Treasured Stories of Christmas

by Sarah Anne Stuart

Discover the spirit of Christmas present and relive the memories of Christmas past in this harvest of stories that embody the very essence of the season.

It is a time to bond with family and friends, a time to give to those in need and a time for renewal of faith, love and hope. Truly a joyous and special time of year.

There are time honored classics by Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, and O. Henry as well as little known tales by Stephen Crane, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Bret Harte. Celebrate America's first Christmas at Valley Forge in a moving story by F. Van Wyck Mason. Enjoy a wonderful fantasy by L. Frank Baum about "A Kidnapped Santa Claus."

The spirit of giving is embodied by John Cheever's "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor." There are stories for children by Louisa May Alcott, Hans Christian Andersen, L. M. Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder as well as surprising treasures by Cleveland Amory, Pearl S. Buck, Willa Cather, Christopher Morley and many others.

Treasured Stories of Christmas is truly a collection to read aloud and share with family and friends, a collection that will find its way under every Christmas tree.

It will provide many hours of reading pleasure both during the season as well as

Genres: Christmas, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Holiday

374 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2010

Reviews

[Steve Campbell]

I generally enjoyed this collection of Christmas stories, which included stories that were humorous and serious, fictional and true, and inspirational and frivolous. While I might quibble a bit with the compiler's idea of a "treasured" Christmas story or even the definition of a Christmas story in the first place (I find the inclusion of "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" a little strange, considering that it doesn't have anything to do with Christmas other than being set during the Christmas season), for the most part I found the stories enjoyable.

[Nancy]

As a collector of Christmas stories, I found this paperback chock full of interesting stories compiled into 5 sections: faith, hope, love, giving, and joy. Many of the stories weren't new to me. I gave it 4 stars because I didn't enjoy some of the authors' writing style (Hans Christian Andersen) and/or found the stories to be less than thought-provoking as far as the season of Christmas.

[Lisa]

You'd think that a collection of Christmas stories read by a frazzled person in December would be uplifting -- a pleasant break from the stress, if you will.

Nope.

The first night I started 4 different stories. None of them held my interest. The second day, I read a somber story by Dostoevsky about a kid freezing to death. Very uplifting.

I began to think my dissatisfaction with the book was more indicative of my mood rather than the stories, but after trying another several stories, I thought about it and realized that I was happy. I was feeling festive. I was "in the spirit of the season." The book was the problem. So I quit reading. I still don't understand why the book didn't work for me, but I won't waste any more time thinking about it -- I have some shopping to do!

[Athornton]

Thought it would be a good read to get me in the mood for Christmas. I don't want to say this is the reason I was too depressed to put up a tree but boy does this book start out with some really depressing stories! Not even sad, like you might be crying after you read them but downright depressing, feel bad for people and trees altogether. Thankfully it picked up a little by the end so I might give it 3 1/2 stars.

[Peg]

During the busy month of December short stories fill the bill. Some are classics like The Gift of the Magi and Hans Christian Anderson's The Fir tree, while others were new to me. With authors like Stephen Crane, Pearl S. Buck, Brett Hart, and Harriet Beecher Stowe you couldn't ask for finer craftsmen.

[GG Stewart’s Bookhouse]

If the purpose of this book was to make me appreciate the things and people that are in my life by reading about the misery and misfortune of others than it accomplished that. The stories are good but I would have changed the title to something that would tell the reader that this is not a collection of heart warming stories. The title and the serene cover are misleading.

[Christy]

Okay, could have been much better. one would think a collection of Christmas stories would be uplifting and happy, leaving you feeling all warm and fuzzy (for lack of better wording), but no, a lot of these left me feeling sad or angry.... or just flat out irritated. My favorite story was O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." If I could base my entire rating on that, I would. Very disappointed.

[Lee]

Nice collection of Christmas stories, classic and modern. The thing I liked best about this book is that it made me think of which stories I would include if I was gathering stories for a collection. Still don't think you can top O'Henry;s "The Gift of the Magi".

[Nina Ely]

Like most anthologies, pretty uneven, but there were several stories I was unfamiliar with. (Also, a couple that, although they take place at Christmas, are so cynical and depressing they don't really belong in this sort of collection, IMO.)

[Lucy]

I marked 18 of them to read to the kids next christmas, and another 10 as maybes.

[Jules]

Another disappointing seasonal read. Not Dostoyevsky nor Ray Bradbury could make this memorable.