Don't Open Before Xmas

It's that time of year when visions of holiday fiction dance in your heads. This year, Santa's sack contains more familiar characters and series titles than ever. Not to be a Scrooge, but many of them do not make good standalone titles, so purchase according to your readership. For nonseries readers, humorist Dave Barry delivers a tale just right for fans of the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story, while Elizabeth Berg takes a detour from her usual women's fiction to re-create the lives of Mary and Joseph. [For holiday romances to savor under the mistletoe, see Kristin Ramsdell's “Romance” column, p. 48.—Ed.]

Andrews brings back characters from her best-selling Savannah novels (Savannah Breeze; Savannah Blues) for some holiday fun. Antiques dealer Weezie is fervently working to get her shop ready for the holidays, but she is distracted by a series of mysterious break-ins at her home, truck, and shop. Oddly enough, the only things missing are quirky display pieces and trays of party food. Meanwhile, Weezie's boyfriend, Daniel, hates Christmas, and his sour attitude is ruining any chance of a good time. And who is the mysterious bag lady who's decided to sleep in Weezie's display window? Readers who haven't read the other Savannah books will find themselves wanting more of Andrews's fresh, funny style. For all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/06.]

Humorist Barry (Boogers Are My Beat) spins a short and cute yarn, Jean Shepherd style. The year is 1960, and the narrator is Doug, junior high prankster extraordinaire. When the beloved family dog dies on Christmas Eve, Doug and Dad head to the local shelter to drop off the corpse. Turns out the shelter doesn't take dead dogs but will happily provide them with a new one, who comes along to the Christmas pageant. Disaster, of course, is the result. Fun for the entire family; for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/06.]

Baumbich's fifth entry in the gentle-read “Welcome to Partonville” series (after Dearest Dorothy, Who Would Have Ever Thought?) finds the residents of the fictional small Illinois town getting ready for Dearest Dorothy's annual Christmas party. The death of the town's sole attorney has folks shook up, but Dorothy's prayers and spunky attitude rally the town back into the holiday spirit. For collections where previous series titles are popular.

Berg's retelling of the biblical story of Mary and Joseph begins with their courtship in ancient Nazareth. Mary is a bold, headstrong young woman, Joseph a teenaged son of privilege. They are betrothed and must wait one year for a wedding day. When Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel and told she will give birth to a son, Joseph is hurt and angry. He is soon also visited by an angel and puts his faith to the test, accepting Mary as his wife. Narrating this familar tale with an almost detached historical viewpoint, Berg ends her brief novel with Joseph remaining doubtful even years later. For all collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/06.]

Best-selling author Evans (The Christmas Box) returns with another tale of faith and hope for the holiday season. Mark's life is falling apart—he is falsely accused of theft, struggles with depression, and is distraught over the unexpected death of his mother. Then he meets Macy, a young woman with her own share of troubles, including an emotionally abusive foster family. Together, they overcome their problems and go on a quest to find Macy's long-lost sister, Noel. The story jumps from flashbacks of Macy's past to Mark's journal entries, which results in a trying, disjointed read. However, Evans's past success makes this appropriate for most collections, particularly where inspirational fiction is popular. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/06.]

The third installment of Guinn's “Christmas Chronicles” (The Autobiography of Santa Claus; How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas) again blends history with legend. This time the focus is on Christmas traditions in America, starting in the mid-1800s when a Philadelphia department store hires a Kris Kringle. Santa himself is of course unhappy with this new development and with all of his commercial portrayals throughout the years, culminating in the worst insult of all—a reality television show searching for the “real” Santa. For libraries owning the first two titles.

Mystery author Maggie Kelly (High Heels and Homicide) and her once fictional, now real boyfriend Viscount Saint Just deal with some very bad fan mail—threats have been sent to authors who contributed to a mystery anthology, and Maggie is next on the list. Best-selling romance author Michaels (Everything Is Coming Up Rosie) has a following, but readers who are not already familiar with the quirky characters will not find this the best entryway into the series. Strictly for libraries owning other titles in the Maggie Kelly series.

Best-selling mystery author Perry continues her yearly Christmas offering (A Christmas Journey) with this Victorian suspense tale. Dominic and Clarice Corde (from Brunswick Gardens) are due to take the place of a vacationing vicar but discover that instead of going on holiday the poor man has been brutally murdered. As the village becomes snowbound, the killer is still at large. Readers do not have to be familiar with Perry's mystery series to enjoy this story. For all mystery collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/06.]

Smith (Love Monkey) unsuccessfully tries his hand at chick lit. Caroline, the snooty editor of a shopping magazine, is short-tempered with everyone she meets and obsessed with labels. She is warned to change her ways by the ghost of her equally vacuous dead roommate, Carly. Smith's use of details from Charles Dickens's beloved A Christmas Carol is amusing but hardly makes it worth stomaching such unlikable characters. For larger fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/06.]

Novelist (Ten Little New Yorkers), country music singer, and Texas gubernatorial candidate Friedman throws his cowboy hat into the holiday fiction ring with this fable about an autistic boy and a very special pig named Valerie.