top ten reasons to read A Christmas Carol. Here goes:

1. It’s a classic Christmas tradition.
2. The writing is powerful and leaves the reader with unforgettable images. Here is one of my favourites,
“If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge’s nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me, and I’ll cultivate his acquaintance.”
How delightful is that?!
3. It inspires with themes of social justice, forgiveness, redemption, and transformation.
4. It encourages the spirit of generosity. Shortly after this novel was first published, there was a reported rise in charitable giving in Britain. Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote that this writing inspired him to give generously (and to be confident in doing so).
5. Its story is timeless and universal. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print, has been translated into numerous languages and has been adapted countless times into theatre and film.
6. Both Charles Dickens and a Christmas Carol have influenced our Christmas customs and practices much more than most realize. Numerous sources credit Dickens with popularizing the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ (as opposed to ‘Happy Christmas’).
7. Charles Dickens wrote this novella in just six weeks, making the impossible possible.
8. The urgency Scrooge wakes up with, desperate for it not to be too late, seeps off the page and increases the pulse of the reader.
9. You close the book believing there is hope for a better future and that change CAN begin with you.
10. If you are still unconvinced by the above (seriously?), A Christmas Carol is less than 100 pages in most print editions (or a 3-hour audiobook listen). This makes it a wonderful story to share as a family or simply indulge in amidst the busyness of the upcoming holiday. Enjoy!
Still not convinced? Chat with me in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Book Club Selections

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is screen-shot-2021-12-02-at-3.07.47-pm.png — The Professor, No Country for Old Men, Next Year in Havana. Once again, these books are distinctly different from one another.

Books by Antoinette Truglio Martin

The Heart of Bakers and Artists and Dreams of Singers and Sluggers.
I am a huge fan of Antoinette Truglio Martin. I first met her through her blog, Stories Served Around the Table. There she captivated me with her family stories passed down through generations and served between mounds of pasta and mouth-watering sauces. I have previously reviewed her books Hug Everyone You Know and Becoming America’s Food Stories on this blog. The Heart of Bakers and Artists recently won a Purple Dragonfly Book Award as well as a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.
You can read more about Antoinette here. The third image above is of bookmarks offered by Antoinette to readers who had ordered a copy of one of her recent books. How cool are they?

Another Rabbit Hole Read

A Girl Walks into a Book is a fun, quirky, Brontë-obsessed memoir. How kind of my library to let me know that I had saved $22.49 (Cdn) simply by using their services!

Christmas Reads Poll (Closes midnight, PST, Dec 20, 2021)

Have something on your bookshelf to share? You can use the convient link below, post on social media of your choice (#whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge), or tell us in the comments.

Anyway that you choose, we will be delighted to hear from you!

Donna
Sue (cohost)
Debbie (cohost)
Jo (cohost)