Christmas Is Coming Soon

 This week I'm talking about my favorite Christmas books and movies. I’m afraid I don’t have anything new and wonderful to share. Just my old favorites. Let’s begin with books.

I’ve read many Christmas stories over the years, but my hands down favorite is A Christmas Carol. I feel like everyone knows what the story is all about, but if you’ve somehow missed it here’s a blurb from the book.

Blurb:

First published in 1843, “A Christmas Carol” is arguably Dickens’s most popular and accessible work. An instant success ever since its original publication, it is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a cold, bitter, old miser who despises Christmas and everything about it. When the ghost of Scrooge’s former business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him on Christmas Eve exactly seven years after his death, Scrooge is challenged to rethink his ways before it is too late. Over the course of the evening he is visited by three more spirits, the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. These visits help Scrooge to see the error in his ways transforming him by the end of the story into a kinder and gentler soul. Inspired by his experiences as a child, Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” highlights the plight of the lower class in 19th century England through an enduring and ultimately heart-warming tale.

I read this book many years ago. Language from 1843 was phrased a bit differently with different slang expressions and idioms, but I really liked the book. 

Another book I enjoyed more recently was The Christmas Town. Here’s a blurb about that.

Blurb:

Traveling home for Christmas, two women get lost in a snowstorm. They cross a covered bridge and enter the past, finding themselves in a small picturesque Vermont town in 1943. They meet two handsome soldiers who are about to be shipped off to war. They fall in love while struggling to find a way to return to their own time. 

With the soldiers’ help, on Christmas Eve, the two women get one chance, but they’re caught between their love for the soldiers, and their desire to return to the present. At the last moment, they must make a difficult decision and, because it is Christmas, a miracle happens.

This is a time travel book, which is probably why I like it. I’ve read lots of Christmas stories over the years, but I didn’t think they were anything special. 

As far as movies go, I’ve watched lots of Christmas movies. The Hallmark Channel has lots of Christmas movies, and Netflix has some too. I don’t remember much about any of them. In the last one I watched, a girl married a prince at Christmas. I don’t remember the name. The movies I like best are the old favorites that have stood the test of time.

First, there’s A Christmas Carol, the George C. Scott version. My family all agrees that this is the best version. Scott made a wonderful Scrooge.

Second, I love It’s a Wonderful Life. I never saw it until after I was married. We had a dinner to go to, and we were late because we both wanted to see how it ended. It was a good story helped along by the casting. Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed were perfect in their roles, and the supporting cast was good too.

Third, I like A Christmas Story. Ir’s hilarious, and at the same time it seems real.

I’ve always loved the original Miracle on 34th Street. To me, the new versions just don’t measure up to the original. 

And let’s not forget the animated classics. My favorite is Rudolph, but The Little Drummer Boy is good too.

Like I told you before, most of my favorites are the old movies and books. Can someone recommend a new movie or book that I should read or watch?