CHRISTMAS BOOKS
Because ’tis the season for a little fun and a little nostalgia.
Christmas at the Vinyl Café, Stuart McLean (Viking)
It’s the first Christmas without hearing Stuart McLean’s voice regaling us with any new stories about Morley and Dave on CBC Radio. But we do have some new stories to read; this is a book that includes the very last Dave and Morley story he performed on stage — along with that famous turkey story. A pretty volume for gift-giving and for keeping.
Christmas with Maud Lewis, Lance Woolaver and Bob Brooks (Goose Lane)
The Nova Scotia artist’s quaint and homely scenes recall an innocent and perfect Christmas; she made part of her living, after all, from selling cards with idyllic scenes. This book features all of those beautiful scenes of horsedrawn sleighs and skiers and winter birds, as well as historical information about Maud and how she celebrated the season and created her art.
Christmas, Nigel Slater (4th Estate)
British Christmases have given us plenty of traditions — bread pudding, fruit cake, the pan- tomime. And now Nigel Slater has given us wonderful new ways of approaching the season, its traditions and how and what we eat. He focuses on the cold — from November through to January, and everything it takes to make us feel warm inside and out, from stories, to meditations — and, of course, his wonderful recipes.
Math Proves Santa Claus (Overlook)
For all the math geeks out there — this one is a whole lot of fun. With logical gymnastics and mathematical formulae that try to prove once and for all that, skeptics be gone, Santa — and there may be more than one — exists. Pair that with a whole lot of fun stats about everything Christmas and this is both cute and informative.
Winter, Dan Soucoup (Nimbus)
For those transplanted from away, from the Maritimes in particular, Nova Scotia writer Dan Soucoup’s collection of stories will bring home into the living room this Christmas season. They represent every region — Miramichi, Labrador — and span time, from the early 1900s to now. Alistair McLeod, Alden Nowlen and Norma Jean MacPhee are all here, along with plenty of others.