Stories for Christmas and the Festive Season

by Muriel Spark, Alice Munro, Maeve Binchy

The British Library Women Writers series is a curated collection of novels by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women's experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories. The Women Writers Christmas Collection of Short Stories explores the joys and disappointments, pressures and preparations of this time of year from a female perspective. In keeping with the spirit of the series, the stories are plucked from different decades of the twentieth century and penned by familiar as well as forgotten authors writing for both books and popular magazines. The selection includes the festive run-up as well as post-Christmas traditions. From the delightful consequences of decorating the tree by Stella Gibbons, to an interesting encounter set at 30,000 feet on a Christmas Day flight by Muriel Spark, and a pantomime with a twist by Margery Sharpe, these stories are sure to fortify you over the Christmas period.

Genres: Short Stories, Christmas, Fiction, Classics, Anthologies, Holiday, Literary Fiction

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2022

About the author

Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.

Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.

Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas from a woman's point of view is sometimes quite different from those of men and children. Just ask Maeve Binchy and Richmal Crompton, two of the contributors to this collection. Sometimes funny, sometimes romantic, sometimes sweet and old fashioned, this book of holiday themed short stories has a little bit of all of that. I enjoyed it for the most part, just a couple that were off the mark for me. A nice book for this busy time of year. Thank you Antoinette, for tipping me off to this one, and thanks to Kindle for offering it at $3.37.

[Anissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like my reads seasonal at this time of year & decided to take a break from my usual snowy, Christmas crime/mystery stories. This collection by the British Library of women writers was a nice trip.

As with all anthologies, it's a mixed bag of what any one person will like. There were some here that I really enjoyed & made me smile (This Year It Will Be Different, General Impressions of a Christmas Shopping Centre, The Christmas Pageant, Ticket for a Carol Concert, Christmas Bread, Christmas In A Bavarian Village and On Leavin' Notes) and others were well done but not particularly the tone I was looking for. Alice Munro's The Turkey Season was vivid and a very good story and quite an opener for this collection.

I read this through Kindle Unlimited and will read the follow-up anthology Stories for Winter: And Nights by the Fire (also available on Kindle Unlimited.

Recommended when you want short stories between all the holiday preparations and festivities to unwind.

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of Christmas stories written by women. Of the 17 stories, there were only two that I did not enjoy. The rest were all worthy of a read. My favourites were the Maeve Binchy, Richmal Crampton, Barbara Robinson and Stella Gibbons.
Published: 2022.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is very busy at the moment, so reading short stories seems the perfect way to unwind. I will say that anyone expecting Christmas cheer us unlikely to find it in these pages. A lot of the stories were about the women of the vQarious households being out upon, it's purpose is to relate to womens experience. My favourite was The Christmas Present by Richmal Crompton.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting and festive mix of holiday stories by women writers! I adore the British Library Women Writers series so much and I was jumping for joy when I saw this collection of Christmas stories. The perfect addition to my Christmas book collection.

Although I flew through and savored all of the stories (except for the first one...see note below), there are some that stand out as my favorites. These included (in order of preference): The Little Christmas Tree, Tickets for a Carol Concert, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Christmas Bread and Freedom.

It's funny because the stories I was most looking forward to (such as Christmas in a Bavarian Village by Elizabeth von Arnim...one of my favorite authors of all time) were not my favorites. They tended to be either a bit too sad (like EVA's story) or not quite long enough (like E.M. Delafield's General Impressions of a Christmas Shopping Centre).

It's also such a treat to discover new women authors that I haven't read yet and this was one of the main motivations in buying this holiday short story collection.

All in all, they were wonderful and I adore the cover design. I always look forward to Simon Thomas' Introductions (or Afterwards) and he never disappoints with his unique insights. A great addition to any Christmas book collection!

Note: I had to skim through the first story because anything detailed about meat eating is difficult for me to read. Other than that, it was a really enjoyable read!

[Niki (nikilovestoread) · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a terrible collection of short stories. This is easily the worst thing I've read all the way through this year. Normally, I would have dnf'd the book, but, as it's a short story collection by different authors, I kept hoping the next story would be better. I only gave the collection two stars instead of one as a result of the three stories (and only three) that were worth reading. The Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson, Ticket for a Carol Concert by Audrey Burton, and The Christmas Present by Richmal Crompton were easily the standouts in this collection. Sadly, even though I loved these three, I could not recommend a collection where I only loved three out of 17 stories. The collection really suffered by including quite a few stories from the 1980s and 1990s. They were just terrible. Personally, I would rather the publisher kept to republishing early 20th century writing and let the late 20th century writing stay buried and forgotten.

