Season's readings
Guardian books writers and readers pick their favourite Christmassy books
Season's readings: Readers' favourite Christmas books
As part of our seasonal series, we asked you to nominate your favourite Yuletide reads, and this is the books blog's Christmas top of the pops
Season's readings: Three stories by Saki
Nell Boase: His bracingly nasty takes on Edwardian Christmases remain all too recognisable
Season's reading: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Michelle Pauli: Its self-improving message may sound irritatingly pious, but in Jo there's also a pioneering spirit to love
Season's reading: I Sing of a Maiden
Carol Rumens: Set to unforgettable music by Benjamin Britten, this strangely erotic Nativity is even better on the page
Season's readings: Secunda Pastorum, from the Towneley Cycle of miracle plays
Claire Armitstead: With a stolen sheep standing in for the baby Jesus, this is a distinctly subversive take on the Nativity
Season's readings: Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Paul Laity: The team whose mesmeric storytelling powers leave children begging for endless rehearsals finds room for Santa. Read and repeat. And repeat
Season's readings: 'The Oxen' by Thomas Hardy
Adam Newey: Thomas Hardy looks back on the Christmas beliefs of childhood in 'The Oxen'
Season's readings: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Lindesay Irvine: What could be more seasonal than a middle-class mother struggling to drag her disintegrating family together for 'one last Christmas'?
Season's readings: Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
David Barnett: A very modern fantasy set in a snowbound turn-of-the-century New York, this isn't obviously festive. But for me it feels steeped in yuletide atmosphere.
Season's readings: The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore
Xan Brooks: Clement C Moore's 19th-century verse - alongside Grandma Moses' idiosyncratic illustrations - continue to cast a Christmassy spell
Season's Readings: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Justine Jordan: Rather more pagan than its reputation, Narnia delivers many consolations for wintry existence, including glorious feasts and a thrilling Father Christmas
Season's readings: The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Benedicte Page: Christmas delayed for four months by the bitter South Dakota winter of 1880 is the least of the trials endured by the Little House on the Prairie pioneers in this terrific tale
Season's readings: The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper's haunting coming-of-age adventure is built around a very alarming variety of white Christmas
Season's readings: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Continuing our series on Christmassy reading, a look at what is probably the definitive festive story outside the Bible
Season's readings: The Box of Delights by John Masefield
Alison Flood: This magical adventure, with wonderfully evocative seasonal descriptions, is hard to beat as a festive read.
Season's readings: Babar and Father Christmas by Jean de Brunhoff
Richard Lea: The antic details of the King of the Elephants' quest for Santa are wonderfully endearing
Season's readings: The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden
Imogen Russell Williams: Continuing our series on favourite Christmassy books, a plaintive tale from the author of The Diddakoi.
Season's readings: Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
Open thread: What's your favourite Christmassy book?
