Tag: Christmas Novel

Do you like reading Christmas novels?

Bookish Question #205 | Do you like reading Christmas novels?

Do you like reading Christmas novels? Or Christmas novellas?

At Christmas, yes. But not otherwise.

This could be because most Christmas stories are written with a northern hemisphere setting, which means they are set in winter. Winter is not my favourite season, so I’m unlikely to read a winter story unless it’s a Christmas story.

If it’s a Christmas story, I want to read it somewhere close to Christmas i.e. December.

Apparently, some people read Christmas stories throughout the year. I recently listened to a presentation at a writer’s conference, and someone ask the speaker if she wrote special Christmas stories. She said no – all her stories were based around Christmas, because that’s what her readers like to read. Given how many books she releases, that means she’s writing, releasing, and selling Christmas stories all year round. Maybe that’s why her books don’t resonate with me: because I like Christmas in December. The rest of the year has enough rush rush rush without the added rush of Christmas.

But now we’re past most of the rush of the year and almost up to December, I’ll be happy to kick back with a Christmas novel or novella or three. But only until Christmas 🙂

After Christmas, I’ll want summer reads because it’s summer here in New Zealand. I’ll want light and fun, not a cold, dark Christmas.

How about you? Do you like reading Christmas novels or novellas?

What's your favourite Christmas novel?

Bookish Question #38 | What’s your favourite Christmas novel?

I’m not going to ask your favourite Christmas story.

It’s probably the same as mine: the gospel story of how God sent his only son to earth, and how he was born in a manger in Bethlehem. Although I suppose you might have a preference for Matthew over Luke. Or vice versa.

I don’t know that Jesus was actually born on 25 December. Odds are, he wasn’t (and if he was, we should celebrate Christmas Day on 6 January, like the Eastern Orthodox Christians have since the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar back in the 1700’s).

It’s not important what day Jesus was born. What is important, as far as I’m concerned, is that we celebrate His birth with our families, with our friends, and with our church fellowships.

That we remember the birth of Jesus as a physical sign of the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

As we discussed last week, a lot of novels and novellas are set around Christmas. Some are Christian novels, so are able to emphasise the spiritual importance of the occasion. Some are general market novels—isn’t it great that non-believers still chose to celebrate our Christian holy days? Even several of the Harry Potter novels, often maligned by Christians, still have Christmas right at the centre of the novel.

What’s your favourite Christmas novel (or novella)? Why?

Next Monday is Christmas Day, so I won’t be posting. Instead, I’ll be enjoying the day with my family, and remembering our Saviour. May God bless you and your family over this Christmas season.