Bright Young Things discussion

I don't know about others, but I always like to try to read a Christmas/holidays-themed book around December time. I was wondering whether anyone could recommend any Christmas-related books from our time period? So far the ones I have come across are:

Christmas Puddingby Nancy Mitford
Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spiritby P.G. Wodehouse.

What are your favourite BYT Christmas reads?

I enjoyed Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford though I have to say it's not actually that Xmassy.

Here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A few years back we read Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham which I liked very much. Review here....

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Another one by Agatha Christie to add to the list: Hercule Poirot's Christmas

On the subject of Christmas reads, several members are planning to read Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914 by Stanley Weintraub, one of the choices for our World War One theme, during December.

I'm looking forward to that one, but would like to try something more lighthearted too, so it's good to see the suggestions here.

Christmas during the trench warfare of WWI.

by Marc Ferro

In the winter of 1914, after long months of marching, soldiers on both fronts began to dig trenches and the war became a battle of attrition in which ordinary men faced each other across the bombed mud of No Man's Land. The enemy lines were often no more than a few yards away, the soldiers of both sides in equal desperation, surrounded by carnage and horror. Out of this hardship came a shared feeling which was demonstrated in the unofficial armistice of Christmas 1914, when German and English soldiers laid down their weapons for a blessed moment of peace, played football and swapped food.In this book. four international experts look at the story of Christmas 1914 and the evidence that fraternization was far more common than previously accepted. Using new research, the book explores these brief moments of humanity on all fronts and throughout the conflict, and shows them to have been not only prevalent but also vital, long ignored, factor in the war. For the French, defending their home territory, fraternization was the last taboo and until now omitted from the record.Meetings in No Man's Land reveals a story of the Great War that has long been forgotten or lost in censored official reports or officer journals, and brings new light to the harrowing experience of the ordinary soldier's life in the trenches.

Not quite a Christmas one but a New Year one, The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers. Read it during my bell ringing days, though the 9 hour peal in it must have been very slow. From memory and records on peal boards, lot of peals tended to be 3-4 hours. I've only ever rung quarter peals though. : )

Thanks Jill for that suggestion, reminds me of a film Land and Freedom by Ken Loach, when two friends realise that they are fighting each other and have a spot to chit-chat in the middle of a cease fire.

Thanks Jill for that suggestion, reminds me of a film Land and Freedom by Ken Loach, when two friends realise that they are fighting each other and have a spot to chit-chat in the middle of a cease fire.

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote was short and sweet. We read it a few years back, I believe.

Last year we read A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness & a Trove of Letters Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression, which I enjoyed more for the grandson learning about his grandfather, but it was in some ways heartwarming to read about charity in the face of economic hard times. It was very relatable.

I don't usually read Christmas books. I don't know why. I love the holiday, but somehow books don't quite hit the mark for me.

Lori, I have a 'thing' for Christmas books - these are some I've enjoyed, a few from a child's perspective but I think which adults can appreciate, too. Most are of the ye olden Christmas cosy/UK traditions/country house/village type... ;)

Christmas with Miss Read: A Country Christmas, Christmas at Fairacre, Christmas at Thrush Green
Ten Days of Christmas by G.B. Stern
High Rising by Angela Thirkell
A Oxfordshire Christmas Specia (anthology)

Child's perspective:
Christmas with the Savages by Mary Clive
Lanterns Across the Snow by Susan Hill
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden

Some golden age crime fiction:
Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer
An English Murder by Cyril Hare
There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes

And I especially enjoyed this last year...recently published but true Mitford tone, IMO...The Twelve Clues of Christmas

ETA: oh, and can't miss this one!
Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

And, whilst not from our period, the greatest of them all...


A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I love Tolkeins Letters from Father Christmas - my Aunt found a set in an old bookshop shortly after my son was born and we read them every year

Wow, great suggestions everyone - thanks! This list will keep me going for quite a few Christmases to come :-)

Roisin, I loved The Nine Tailors - I read it last year and think it's one of Sayers' best mysteries.

Jennifer M - Truman Capote is a writer whose work I have been wanting to read for ages. A Christmas Memory sounds right up my street.

Miss M, golden age crime fiction is one of my favourite things, and you've just introduced me to some authors I haven't come across yet. Looking forward to trying them out - I particularly like the sound of There Came Both Mist and Snow.

Nigeyb - that's a true Christmas classic. Loved the book and the tv adaption with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge.

Great stuff, Lori! Glad you enjoyed it. I must read some more of her stuff. Interesting suggestions.

