What to Read Next (No. 204): a few more Christmasy reads

Each year, I try to read at least one book that homes in on the Christmas season. In this edition, I’ll not only cover the book I read this year, but also two from last year that I never mentioned. They’re all very different in tone and subject matter, so no matter your tastes, I think at least one of ‘em will fit the bill. (If not, just read A Christmas Carol.)

Do you have any go-to topics or authors you read during the Christmas holiday and what’s (hopefully) a nice long break? I’d love to hear!

Before jumping in, I want to quickly mention another bookish newsletter to follow: SoNovelicious. Gayla’s free newsletter is a fun mix of links, short reviews, and other bookish goodies. Her tone is always genuinely nice and she just loves sharing books with her readers. Give it a whirl. Her recent series on reading journals and tracking is an utter delight for book nerds.

Okay, let’s do this.

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Marley by Jon Clinch

Published: 2019 | Pages: 288

When I re-read A Christmas Carol this year (as I do most years), I tried to detach myself from all the silly cultural adaptations of it. If I didn’t know anything about the plot or how it’s been interpreted for the last 175+ years, what would I think?

What stood out this time around was just how dark the story is. It’s basically a very creepy ghost story that happens to have a nice ending. Scrooge is downright evil, the spirits are all introduced in rather frightful scenes, and until the end, it’s a bit gloomier than I remembered.

Jon Clinch leans into that dark side in this “prequel” to A Christmas Carol. How did Marley and Scrooge meet? How did they make their money? Why were they such frigid humans?

Clinch explores those questions while also introducing us to Fan (Scrooge’s sister), Belle (Scrooge’s love interest), and, of course, all of London’s seedy underbelly.

There’s not a whole lot of light found in these pages, to be honest, but I didn’t mind, especially since we know how Scrooge’s story ultimately unfolds. More than anything else, I was entranced by Clinch’s writing and storytelling. It’s just Dickensian enough to bring you back to the middle of the 19th century, but unique enough to be memorable as its own work.

Overall I really enjoyed this one.

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A Link for Your Weekend

“How Leisure Time Became Work” — Our hobbies are no longer done purely for amateur pleasure. They’re pursued with mastery, or capital gain, in mind. There’s some purpose beyond innocent enjoyment. Which means we’ve lost something essential about our leisure time.

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The Adults by Caroline Hulse

Published: 2018 | Pages: 368

Nobody’s family is perfect. And boy do the holidays remind us of that. Hulse dives straight into that awkwardness in this funny, sometimes cringe-y, and ultimately heart-warming story about ex-partners (+ new partners) doing Christmas together.

Claire and Matt desperately want to provide a normal Christmas for their daughter, Scarlett. They decide to go to Happy Forest, a family resort, and then for some reason conclude that it’s okay for the new boyfriend and new girlfriend to come along.

Claire brings Patrick, an Ironman-in-training while Matt brings Alex, a carefree, polar-opposite-of-Claire type. With Scarlett around, they’re all mostly on their best behavior . . . at least to start.

Sure, there’s some excess wine at night and plenty of snarky comments thrown around, but nobody really gets into trouble until the climactic final quarter of the story (which involves a funny mystery that you’ll have a hard time solving).

It’s not perfect, but The Adults is a fun and funny novel that’s sure to get you into the holiday spirit. If you’re not into family drama/cringe, you should probably stay away, but I enjoyed it well enough.

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Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

Published: 1938 | Pages: 256

In a story that’s awfully reminiscent of Knives Out, an old patriarch is gruesomely murdered on Christmas Eve, right after gathering his family for an unexpected holiday reunion. Before you can say “Whodunit?” Poirot is on the scene and taking it all in.

There’s secret children, surprising inheritances, and a whole web of tangled identities that only our favorite Belgian detective can untangle.

Of all the Poirot stories I’ve read, this one was perhaps the least specifically memorable. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing—reading it during the Christmas break last year, with family and friends around, was a fun bit of entertainment and escape.

Poirot is always a quick read, and this Christmas tale is no different. If you need a mystery for your holidays, look no further.

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Thanks so much for reading and subscribing! I sure appreciate the time and inbox space.

-Jeremy