Too early for Christmas and Christmas books? Never! I love Christmas and everything that takes me there in the pages of a Christmas book is just great by me.
I know, people will be shouting ‘No! It’s too soon!’ but let me tell you why Christmas books, all year round make me happy.
It’s like an escape through the back of the wardrobe to Narnia, a winter wonderland. I want to open a book that will whisk me off to a place that makes me feel happy and where I know, at the end nothing bad will happen.
Let’s look at the ingredients.
There’s usually snow. Snow changes our daily life in this country. It makes everyday life more difficult. So, people have to adjust. And in that adjustment people find themselves out of their comfort zone, doing things they wouldn’t usually do, talking to people they haven’t met before, helping others, making new friends. There is a spirit of camaraderie that comes out when it snows. And then of course, there is the joy of a snow day, when the schools close and you get a day, like a present, given to you to spend outside, just for fun!! It’s like a pause in everyday life to remind us to remember the fun of snowball fights and sledging and snowman building.
I love the silence that snow brings. Like a blanket over the world as it slowly falls, forcing us to slow down, change the routine, take time to spend with loved one.
And then there’s the food! I love everything about Christmas dinner, from the moment the stock starts to simmer on the stove early on Christmas morning, heralding the fact that there will be a feast to come later in the day as the smell slowly curls it way up the staircase as the house starts to wake.
I love the way the food brings people together. My brother and I prepare the veggies in the morning, listening to Radio 2 and it’s a time we often talk about our Dad who is no longer with us. It’s a really lovely time we spend together whilst other walk the dogs, get the fires lit, and wait in anticipation for mid morning bucks fizz and present opening.
There is a generosity of spirit about a pile of hot, spicy mince pies, warm flaking buttery sausage rolls at a party, and sweet, milk chocolates hanging from the branches of the Christmas tree. It’s a time when people want to come together to eat and drink and celebrate; friendship as parties go out in town for meals and drinks wearing sparkling outfits and Christmas jumpers. An employer thanking his staff with bottles of bubbles and bowls of crisps, the school canteen eating Christmas dinner together. It’s a time to say thank you, I love you, we’re in this together. Bridges are built, rifts settled, families reunited. It’s about bringing a smile to people’s faces, letting them know they are appreciated, loved, a team mate and loyalty.
Christmas stories celebrate tradition, looking back at the past and creating new ones. Remembering those that have been and aren’t there with us any more and new traditions created to pass on to future generations. It’s a celebration of family and remembering loved one. I love putting the decorations on the Christmas tree, it reminds me of times past, when the children were small and bringing home decorations from school. And decorations from countries we’ve visited, the Amsterdam windmill, the glass Santa from our time in Galway, even a piece of gold sprayed volcanic rock from Iceland. Every ornament is a memory from the past that I’m passing on to the future. There are stories in each of the ornaments and I love the time this tradition gives me to remember them.
The lights. I love the warmth that lights at Christmas time bring. Fires, candles, fairy lights. They bring a sense of peace and tranquility. A lowering of lights, an orange glow makes us feel warm, like being wrapped up in hug and happy. And it’s a holiday time, a break from the everyday routine.
All the ingredients in a Christmas book are about celebrating the good things in life; love, friendship, family, generosity and fun. And most of all they’re about hope. And isn’t that what we all want in life, no matter what we’ve gone through in the last year, often situations that readers can relate to, rolling with the punches that life can hurl at us, loss of a loved one, a separation, financial worries, job concerns, health worries….what we all want is hope. And in a Christmas story that comes at the end, in a happy ending, and the hope that the new year will wipe the slate clean and bring a better year next year, a new start, a fresh beginning. Finding love when we least expected to, happiness, contentment….isn’t that what we all want to find in our Christmas stocking? So yes, a Christmas book will always have all year round appeal to me, because it’s a book that celebrates love, takes me to a happy place and let’s me know that there’s always hope just around the corner.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens celebrates Scrooge finally seeing the good in his life, and a new beginning on Christmas day with a big turkey to celebrate! And who doesn’t want to be enjoying the snowy fun with Jo and Laurie in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women? Or embracing the feeling of hope in Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies. Personally, I loved spending time in Rosemunde Pilcher’s A Winter Solstice in that upstairs living room, with the snow falling outside, where friendships are made and love grows. And even more up to date Milly Johnson’s I wish it could be Christmas everyday, a tale of friendships, love and a sprinkling of magic. Jenny Colgan’s Christmas at the Island Hotel, Rosin Meany’s It’s That Time of Year, Sophie Cousens’ This Time Next Year and Sophie Kinsella’s Christmas Shopaholic. These books are escapism, full of hope and love. You step through the back of the wardrobe to a place that is going to make you smile. They are my happy place, whatever time of the year.
And by the way, if you’ve never watched Christmas in July on Hallmark Channel, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Christmas stories have always been about leaving you with a smile on your face and that can’t be a bad thing at any time of the year.
(c) Jo Thomas
About Countdown to Christmas:
Chloë can’t wait for Christmas . . . to be over!
Her son Ruben is staying with his dad this year and Chloe is planning to ignore the holidays all together. Her only nod to the season is the advent calendar Ruben left her, to help count down the days till he’s home again.
ut then, a voicemail from Berry and Brandy, Heir Hunters, changes everything…
In Québec, Canada, there’s a plot of land Chloë may be entitled to. Surely, it’s a scam. Or could it be just the escape she needs right now? They’re offering to pay for her flights . . . and Ruben’s latest note in the advent calendar tells her to ‘say yes!’ So with 22 days until Christmas, Chloë finds herself on a plane to Canada.
And suddenly, her new countdown to Christmas involves a log cabin in the middle of a snowy forest, a community that’s worried for its future, a gruff lumberjack who gives her butterflies and a lot of pancakes with maple syrup . . .
This Christmas is full of surprises!
Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas is published by Penguin (£8.99).
Order your copy online here.
