Reviews

The Ultimate Christmas Library: 100+ Authors, 200 Novels, Novellas, Stories, Poems and Carols by Florence L. Barclay, Lope de Vega, Henry Van Dyke, Robert Browning, William Makepeace Thackeray, Santa Claus, Ellis Parker Butler, Rose Terry Cooke, John Milton, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, José María de Pereda, L.M. Montgomery, Zona Gale, Margery Williams Bianco, Alice Hale Burnett, Robert Burns, George Augustus Sala, Viktor Rydberg, Francis Pharcellus Church, M.R. James, Nahum Tate, Katharine Lee Bates, Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing, O. Henry, Berthold Auerbach, Algernon Blackwood, Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jacob Grimm, Mrs. Molesworth, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas, Julia Schayer, Andy Adams, John Masefield, H.W. Collingwood, Charles E. Carryl, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, L. Frank Baum, Washington Irving, Robert E. Howard, Stephen Leacock, Willa Cather, George A. Baker, Elizabeth Anderson, Meredith Nicholson, Eugene Field, James Whitcomb Riley, M.E.S., Louisa May Alcott, Robert Frost, Jacob A. Riis, A.A. Milne, George Robert Sims, Mark Twain, Edward Payson Roe, Thomas Hardy, John Greenleaf Whittier, Thomas Hill, W.H. Davies, Thomas Nelson Page, Hans Christian Andersen, Theodore Parker, John Strange Winter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Evaleen Stein, Thomas Chatterton, William Shakespeare, Cecil Frances Alexander, Martha Finley, Robert Ingersoll, William Dean Howells, Elia W. Peattie, Hesba Stretton, Kenneth Grahame, G.K. Chesterton, Richmal Crompton, Sara Teasdale, John Bowring, John Kendrick Bangs, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Ernest Vincent Wright, Ralph Henry Barbour, Bret Harte, Booth Tarkington, Olive Thorne Miller, William John Locke, H.P. Lovecraft, Don Marquis, Adelaide Anne Procter, Arthur Conan Doyle, Saki, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Amy Ella Blanchard, Rudyard Kipling, Mother Goose, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Leo Tolstoy, Margaret Elizabeth Sangster, Wilhelm Grimm, Alice Duer Miller, W.H. Corning, Hezekiah Butterworth, Lewis Carroll, Laura Lee Hope, S. Weir Mitchell, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, Annie Roe Carr

maplessence's review against another edition

With a rare (for me!) bit of forethought I picked this Kindle up in August when it was free.

Looks like it has all the titles I need for Christmas Reads with the Retro Reads group - & I may read a couple of extras!

Christmas by Injunction by [a:O. Henry|8993|O. Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1183238892p2/8993.jpg]
Looked like this tale would be sweet & sentimental, but Henry put his own twist on it! Clever writing. 3★

The Set of Poe by [a:George Ade|386495|George Ade|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1441898618p2/386495.jpg] The collection is alphabetical & this was the first one. A little predictable but still very sweet & charming. 4★

The Dead by [a:James Joyce|5144|James Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615569948p2/5144.jpg] I have never read any James Joyce and this was recommended as one of his most accessible pieces of writing. In Retro Reads, Tadiana has linked to some studies for all of the symbolism. I didn't notice any of the symbolism, but still found this a very engaging story and the conclusion quite shattered me. I will reread this story looking for more depth. 5★

The Romance of the Christmas Card by [a:Kate Douglas Wiggin|8105|Kate Douglas Wiggin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201031156p2/8105.jpg] Isn't this cover [bc:The Romance of a Christmas Card|7165537|The Romance of a Christmas Card|Kate Douglas Wiggin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348707757l/7165537._SY75_.jpg|1817946] charming and wholesome and Oh So Christmassy? What a lovely satisfying read this was, even though the villagers' values are from a different galaxy than mine. I was totally enchanted, although I do feel that David

Spoiler

was luckier than he deserved.

I'm going to go with the feels and give this one 5★!

I'm sure I can sneak in a [a:Louisa May Alcott|1315|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200326665p2/1315.jpg] before Christmas as well!

Which I did.

A Country Christmas by [a:Louisa May Alcott|1315|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200326665p2/1315.jpg] I liked the letter at the start and some of descriptions were beautiful and all, but this didn't totally click for me. Maybe because I found The Romance of the Christmas Card so perfect - maybe it is one too many of these stories with old values - Louisa May Alcott certainly isn't subtle! 3★

December 2022. We are having our annual Christmas Short Story read over at Retro Reads. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22366081-december-2022---christmas-short-stories Do come and join us!