Lori wrote: "Nigeyb - that's a true Christmas classic. Loved the book and the tv adaption with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge."


No one beats Alistair Sim's Scrooge for me - and for pure entertainment value The Muppet Christmas Carol is just brilliant.

I love Alistair Sim's Scrooge!

I watched Patrick Stewart doing A Christmas Carol live in a one man show and it was absolutely enthralling.

I did love Alistair Sim though - that is the film I remember from childhood.

I love Stewart as Scrooge. One man show of him... swoon. I only read the book a few years ago and I was surprised how accurate the Mickey Mouse cartoon movie version was to the book. That was how I learned the story as a kid.

Really, can the Muppets do anything wrong? I'm partial to Muppet Treasure Island, myself.

I'm going to move this thread to the "hot books" section. If anyone wants to set up a hot books Christmas read, by all means, go ahead!

I haven't seen The Muppet Christmas Carol. I'll have to find to watch it (in between books of course!)

I'd like to add these two British Library Crime Classics to the Christmas books list (disclaimer: I have not read either - just mentioning as they are set at Christmastime):

Mystery in White by JJ Farjeon
The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay

A Muppets Christmas Carol is a really great film!

I loved Cold Comfort Farm so 'Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm' might be a fun read this Christmas.

I also loved the book we read around last Christmas about the kind gentleman who gave away small sums of money in Depression era America so that local families could find some enjoyment...Ted Gup's - - a secret Gift.

Muppet Christmas Carol wonderful, another is Scrooge played by Alistair Sim another one one Its A Wonderful Life with James Stewart nit a dry eye at home if you wach this Christmas Eve. Books though never read a Christmas one. I am tending as I get older to view Christmas as spiritual time rather than festive so I tend to look at those spiritual text rather than festive, as if a self apprasial of last year and loiking positively to the year yet to come. So no books as a full entitiy but a selection of text, passages and thoughts of others. oops I've seemwd to have gone on a bit.

The Homecoming by Earl Hamner Jr. - this is a superb novel. If you enjoyed Capote's "A Christmas Memory" than you'll like this too.

Just read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever which was fun and funny. Last year I read (than watched) Miracle on 34th Street. This is a classic - absolutely my favorite Christmas movie...well, I love the Alistair Sim "A Christmas Carol" and "White Christmas." However, reading "Miracle" was a treat.

It struck me just now that the next BYT nominations will be for December 2015. Can you believe it?

Anyway, with that in mind, perhaps a Xmas book would be fun?

I am still keen to read some Angela Thirkell and perhaps it's time to go with Miss M's recommendation...

Miss M wrote: "If you're looking for something 'period' that's Christmas-y, you might want to give Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell a try...."



Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell

Originally published in the 1930s and 1940s and never before collected, these stories by the inimitable Angela Thirkell relate merry scenes of a trip to the pantomime, escapades on ice, a Christmas Day of gifts gone wrong, and an electrifying afternoon for Laura Morland and friends at Low Rising, not to mention the chatter of the arty set at a London private view. Charming, irreverent and full of mischievous humour, they offer the utmost entertainment in any season of the year.

Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell does indeed look like a wonderful Christmas read.

What do fellow BYTers think?

Sounds like fun to me. Is it easy to get hold of?

Judy wrote: "Sounds like fun to me. Is it easy to get hold of?"

A lot of her books were recently reissued by Virago, including Christmas at High Rising. It's on Amazon in both paperback and kindle. Not sure about US availability but here in the UK it would be v easy to acquire.

One of her other books might make for a better group read but the Xmas ties in appeals.

EDIT: Her books look to be readily available in the US too...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...+

I think I mentioned the Thirkell stories when I first got them...I do need to revise the recommendation and mention that only the first two stories in the collection are Christmas-related. Sorry!

^ Thanks Miss M. Is it any good? To what extent do you think it would be a good group read? Would there be some interesting discussion points?

And is it actually Christmassy? Originally you said...

Miss M wrote: "If you're looking for something 'period' that's Christmas-y, you might want to give Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell a try"

Does that still hold good? And, re your later comment...

Miss M wrote: "I think I mentioned the Thirkell stories when I first got them...I do need to revise the recommendation and mention that only the first two stories in the collection are Christmas-related. Sorry!"

How many stories are there in the book? What proportion of the book is Christmassy versus other stuff?

This has been on my TBR list for quite a while. If it was nominated, I would definitely read it!

I've also been wanting to read this one for a while.

@Nigeyb,
There are eight stories all together, one all about Christmas, one about a trip to the pantomime--40/146 pages--and the rest just stories. Very pleasant, light reads, though there are two that I never got to (yet.)
Definitely enjoyable but no, can't really think of discussion points per se.