1.5 stars generously rounded up to 2 stars

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very eclectic collection. My favourite story is "Clap Hands;Here Comes Charley"--a wonderful deconstruction of a stage performance of "Peter Pan" with a twist at the end.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly wanted to love this one. However, a part from the handful of iconic names known to middlebrow lovers, the story selection left me puzzled. It’s not a feel good cozy kind of holiday read collection of stories. A few read with nostalgic tones but others were darker. And frankly, the last one didn’t read festively at all. I couldn’t recommend it, sadly. I appreciated Simon Thomas’s forward giving a brief intro to each author and story, however, I am still a bit puzzled at why certain stories were selected. Mainly because of the back blurb’s statement “these stories are sure to fortify you over the Christmas period”. My opinion, as someone looking for fortification over the Christmas period, only some of the stories provided fortification. Others were rather bleakly ended or lacking a strong holiday theme.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! The short stories in this collection very much live up to the British Library Women Writers series’ goal of highlighting the varied and meaningful stories of women. The stories are each quite different from all the others, which was also a lot of fun. My favorites were Ticket for a Carol Concert by Audrey Burton, The Little Christmas Tree by Stella Gibbons, Christmas Bread by Kathleen Norris, On Skating by Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Pantomime by Stella Margetson. (Pantomime is especially sweet!) I also thought Christmas in a Bavarian Village was poignant and quite snarky, which Elizabeth von Arnim can do so well. I’ll definitely revisit this in the future. It was the perfect book to finish on New Year’s Eve because the last two stories are set around this holiday in particular.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd been looking forward to this short story collection for *months*, but in between buying it and reading it, I got burned by the utterly disappointing Marple: Twelve New Mysteries and Six Against the Yard to the point that I was extremely apprehensive about starting it and facing yet another short story anthology disappointment. I also read (somewhere?) that these stories are not all that festive and some are quite dark.

Well. The first story by Alice Munro is indeed quite dark (but not awfully so, like a 6/10) and almost out of step with the others. There's something about it. I wouldn't call it festive. The other stories are much lighter even when dealing with serious issues. But are they festive? Well, some are. Mostly these stories are tied together by the time of the year in which action takes place, but their subject varies. Nonetheless, they are rather short, colourful vignettes and I enjoyed them overall.

My favourites in order of appearance in the book:
The Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson
Christmas Fugue by Muriel Spark
The Little Christmas Tree by Stella Gibbons
The Christmas Present by Richmal Crompton (loved it!)
On Skating by Cornelia Otis Skinner

I didn't hate any, and only a couple towards the end that I thought were a bit weak.

It's great to have my love of short stories reinvigorated by this collection.

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5 Stars**
The Turkey Season by Alice Munro - 2 Stars
This Year Will Be Different by Maeve Binchey - 3.5 Stars
General Impressions of a Christmas Shopping Centre by E. M. Delafield - 3 Stars
The Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson - 4 Stars
Ticket for a Carol Concert by Audrey Burton - 5 Stars
Snow by Olive Wadsley - 2.5 Stars
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Kate Nivison - 4 Stars
Christmas Fugue by Muriel Spark - 3.5 Stars
The Little Christmas Tree by Stella Gibbons - 5 Stars
The Christmas Present by Richmal Crompton - 4 Stars
Christmas Bread by Kathleen Norris - 3.5 Stars
Christmas in a Bavarian Village by Elizabeth von Arnim - 3 Stars
Freedom by Nancy Morrison - 3 Stars
On Skating by Cornelia Otis Skinner - 4.5 Stars
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie by Beryl Bainbridge - 3 Stars
Pantomime by Stella Margetson - 2.5 Stars
On Leavin’ Notes by Alice Childress - 3 Stars

[Lynnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I love the cover of this book! There was a good mix of stories with different moods and I was happy to see a couple published later in the 80s and 90s.
There was only one that I didn't read (The Turkey Season by Alice Munro) as I don't eat turkey at Christmas. I also thought Muriel Spark's Christmas Fugue was odd!

