Simple Pleasures for the Holidays: A Treasury of Stories and Suggestions for Creating Meaningful Celebrations

by Susannah Seton

According to the Trends Research Institute, simplicity will be the social movement of the next ten years. Sure to benefit from this is the holiday season, which is more stressful than satisfying for many people. In her fourth Simple Pleasures book, author Susannah Seton shows how to find true satisfaction in the holidays by making them less expensive, less frantic, and more meaningful. Simple Pleasures for the Holidays takes an expansive approach, covering Halloween, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Hanukkah, the Mexican Day of the Dead, and Irish and Islamic holidays. The premise is that shared experience is what people value most, and the book itself a collage of inspirational stories from people around the world along with recipes, crafts, and suggestions for communal fun embodies this.

Genres: Inspirational, Holiday, Lifestyle, Christmas, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1998

Reviews

[Theresa Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, great ideas. I love it! I want to own it!

[Christy Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for years and pick it up, like other books related to various time of the year, on a somewhat yearly basis. Simple Pleasures covers the Halloween thru Chinese New Year period of the calendar, roughly, but also includes a section for Id al-Fitr, which obviously rotates around the whole calendar, and for birthdays so it has some applicability year-round. Perhaps it was the way I was raised by an elementary school teacher with an emphasis on marking and celebrating each month's assorted holidays, but I find comfort in reflecting on the various days and seasons that mark our living. There is both familiarity and rootedness that comes with pausing to reflect on and honor the gifts of different moments. In particular, I like the personal stories and snippets of ideas that one can incorporate into their own living for enhancing enjoyment or increasing reflection or simply having fun. Whether it is magazine snippets I've collected over the years or books such as Simple Pleasures, I value the threads of narrative of what is important to people in their quest to create meaning in their lives and hold on to memory.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am only slightly embarrassed that the QVC Christmas in July sale got me excited about the holiday months before most sane people. While I was at the library, I came across this fast read. I read it cover to cover even reading holidays that I don't celebrate and still found ideas that I could incorporate into traditions for our family. I liked the history behind holidays that I'd heard of but never gave much thought to such as Guy Fawkes Day, 'Id al-Fitr and Kwanzaa. I am going with friends for my first ever Mexican Day of the Dead and now have a better appreciation of what the holiday is about. There are several recipes and stories of how different people celebrate each holiday which personalized the book and made it a thoroughly enjoyable read. The book starts out with "If you picked up this book, chances are you are looking for ways to bring more meaning and less hype, more heart and less materialism, into the ways you celebrate the special days of your life." It was a great reminder and getting back to the basics of the reasons we celebrate these special events.

[Little · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a lot that was new or helpful. You probably already know what skills you have to make special homemade gifts. I recommend checking out a book specifically related to those skills (woodworking ideas, knitting ideas, baking ideas, whatever). Most of the gifts Seton suggests don't require special skills and are- how to put this nicely?- cheap. Not just "inexpensive," which might be a virtue, but inexpensive in a way that says, "I didn't want to spend money on your gift, so I made you this thing instead."
You probably already have family traditions for most of the holidays you're interested in celebrating, or if not, you could glean many of the ones in this book from popular culture.

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pull out this book every year and just kind of glance through it. This year, I took the time to really read it and it just feels so dated an out of touch now. As it was written in 1998, there are just too many things that are not going to work now. For instance, when making suggestions for crafts, etc. there is always a telephone number or an address to send away for a catalog for a few bucks. This kind of stuff just doesn't happen these days. The little tricks are outdated and some of the recipes just have not stood the test of time. So, as much as I hate to do it, I think this book will go in the Goodwill pile. TIme to move into this decade and embrace some new ideas.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got a few neat ideas on ways to observe (decorations ,recipes, rituals) various holidays. And a couple of the stories people share are really touching.