This Friday, December 15, is the last day to order from Amazon.com using free Super Saver Shipping and still receive books in time for Christmas giving. So I’m gonna put aside my regular look at the New York Times bestseller list this week and instead point out some matching sets of books perfect for readers of your list.

Monday: books for conspiracy buffs
Today: celebrating the season
Wednesday: armchair traveling
Thursday: on the lookout for UFOs and strange creatures
Friday: lost classics of literature


Washington Irving’s Old Christmas is a charming and long forgotten holiday classic, first published in 1896, by one of American literature’s most beloved writers. Warmly convivial and delightfully festive, this work was inspired, in part, by Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and other celebrations of oldtime Yule. Splendid suppers and rural churches, cheerful dances and hearty spirits imbue this short novel with the magic of the season.

In the classic 1922 Ancient Hebrew Stories and Their Modern Interpretations, author W.G. Jordan emphasizes the Bible as literature in his modern examination of the stories of the Old Testament, exploring not only their religious and historical significance but their beauty and effectiveness as prose and as examples of the art of storytelling. Among the tales considered are: The Creation of the World, The First Murder, The Tower of Babel, The Story of Jacob, Samson: or A Strong Man’s Failure, Saul and the Witch of Endor. The Story of Job: The Problem of Suffering, The Story of Jonah: A Prophetic Satire, and more.

In Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates, by Mary Mapes Dodge: A beloved childhood favorite for a century and a half — and a book that readers continue to enjoy and appreciate long into adulthood — this classic went through more than 100 editions during the author’s lifetime alone. First published in 1865, this replica of the 1917 edition features the exquisite illustrations by Alice Carsey, whose sensitive eye and delicate pen-and-ink lines enliven the tale of the poor but virtuous Dutch boy in a way that few other artists have achieved.

In The Spirit of Christmas, Henry Van Dyke says: “[S]urely that need not and ought not to be the whole of Christmas — only a single day or generosity, ransomed from the dull servitude of a selfish year, — only a single night of merry-making, celebrated in the slave-quarters of a selfish race! If every gift is the token of a personal thought, a friendly feeling, an unselfish interest in the joy of others, then the thought, the feeling, the interest, may remain after the gift is made.” A popular pastor and poet at the turn of the 20th century, Van Dyke sings the praises of acts of kindness and generosity, of good will and good cheer, and of the spirit of Christmas. First published in 1905 this charming volume includes: a dream-story, a little essay, a short Christmas sermon, and two Christmas prayers.

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth: A Study, by Rush Rhees, a fanciful 1900 “biography” of the central figure of one of the world’s great religions, is based as much upon the author’s faith as it is any Scriptural or historical sources — indeed, Rhees calls it more “a study rather than a story… a companion to the reading of the gospels.” Believers will find comfort in Rhees’s soothing, authoritative prose, but this is a vital work for all those who seek to understand the complex society of contemporary Christianity.

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