My favourites were:
This Year Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie by Beryl Bainbridge
Ticket For A Carol Concert by Audrey Burton
Christmas Bread by Kathleen Norris

and for amusement
On Skating by Cornelia Otis Skinner
The Christmas Present by Richmal Crompton
On Leavin' Notes by Alice Childress

Overall a good collection.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most short story collections, I loved some of the stories here more than others, though overall these stories were exactly what I was looking g for this holiday season. My favorites were the stories by Audrey Burton, Muriel Spark, Stella Gibbons, Richmal Crompton, and Alice Childress. I can definitely see myself dipping into this one at the holidays for many years to come.

[Beth Bonini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Christmas collection reminds me of one of those chocolate selection boxes that are so popular in the UK: there are a few good ones, more mediocre ones, and a few that no one really wants to eat. (They should have been left out of the box.) The most Christmassy thing about this collection is not just the settings - which feature the Christmas season, as one would expect - but the fact that the emotions set off by the Christmas season are so varied, and run the gamut of joy and wonder without leaving out the loneliness, disappointment and despair part.

Most of the stories feature British mid-century writers and settings - including some well-known names like Muriel Spark, Stella Gibbons and Richmal Crompton. One of my favourite stories was by Maeve Binchy, and it touched on a theme that many women will relate to: the weary burden of having to Do It All at Christmas. I did think that Alice Munro’s story “The Turkey Season,” which opens the collection, didn’t fit in very well, though - despite the literary reputation of its writer. Contributions by E.M Delafield and and Elizabeth von Arnim were definitely flimsy and not up to their authors’ usual standards.

I didn’t love it, honestly, but short stories ended up suiting my short attention span and time limitations during this week of Christmas. There weren’t all that many stories I would be bothered to reread, though. 2.75 stars

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories written by women writers during the 20th century. The latest stories were written in the 1980s but my favourite ones were the earliest ones from the 1920s to 40s. The front of the book has an introduction which briefly runs you through each author/story. I read these as I went along, so I kept a bookmark at the front. Needless to say, I would have preferred these snippets put before each story. The selection is awesome. These are not your usual anthology stories. I've seen the majority of the authors around but not with these selections, and I read a lot of anthologies. Very impressed.

**Spoiler-free synopses.**

1. **The Turkey Season by Alice Munro (1982)** - The narrator reflects on her childhood at age 12 when she worked as a turkey gutter at the local turkey farm. Through vivid recollections of quirky colleagues and nostalgic evenings, the story reaches a peak on Christmas Eve, featuring a new worker who believes he’s God’s gift to women. This tale captures the essence of small-town Canada beautifully—nostalgic, well-written, and atmospheric. (4/5)

2. **This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchey (1995)** - A woman in her late 40s finds herself unexpectedly dreading Christmas. Traditionally the organizer of all festivities, she suddenly stops caring. This wholesome narrative brilliantly explores a woman’s role in her family, laced with just the right amount of snark. (5/5)

3. **General Impressions of a Christmas Shopping Centre by E.M. Delafield (1933)** - A delightful piece of frippery, comprised of text blocks that deliver charming scenes with a punch line. It has an old-fashioned charm that still resonates today. (3/5)

4. **The Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson (1968)** - I was thrilled to see the book originally expanded from this, its original format. It’s a delightful, fun narrative about the six unruly Hardman children who take control of the Christmas Pageant after joining Sunday School. I’m seeking out the book for my next holiday reading. (4/5)

5. **Ticket for a Carol Concert by Audrey Burton (1950)** - This lovely story follows Mrs. Lorimer as she sells the last six tickets to the children’s choir Christmas Carol. Vignettes capture her journey, culminating in a touching conclusion that warms even the hardest of hearts. (4/5)

6. **Snow by Olive Wadsley (1928)** - This charming love story unfolds as John, who struggles to express his feelings, falls for the witty Viola. Determined to spend the Christmas holidays with her, he soon faces surprises, including an ex-lover. Despite my usual aversion to romance, this late-1920s tale stole my heart with its risqué overtones and delightful characters. (4/5)

7. **'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Kate Nivison (1989)** - Told from the perspective of a mouse on Christmas Eve, this narrative features a woman dreaming in her armchair by the tree. A bit of fluff. (2/5)

8. **Christmas Fugue by Muriel Spark (??)** - After living in Australia, Cynthia decides to return to England, only to meet a pilot named Tom on her flight back on Christmas Day. What starts as a simple story of an affair quickly takes a dark turn, leaving readers buzzing with intrigue. Spark remains one of my favourite authors. (4/5)

