These classic literary masterpieces help us to remind the spirit of Christmas and celebrate the timeless truths of the holiday season. This collection of Christmas short stories and tales by classic writers features works from Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Mark Twain, and more. A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories: An Anthology of Short Stories Before the Great Tradition of Christmas is a book devoted to be enjoyed by the whole family during the Advent

"A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories: An Anthology of Short Stories before the Great Tradition of Christmas" is a collection of short stories and writings by various authors, typically centered around the theme of Christmas. The anthology typically includes classic and lesser-known works that capture the spirit and traditions of the holiday season. It's a delightful compilation of stories that celebrate the joy, warmth, and sentimentality associated with Christmas. The specific stories and authors featured in such an anthology can vary, but they often include works by renowned writers like Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, O. Henry, and others who have made significant contributions to the genre of Christmas literature. Readers can expect to find a diverse range of tales within this anthology, encompassing heartwarming stories of love and generosity, tales of holiday traditions, and sometimes even ghostly encounters, as seen in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Overall, "A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories" offers a festive and nostalgic reading experience, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the timeless holiday spirit through the lens of different authors and eras.

One of five beloved Christmas classics A Merry Christmas collects the treasured holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott, from the dearly familiar Yuletide benevolence of Marmee and her “little women” to the timeless “What Love Can Do,” wherein the residents of a boarding house come together to make a lovely Christmas for two poor girls. Wildly popular at the time of their publication—readers deluged Alcott with letters demanding sequels—and drawing on Alcott’s family and experiences in the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements, these stories have the authentic texture and detail of Christmas in nineteenth-century America, while their emphasis on generosity and charity make them timeless embodiments of the Christmas spirit. Penguin Christmas Classics Give the gift of literature this Christmas. Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages. The five volumes in the series are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year. Collect all five Penguin Christmas Classics: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Christmas at Thompson Hall: And Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope A Merry Christmas: And Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann

This collection is a treasury of short fiction by great writers of the past two centuries. As a literary subject, Christmas has inspired everything from intimate domestic dramas to fanciful flights of the imagination, and the full range of its expression is represented in this anthology.

The Collected Christmas Stories is a collection of tales written especially for reading aloud. The themes offer subjects that appeal to younger children and progress to interest young adults as well. The stories were originally written to entertain a neighboring family’s children. The author was encouraged to put the stories into book form for the enjoyment of those who find pleasure in the traditions of Christmas.

A story for every night of the season of Advent.

This book explores the literary and cultural history behind certain Christmas and Halloween traditions, and examines the way that they have moved into broadcasting. It demonstrates how these horror traditions have become more domestic and personal, and how they provide a necessary seasonal pause for reflection on our fears.

The Edgar Award-winning editor collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories—from Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Hardy, to Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain. • “Anyone who cares about the best mystery writing of the past century and beyond would be lucky to receive this thick volume during the holidays." —The Washington Post This collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant. Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey and Max Allan Collins; O. Henry-like stories by Stanley Ellin and Joseph Shearing, stories by pulp icons John D. MacDonald and Damon Runyon; comic gems from Donald E. Westlake and John Mortimer; and many, many more. Almost any kind of mystery you’re in the mood for--suspense, pure detection, humor, cozy, private eye, or police procedural—can be found in these pages. FEATURING: - Unscrupulous Santas - Crimes of Christmases Past and Present - Festive felonies - Deadly puddings - Misdemeanors under the mistletoe - Christmas cases for classic characters including Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, and Nero Wolfe.

This seasonal compendium collects together poems, short stories, and prose extracts by some of the greatest poets and writers in the English language. Like Charles Dickens's ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, they are representative of times old and new--from John Donne's Elizabethan hymn over the baby Jesus to Benjamin Zephaniah's "Talking Turkeys," from Thomas Tusser counting the cost of a Tudor feast to P. G. Wodehouse's wry story about Christmas on a diet. Enjoy a Christmas Day as described by Samuel Pepys, Anthony Trollope, George Eliot, or Nancy Mitford. Venture out into the snow in the company of Jane Austen, Henry James, and Dickens's Mr. Pickwick. Entertain the children with the seasonal tales of Dylan Thomas, Kenneth Grahame, and Oscar Wilde.

Sometimes love needs a little help from Mother Nature—and what better time than the holidays to let it snow . . . and snow . . . and snow . . . STARRY NIGHT * Fern Michaels As the host of a radio program for the lovelorn, Jessie Richmond is surprisingly lonely, especially with the holidays approaching. So she decides to make the trek to her uncle’s bookstore in rural New York state and hold a speed dating event—only to find herself snowed in—with one very special single . . . MISTLETOE AND MIMOSAS * Tara Sheets After years of hard work, real estate agent Layla Gentry has her dream home on Pine Cove Island. She’s perfectly content to be on her own. Until her childhood nemesis, Sebastian, comes to town. When a snowstorm and a stranded kitten bring them together on Christmas Eve, Layla discovers he’s all grown up—and she may have one more dream left . . . MISSING CHRISTMAS * Kate Clayborn It’s all work and no play for two longtime friends-turned-business-partners Kristen and Jasper—until an unexpected kiss turns things personal. Will it mean the end of something, or the beginning? With a major contract in the balance, Christmas around the corner, and a lot of unspoken feelings, it may take an unpredictable blizzard in New England to seal the deal . . .