Although I usually focus posts on books for young children, this one features some reads geared for the older set. Those of you who have been friends with Thaniel and me for a while have likely heard about our family Advent calendar tradition. Well, it’s that time of year once again. My son, Nathan (now 13 years old), is the recipient of the Advent calendar in our home, and I thought you might enjoy hearing about what I prepared for him this season.
In years past, the Advent calendar has pointed Nathan to read daily children’s stories or family stories from our collection of Christmas books throughout the month of December. And of course, one year, I filled the drawers of our wooden Advent calendar with pages of The Innkeeper’s Dog  to read each day before Christmas.
This year, we’re going to take a historical and cultural look at Christmas in classic literature for adults. While I’m not asking Nathan to read all these volumes in their entirety, I am hoping he’ll choose to read at least one of them after he’s had a chance to peruse all the summaries provided.
The drawers of our wooden Advent calendar are filled with brief descriptions of the following examples of Christmas in literature, in no particular order. These titles are all available through Amazon, and many are also in local libraries. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to check out a new Christmas title this year. And I’d love to hear of other seasonal classics that you enjoy in the comments below.





War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
The Dead by James Joyce
Queenie by Alice Munro
A Serious Talk by Raymond Carver (found in Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories)
Ending Up by Kingsley Amis
Christmas by John Betjeman (found in Garlands for Christmas: A Selection of Poetry)
Last Christmas of the War by Primo Levi (found in Moments of Reprieve)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry







The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin
A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd
A Worn Path by Eudora Welty (found in The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty)
The Birds of the Air by Alice Thomas Ellis
Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Old Christmas by Washington Irving
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
Papa Panov’s Special Christmas by Leo Tolstoy
A College Santa Clause by Ralph Henry Barbour
The Oxen by Thomas Hardy