9. **The Little Christmas Tree by Stella Gibbons (??)** - An unwed woman novelist retreats from London to a quaint cottage, desiring solitude for Christmas. However, a knock on the door on Christmas Day reveals the pangs of loneliness she’s been avoiding. This tender story beautifully captures the complexities of solitary life in the 1920s. (4/5)

10. **The Christmas Present by Richmal Crompton (1922)** - This short story reveals a family secret passed from mother to daughter about a lifesaver wrapped in tradition, intended for married women at the age of 35 during Christmas. It's charming, if a bit old-fashioned. (3/5)

11. **Christmas Bread by Kathleen Norris (1924)** - In this longer tale, we follow a widowed surgeon and her young daughter as they navigate memories that resurface while preparing for a Christmas rummage sale. It's a nostalgic and emotional story, expertly crafted without slipping into sentimentality. I would read more by this author. (4/5)

12. **Christmas in a Bavarian Village by Elizabeth von Armin (1937)** - This brief piece tried to capture the essence of a Christian Christmas during WWII. (2/5)

13. **Freedom by Nancy Morrison (1928)** - A lighthearted love story where a woman must break free to marry the man she loves. (2/5)

14. **On Skating by Cornelia Otis Skinner (1936)** - An uncoordinated narrator recounts the supposedly humorous failures of skating lessons with her equally clumsy friend. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. (0/5)

15. **Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie by Beryl Bainbridge (1985)** - This gripping story revolves around a dysfunctional family attending a performance of Peter Pan for Christmas. Told from the grandfather’s perspective, it takes a dark turn that I found captivating. (4/5)

16. **The Pantomime by Stella Margetson (1943)** - A charming coming-of-age story about Joe, who lives with his domineering mother. His volunteer work with the army pantomime on New Year's Eve leads to an unexpected crush on the married director. Sweet and wholesome. (4/5)

17. **On Leavin' Notes by Alice Childress (1956)** - This brief piece features a black (uses dialect) maid expressing her New Year’s Resolution. It’s clever and amusing. (4/5)

[Terzah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of "vintage" Christmas stories by famous female authors. They were all gems, and some of them I'd read before ("The Turkey Season" by Alice Munro and "The Christmas Pageant" by Barbara Robinson), but my favorite was a new one to me, "The Little Christmas Tree" by Stella Gibbons. Whether you like your Christmas fiction dark or light, you'll find something here.

[Ester Laiho · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun reading for this time of year without being brain rot content

[Sipz and Storiez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of Christmas stories written by women for women. I loved this book and I am so happy that I picked it up at The British Library. There were some terrific stories in this collection from classic authors like Barbara Robinson, Stella Gibbons, Elizabeth Von Arnim and Muriel Spark. My favorites were "This Year It Will Be Different" by Maeve Binchy about a overworked wife and mother who refuses to cook or decorate for Christmas and "The Little Christmas Tree," by Stella Gibbons about an independent woman who decides to escape the city for Christmas and ends up entertaining a group of runaway children. Great collection and one that I know I will reread year after year. I loved it!

[Zoe Radley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a magical book, filled with Christmas cheer some merry, some poignant and a lot filled with love. There are memories of happier times from when adults themselves were kids, there is kindness and also let’s not forget the mothers who are the force behind the organisation and that we should never take them for granted or even be used to the fact that we leave them to do everything. Christmas is a time for family but it’s also about giving. Each of these stories are wonderful and enchanting. A superb collection to read anytime but most especially around Christmas.

[Julia Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Christmas cracker of a book from British Library Women's Writers. Alison Moss and Simon Thomas have curated a gem of an anthology. Not a single dud from a variety of authors. Perfect.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect holiday season collection of short stories. My favourite has to be ‘Ticket for a Carol Concert’ by Audrey Burton (1950) 🎄

[Alex Sarll]

