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Get ready for the Holidays :: A hot list of books

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Although Halloween is still a week away, if you’ve been to Target, a mall, or even your local drugstore you’ve likely noticed that apparently it’s time to start thinking about "the holidays." (For the purposes of this article, "the holidays" shall encompass Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or some combination of some or all of the above. If I’ve left anything out, please do let me know- I wouldn’t want to be seen as being un-PC...) Those lovely $20 trees have popped up in the seasonal aisles, Halloween (and even Thanksgiving) décor has been put on super markdown, and apparently retailers are hoping to minimize their losses this year by having a three-month holiday season. Fun.

Well, if Target can do it, so can we. And to prove it, we’ve picked a small selection of books that might help make your holidays just a little bit easier.

Green Christmas

My favorite book is compact and cute, but more importantly I’m hoping that it will result in some saved money- and earth- this year. Green Christmas: How to Have a Joyous, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season offers tons of suggestions on how you can reduce waste, cut spending, and help (or at least minimize harm to) the planet this holiday season. From finding alternatives to holiday cards to building ’green’ fires, making eco-friendly party décor and holiday gifts to avoiding the stacks of catalogs we get throughout November and December, this book is chock-full of practical, easy, creative, and fun ideas and projects.

I’ve already decided to wrap-up bags of compost (from my house’s past year’s food scraps) in a pretty bag and present it to friends and family in a beautiful pot with a couple packets of seed and a note (on paper that you can plant- it’s embedded with wild flower seeds!) letting them know that their gift is eco-friendly, and nearly carbon neutral!

Green Christmas is available for about $8 at Amazon.com

The "Everything" Holiday Books

Although as my friends would tell you, most "family-oriented" things make me want to puke, and frankly scare me a little bit. Whether it’s a book, game, movie, restaurant, or whatever, if it’s pushed as something that’s "fun for the whole family," I normally don’t give it another thought. Not so with The Everything Family Christmas Book and The Everything Kids’ Hanukkah Puzzle and Activity Book.

Unlike most "family" things- which invoke thoughts of WASP-ey, upper-middle-class, Martha Stewart-loving white people (and not just in the color of their skin, but their whole Wonder Bread personalities)- these two books are thoughtful, fun, and educational in a way that’s not precious, precocious, or overtly preachy. Both books are full of stories, songs, games, crafts, trivia, traditions, recipes and more, all meant to bring together the family, and entertain everyone while teaching the young’uns about family traditions.

OK, so it’s not as fun as Wii Sports, but life- and the holidays- is all about balance, right?

The Everything Kids’ Hanukkah Puzzle & Activity Book
and The Everything Family Christmas Book
are available for about $10 each at Amazon.com

A Cup of Comfort for Christmas

Although the concept (and sub-title) makes me a little nauseous, I can see how A Cup of Comfort for Christmas: Stories that celebrate the warmth, joy, and wonder of the holiday could be appealing- and beneficial- to many people come holiday season... which I guess we’re already in, according to retailers. For although many of those who celebrate Christmas try to keep it about tradition (remember, "Jesus is the reason for the season!"), unfortunately nowadays those traditions include getting to Best Buy at 5am, making sure that you’ve spent exactly the same amount on each kid, and running from work to the mall to a holiday party, and back to work. It’s enough to drive you to chug eggnog by the gallon!

If you find yourself caught-up in the insanity that is Christmas in America, perhaps this book will help calm you down- without the need for eggnog. A Cup of Comfort delivers "stories of everyday people whose lives are transformed by the miracle of Christmas." Yes, it’s a bit ’Oprah-esque,’ and there are plenty of stories that may become Lifetime Original Movies, but they’re sweet nonetheless- and it makes a great gift for your mom.

A Cup of Comfort for Christmas is available for about $8 at Amazon.com

Christmas Sucks

&linkCodeI know that just a few short paragraphs earlier I said that Green Christmas was my favorite book of this list, but after thinking about the fact that I’m reading- and writing about- Christmas books in mid-October, I think I’ve changed my mind. Christmas Sucks: What to do When Fruitcake, Family and Finding the Perfect Gift Make You Miserable pretty much says it all.

Joanne Kimes, author of Christmas Sucks (as well as Pregnancy Sucks and nine other "Sucks titles"), knows how much tangled lights, annoying relatives, and endless trips to packed malls can be- and she’s not afraid to share. And while this book might not do the shopping, entertain the family, or whip-up a batch of eight-dozen Christmas cookies for you, at least it’ll bring you a short reprieve from the stress. With practical advice and first hand accounts of stress-filled holidays, this book shows you how you can get through the holiday season with your finances, faculties, and sanity in tact... or at least that’s what they say!

Kimes offers hints on everything from making store bought treats look homemade to traveling with children, and how to put up with relatives (hint: put the mother-in-law from hell in a local hotel!). Christmas to hell is a fun little break from the insanity that we call the holidays.

Available for about $10 from Amazon.com

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