A Book Bag Full of Treats

Santa's coming to town with 17 holiday reads

Once again, our favorite authors have brought out a cornucopia of holiday delights. From new Christmas entries in several favorite series to a debut or two, there is something here for everyone's reading pleasure. Fans of urban street lit made the "nice" list this year—Santa brings not one but two holiday treats for their stockings.

Also worth a mention are three sure-to-be-blockbuster titles. From Hyperion in October, A Family Christmas (ISBN 978-1-4013-2227-4. $26.95) is an anthology of beloved Christmas prose, poetry, scriptural readings, and lyrics selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy. In November, S. & S. presents Angela and the Baby Jesus (ISBN 978-1-4165-7470-5. $14.95) by Frank McCourt, an illustrated gift book in both adult and children's editions telling how Angela (yes, of Angela's Ashes fame) stole the baby Jesus from the church's nativity scene because he looked cold. December marks the arrival of a work by best-selling children's author Lemony Snicket, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story (ISBN 978-1-932416-87-9. $9.95), from McSweeney's Books.

Agatha Raisin is looking forward to Christmas this year because James, her ex, is invited to dinner. Her visions of a rekindled romance are quickly pushed aside when a wealthy widow is poisoned after sending Agatha a letter saying that someone in her family was out to kill her. Her new assistant is making Agatha feel very old, which isn't helping her get into a holiday mood. This marks Beaton's first holiday title in the 17-strong cozy mystery series. Expect demand from fans. [See Mystery Prepub, LJ 6/1/07.]

Chiaverini brings back her Elm Creek Quilts characters for another holiday outing (following 2005's The Christmas Quilt). Master quilter Sylvia is making a holiday quilt for her new stepdaughter, Amy, who is less than thrilled with her father's remarriage. With 11 stories of family and memories in the series, expect demand from fans of Chiaverini's best-selling gentle read series.

Evan's latest Christmas offering (after The Christmas Box and Finding Noel) is the story of Nathan Hurst, a man with a troubled family past. Nathan, who has Tourette's syndrome, travels across the country as a detective for a retail chain. While stranded at the airport just before Thanksgiving, he invites a stranger, Addison, and her two children to share his hotel suite until a storm passes. Nathan finds himself falling for Addison and mysteriously cured of his syndrome by her son's touch. Evans's inspirational titles are perennial best sellers. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/07.]

Three popular mystery authors each present a charming Christmas novella in this holiday volume. In Fluke's "Candy Cane Murder," bakery owner Hannah Swenson stumbles across a dead Santa Claus. Several holiday recipes are included. In Laura Levine's "The Danger of Candy Canes," freelance writer Jaine Austen helps a business acquaintance beat a murder rap while finding four suspects along the way. And Leslie Meier's homemaker sleuth Lucy Stone makes an appearance in "Candy Canes of Christmas Past," finding herself tangled in family secrets after an innocent yard sale find leads to much more than she bargained for. Expect demand from fans of these light and cozy mystery series.

Ninety-three-year old Theodora is lost in memories of past holidays when the housekeeper, Pearl, would overdecorate, overcook, and have long fireside chats with her. This year it's all slice-and-bake cookies, Internet gift certificates, and bickering families throwing insults. When Theodora is about to give up, the spirit of Pearl appears and smoothes over the holiday for all. This charming little book by the best-selling author (Land of Mango Sunsets) also includes holiday recipes. For most collections.

In his second outing (after 2006's Slay Ride) FBI agent Christopher Miller has unconventional holiday plans—he's too busy fighting a White Supremacist terrorist group committing violent hate crimes and planning on bringing down an African airliner on Thanksgiving Day. With strong language and situations, this is not your usual fluffy holiday reading fare. For fiction collections where gritty thrillers are popular.

