Christmas is more than shopping... something I hear myself saying more and more lately. It is also a time to pull out those special Christmas books and share them with family and friends. Here are a few that come to mind (all are very short). Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory: Set in rural Alabama during the depression, this autobiographical gem tells the story of Buddy a 7 year old boy and his eccentric and child like 60 year old female cousin. This is a bitter sweet story of love between two misfits and their annual fruit cake baking project. Another that I have just read for the first time is Philip Gulley's Christmas in Harmony. Gulley, a quaker minister, tells a delightful tale of his quirky congregation at Christmas. Lee Smith also pens an engaging tale in the Christmas Letters. These letters span a period of time as generations write to each other at the Christmas season. Smith, a noted Southern writer, has crafted a wonderful novella that portrays the spirit of Christmas. and of course there are many wonderful renditions of the Clement Clark Moore Classic A Visit from St. Nicholas which most of us know as The Night Before Christmas (it is also listed in the library catalogue that way) My favorite version is illustrated by Tasha Tudor who used her own New England farm house for the setting. I still read this version aloud to my children on Christmas Eve from a book I gave them in 1975. It is time to buy new copies for my grandchildren. All of these books and hundreds of other Christmas stories are avaiable at the EVPL. What are some of your favorites. Please let me know ! and Merry Christmas to all