Thanks Miss M. One to mull.

Pleasant and light could be good over the Xmas season but perhaps not one for a group discussion

Miss M wrote: "@Nigeyb,
There are eight stories all together, one all about Christmas, one about a trip to the pantomime--40/146 pages--and the rest just stories. Very pleasant, light reads, though there are two ..."

Do you need to have read anything else by Angela Thirkell to enjoy these stories?

No, no need to have read any Thirkell previously. The actual novel High Rising also starts off at Christmas but I don't have a copy at home any more to check how much takes place during the holiday...

Another one you could consider is Max Beerbohm' A Christmas Garland. Available as a free download and very, very funny...Edwardian not BYT but if you read Kim...(there's a great parody of Kipling's style, of a couple of toughs roughing up a roof-top burglar, the Airman, aka S. Claus.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chr...

Also, if anybody's looking for new Christmas books, there is a terrific recent anthology out, Round the Christmas Fire: Festive Stories, but only in the UK (thx, Book Depository.) Stories/excerpts from Capote, Cheever, Dickens, S. Gibbons, Grahame, Grossmith, O Henry, MR James, L. Lee, Mitford, Nesbit, Runyon, D. Thomas, S. Townsend, Wharton, Wodehouse.

Miss M wrote: "No, no need to have read any Thirkell previously. The actual novel High Rising also starts off at Christmas but I don't have a copy at home any more to check how much takes place during the holiday..."

I think High Rising could be my nomination for our December 2015 BYT Fiction Group Read - a seasonal element to it AND the first in the series. I know many BYTers insist on reading a series in order.

Thanks for those other nominations too Miss M

Ah, I just saw your new thread. Enjoy!

^ Thanks


In the post above I meant to say recommendation not nomination

Sounds good, Nigeyb.

If anyone fancies a Christmas mystery as a side/hot read, there are a few possibilities.

One of Georgette Heyer's mysteries, Envious Casca, published at Christmas 1939, is being republished under the title 'The Christmas Party' - it's set at a Christmas house party in a contemporary setting. I've just been enjoying listening to one of Heyer's Regency romances so would be interested to read one of her mysteries... but this is one of a series so that might put people off.

There are also several Christmas-themed books in the British Library Crime Classics series - I'll have a look and come back with some of those!

^ Thanks Judy. Sounds good.

Miss M wrote: "No, no need to have read any Thirkell previously. The actual novel High Rising also starts off at Christmas but I don't have a copy at home any more to check how much takes place duri..."

I just downloaded a Christmas Garland and look forward to reading it although I will probably wait until closer to Christmas. I just received the 2nd book in Jane Thynne's series about Nazi Germany and will be reading that next. Thanks for the recommendation though, it sounds enjoyable!

Hope it gives you a laugh, Lynaia. :)
I'm definitely holding off on my Christmas reading for a while, though I have started in on the shopping a bit...

Here as promised are a few suggestions for Christmas crime stories. The British Library Crime Classics has several titles which fit the bill, all from the 1930s:

Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon



The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay



and the short stories anthology

Silent Nights edited by Martin Edwards.



There's also another one due out in November, from Vintage, which is slightly outside our period as it dates from 1949, but sounds like a lot of fun. I don't think there is a Goodreads listing yet for this one, but it's 'Murder for Christmas' by Francis Duncan.

Thanks for mentioning the Duncan book, Judy (of course, not available in the US, but that's par for the course.)
Anyway, just had a look on amazon UK, and was disgusted to see the publishers are re-issuing Envious Casca as "A Christmas Party"...glurrrggg... 0.0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784754684/

Hi Miss M, I mentioned that one yesterday - I'm tempted to read it as I'm just getting into Heyer! But must agree it's a shame the title is being changed!

The British Library also have a lovely Christmas anthology out--I have the e-book but I like it so much I ordered a paper version yesterday.


A Literary Christmas: An Anthology

Judy wrote: "Hi Miss M, I mentioned that one yesterday - I'm tempted to read it as I'm just getting into Heyer! But must agree it's a shame the title is being changed!"

It really is a shame to change the title seventy-five years later, all in the name of marketing.
*grumble, grumble*

That anthology looks lovely, thank you. I'm looking for a new Christmas anthology, so will treat myself and my family. :)

Some books are just nicer to hold in your hand and browse through...(though I do love my kindle.)
The BL's London anthology is also gorgeous--I first borrowed it from my local library but very quickly ordered my own copy.