A Novel Way to Celebrate the Holidays

Wishing You a Merry Literary Holiday Season

Each year, I renew my acquaintance with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Not only is it a well-written classic, but it also served as the blueprint of our current notion of Christmas. It truly shaped the culture when it was published, and the overall message still resonates with people today: It’s never too late to change.

As an avid lover of books, I love to incorporate literary traditions into my merry-making at the holidays. Here are a few novel (pun intended) ways for bookworms everywhere to enjoy the season with a literary spin:

Host a Blind Date with a Book gift exchange.

Instead of Santa being secret, why not flip the script and make the gift the real secret surprise? Simply wrap a book in brown paper, and write in marker on the wrapping a very basic description of the contents of the book without giving away the title or author. Guests can bring a wrapped book and participate in a gift exchange where they choose their book based only on the description on the cover. (This is also a great party to host for Valentine’s Day.)

You could write your description like a Tinder profile just for a laugh or simply list what kind of reader this book might prefer. For instance, my own book Left on Main might say:

Charming southern story seeks reader who enjoys banter, romance, picnics, strong friendships, and Taco Tuesdays

Enjoy the 12 books of Christmas.

This tradition is wonderful! Many of us with children use an advent calendar with small treats as a part of our celebration. Instead of candy or small prizes, we can wrap up 12 books to countdown to the holiday. This is a great way to build a home library and get children excited about reading!

The books don’t have to be new or even expensive. None of that matters. What matters is that children can add to their home library with new titles- and the adults in the home can treat themselves to new books, too. If 12 books seems a bit out of your price range for the holiday season, consider alternating whose day it is to receive a book for all 12 days.

Find a literary gift for our favorite bookworm.

When looking for gifts for the bookworms in our lives, we don’t actually have to think only of books. We can also look for scarves with literary quotes, book-themed candles, upcycled book purses, interesting bookmarks, book lights, or even mugs with literary quotes.

There are so many options for gifts that celebrate a love of literature! Etsy can be a great place to look for literary gifts, and our local bookshops may also have a selection of non-reading gifts for book lovers. Of course, throwing in a book can’t hurt, but there are so many other ways to celebrate a love of reading.

We can purchase or gift a book club subscription box.

Subscription boxes are among my favorite things! It’s a gift that keeps on giving year-round. There are tons of book club subscriptions on the market — some for general literary tastes and some that are genre-specific. Choose the one that best suits your particular bookworm, and go for it!

We can read out loud.

A Christmas Carol is a favorite of mine, and it can be read aloud with our families and perhaps followed up with one of the many movie versions. It’s a short book that can be read aloud or even listened to as an audiobook- perhaps on our way to see holiday lights. As to which movie adaptation we select, there are options for children such as Mickey’s Christmas Carol and The Muppet Christmas Carol to the ones strictly for adults.

For other family-friendly choices, we can turn to Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Other choices include The Nutcracker and The Velveteen Rabbit. Mark Twain’s A Letter from Santa Claus can even be read in conjunction with the very real Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus newspaper story. Clement Moore’s Twas the Night Before Christmas is another classic that’s sure to please our families. (Many of these also have a movie, TV special, or theatrical adaptation.)

We can make our gift buying simple with this slogan: “Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.”

This can simplify our gift-giving and keep us from overdoing gifts at the holidays and stretching our budgets beyond what we can afford. Choosing the “something to read” can be as simple as passing along a favorite book we’ve already enjoyed. Simplifying gifts can be a great way to put the holiday emphasis back on time spent together making memories and off the gift part of the occasion.

We can gift a Little Free Library to our communities.

This doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor. Many used books can be purchased affordably at our local libraries. We can then stock these books so that we encourage reading in the community. We can choose our favorite holiday selections along with the other books that have shaped our lives. A Little Free Library is a great gift for the community!

We can host a holiday-themed book club night.

Make it extra special by having guests bring a traditional holiday dish. The dishes could be traditional only in their families, or it could be a dish that is viewed in the larger holiday tradition (like figgy pudding or fruitcake). Participants can either all read the same book (look for shorter volumes for the busy holiday season) or can read any book and inform the others why they should read it, too. Exchange names for a book-themed gift exchange to add a little extra cheer.

While the holidays we celebrate may be diverse, a love of reading is timeless and can be included in any of our holiday celebrations.

Whether we lean toward a religious, secular, or pagan view of the holidays, we can all unite in a common love of literature and find ways to encourage others not just to read but to talk about what we’re reading.

We can find common ground outside of the arena of politics or current events and discuss what literary themes moved us and which characters we loved or hated, or sometimes recognized in ourselves. We can open ourselves up to a sharing of ideas by sharing our love of the books that have made our lives richer.

Now that’s my idea of a happy holiday!

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