On Christmas Eve, three burglars are on the run after killing a jewelry store owner in a botched robbery. In the middle of a treacherous snowstorm, two of them end up at the O'Boyle winter cabin, where the family has just sat down to dinner. The thieves don't know that daughter Kat has escaped into the blizzard to find help—but whom she finds out in the storm is almost as shocking as the uninvited guests. This high-tension suspense story is a good break from cozy holiday tales. For all fiction collections.

The introduction for these two novellas is a quote from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale: "A sad tale's best for winter." And true enough, both of these stories by an award-winning author (Divining Rod) are tinged with small tragedies. In "The Holiday Season," Frank is visiting his father, once a vibrant local politician who has become increasingly distant since Frank's mother died three years ago. A vivacious French neighbor may help change that, if Frank can get his father out of the house. "Love at the End of the Year" follows a motley cast of characters on New Year's Eve, from Internet porn-obsessed teen Evan to unhappy wife Katie to unfulfilled serial dater Esmerelda. Not your typical holiday fare, this well-written volume would do well in larger fiction collections or where literary fiction is popular.

In the 13th entry of this mystery series featuring feline private eye Joe Grey and friends, the fantastical talking and crime-solving cats must solve the murder of a man found shot dead with a traumatized child clinging to his side. For libraries where the series is popular.

Naman's first work of fiction (after the 2005 memoir Caterpillar Kisses) is the story of seven different women dealing with the holidays. Katherine is caring for her sick husband, Adrianna is working through a difficult marriage, and Isabella is going to be a new mother. How these women and four more are connected is revealed in the last heart-warming vignette. A good choice for larger fiction collections and where inspirational fiction or gentle reads are popular.

Hip-hop author Turner (Forever a Hustler's Wife) introduces five new street lit authors in this first urban lit holiday anthology and the third "Street Chronicles" collection (after Tales from da Hood and Girls in the Game). In Mo Shines's "Me and Grandma," Grandma works with two drug dealers to see that every child on the block has presents under the tree. In K. Elliott's "Secret Santa," stripper/prostitute Shante Morgan (aka Foreplay) wants a stable man in her life for Christmas. And in Dee Blackmon's "Holiday Hell," Noelle has until Christmas Eve to pay the ransom for her kidnapped sister. For street lit/urban fiction collections.

Best-selling mystery author Perry continues her yearly Christmas offering (e.g., A Christmas Secret), this time featuring a character from her William Monk series, Superintendent Runcorn. Investigating the murder of a young woman, Runcorn finds himself distracted by the unlikely attentions of a former love interest. Unlike some of her previous Christmas tales, readers unfamiliar with Perry's mystery series may not be as drawn in. For all mystery collections.

Rhodes, the author of supernatural urban thrillers (Out "A" Order), softens up for this story of Jamie Lynn Banks, a young girl with healing powers—she has the ability to absorb the pain and suffering of others. Her one Christmas wish is that her incarcerated mother will be able to come home for the holidays, and she hopes that if she helps enough people with the power of Jesus, her wish might come true. Suitable for large urban fiction collections, although the very intense religious themes may deter some mainstream readers.

Laura is tired of doing everything around the house while her husband watches TV. Joy is sick of giving in to her grumpy husband but never getting to do what she wants. When they decide to go on strike at Christmastime to teach their spouses a lesson, members of their knitting club are eager to join in. Soon enough, the newspaper picks up the story, and women all over town are giving up on going overboard at Christmas. The harried husbands are in charge of everything, from the school pageant to parties to presents, with hilarious results. Holiday recipes are included. A fun and festive debut; for all women's fiction collections.

Can you celebrate Christmas and battle aliens at the same time? The author of the best-selling Ender series answers the question in this holiday novella.

This anthology gathers short Christmas fiction by such masters as Nikolay Gogol ("The Night Before Christmas"), Truman Capote ("A Christmas Memory"), and the late Grace Paley ("The Loudest Voice").

This collection features holiday contributions from popular authors in women's fiction: Michaels, Marie Bostwick, Cathy Lamb, and Deborah J. Wolf. [For a full review, see "Romance," LJ 10/15/07.—Ed.]