A BBC Christmas Collection

by Alexander McCall Smith, Rachel Joyce, Ben Crompton

Genres: Christmas, Audiobook, Short Stories

12 pages, Audible Audio

First published December 1, 2022

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Rhys Causon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only got about half way through this collection before giving up on it. And only fully listened to a small handful of the chapters then.

The story of the Nativity was a good adaptation of the story and the story that followed a Dad learning more about his family was good (for what it was). That’s why I’ve actually given a rating. But if you can find those two things on their own listen to them like that instead.

[Trudy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I typically don't like reading/listening to a series of unrelated short stories. I thought Christmas stories might be different. I did not enjoy most of these stories. Some were nice. I won't do this again.

[Lin Harink · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining collection of Christmas tales.
Some classics, some modern, something for everyone.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of short stories

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some I skipped. However, I loved the Alexander McCall Smith ones. My favorite was the Stephen Fry one about the Magi's camel sending letters to the Holy Family's Donkey.

[Thia Reads A Lot]

DNFed on December 3rd, 2024 (12/30 stories)

I liked “The Christmas Present” (a father turns back into an 11-year-old boy for a week and bonds with his family in new ways), but the rest of the stories were very predictable, almost cliché, sometimes plotless, mostly boring. “Christmas by the Lake” was a fine radio drama. Alexander McCall Smith was overly represented with 9 stories (I read 5, one of which sneered at poutine). The four stories grouped as “Christmas Compass” had nothing in common except being named after cardinal directions (“West” was incomprehensible to me). I DNFed “A time to Dance”, which was a retelling of the birth of Jesus, and decided not to torture myself further.

Christmas by the Lake - Rachel Joyce: 2*
Motordrome - Alexander McCall Smith: 2*
The Revenge, or Otherwise, of Herbie Bontemps - Alexander McCall Smith: 1*
How to Escape in Gaelic - Alexander McCall Smith: 2*
The Colourful Life of Cousin Grace - Alexander McCall Smith: 2*
Good President Wenceslas - Alexander McCall Smith: 2*
The Christmas Present - Ben Crompton: 3*
North - Malachy Tallack: 2*
South - Stella Duffy: 2*
East - Ruth Thomas: 2*
West - Mike McCormack: 1*
A Time to Dance - Lucy Gannon: DNF