I went into this hoping for variety to match the feast of the Penguin anthology of Christmas stories I read last year; what I mostly got was a reminder of why so many people have written off the short story altogether. Now, given the British Library runs separate imprints for crime and weird fiction, let's forgive the absence of Bowens, Christie, Sayers, Allingham; nobody wants to kick off an academic turf war in the season of goodwill. But even so... Dorothy Parker wrote a Christmas story, and Tove Jansson; Angela Carter's writing was suffused with the delicious excess of the season even when she wasn't ostensibly writing about it. These are big names, granted, and ideally a BL anthology goes a bit deeper into the archives. But it's not like there aren't big names here, and more recent ones at that - it's just that they're the type whose quotidian stuff is invariably beloved of broadsheet reviewers, but where I can't even make it through the latest encomium without feeling my eyelids drooping. So I guess if nothing else, reading this at least confirmed I wasn't being unfair in my estimate of Alice Munro or Maeve Binchy. Even someone like Richmal Crompton, who must have written a dozen brilliant Christmas stories about William Brown alone*, is instead represented by a pat little thing about tactical deafness in marriage, which I suspect was a hack joke even 101 years ago. Yes, there are stories about rediscovering the real meaning of Christmas, but for the most part they're not even the soppiness I can forgive at this time of year, much less the old, strange magic of deep winter, so much as a sort of horrible bourgeois chiding of people for not being the exactly appropriate degree of neighbourly, forgiving or what-have-you. Honourable exceptions include the family reunion in Kathleen Norris' Christmas Bread, and Elizabeth von Arnim's haunted Christmas In A Bavarian Village.

*In all of which, obviously, he is aged 11 that Christmas.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy, bittersweet, funny, tragic, nostalgic…this collection covers about every emotion that surrounds that holidays with stories written by a cadre of well- and lesser-known authors. I appreciated aspects of all of the stories but there are some real standouts: A mother decides to quiet quit Christmas, two unauthentic young women attempt to learn ice skating, an older man tries to get up the nerve to ask a woman to marry him, and more.

Each story is fairly short, making these perfect for the hectic days around Christmas.

[Tone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of short stories is part of the series called The British Library Women Writers. In this volume all the stories take place shortly before, during or after Christmas, and are told from women's point of view.
For me it was a disappointing read. I found this a bit surprising as there are several well-known names among the authors. Perhaps the stories presented in this collection are not their best work. It could also be that they are novelists first, and don't quite master the short story format.
The collection includes only one outstanding short story, which I had read before. Not surprisingly it's the one written by Alice Munro (The Turkey Season). There is really a lot to learn from Munro about how a short story should be composed.
In my opinion, the other stories are not memorable. Most of them lack the required twist at the end, and some are dated or too sentimental or both.
In other words, this is not a Christmas must-read.

[Maggie Timlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few stories in this mix that I really enjoyed and other that suited me less.

I loved the Richmal Crompton story The Gift.

The quiet exhaustion of the Mum in the Meave Binchey story felt very recognisable though I wish it had ended differently.

The Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson was probably my favourite though. It's always entertaining to read about awfully behaved children especially at Christmas time.

The final short story, less than a page really, made me want to find more work by Alice Childress.

There was a lot to enjoy in this collection and finding out how preparations for Christmas were undertaken in the different periods the stories were written in was an extra fun facet to the anthology.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The threads binding the short stories in this collection are fairly loose - women writers, the Christmas season, and written during the 20th century. Some stories I loved, others were forgettable, and one I wish I could forget. Alice Munro’s The Turkey Season made me glad we’re having veggie quiche for our holiday dinner.

Barbara Robinson’s The Christmas Pageant was hilarious, I enjoyed Stella Gibbons’ The Little Christmas Tree, Kathleen Norris’ Christmas Bread made me a little teary-eyed, and Richmal Crompton’s Christmas Present encouraged me to put one of her novels on my to-read list.

[Kate MacRitchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be warned - these Christmas stories aren't of the festive, cheery variety!

I'm glad I read this collection in February rather than in the run up to Christmas, because the gloomy tone of some the stories put me in an anxious frame of mind. Probably because of the truth - that for many women, Christmas is a time of stress, anxiety, and thwarted hope.

The stories by Muriel Spark, Beryl Bainbridge, and Alice Munro stood out amongst the rest. These writers have truly mastered the lithe impact of the short story!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. A series of short stories that explore the good, the bad and the ugly of Christmastime, all from a female perspective. Beware, they are not all jolly and bright. In fact, a couple are fairly dark. My favorite was Christmas Bread by Kathleen Norris. I also enjoyed re-reading The Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson. In the hectic week of Christmas, short stories are great to have at hand to dip in and out of as time permits. This was an interesting collection.

[Reading Fury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful! I dipped in and out, reading one story at a time. Some are sentimental for the season, some outright hilarious. Some are quite sad, and yet truthful, painfully truthful, in showing us what true spiritual love could look like if we cared to pay attention. Overall, great reading for the holiday.

[LAURA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy-reading, gorgeous stories that transported me to other times and places. These are great examples of the short story form. I loved all but two of the short stories in the collection and now have a new list of authors I’d like to explore.