Welcome to Litsy!

This book isn‘t perfect - it‘s organised chronologically so some aspects of celebrations are touched on more than once - but overall I enjoyed this trip through the development of Christmas traditions that brought us to the experience many of us, in the west, recognise as “traditional”.

Its not too early is it? I try and get a christmas history book from the library in Nov but theyre all booked out - so i grabbed this one early! Its a nice thorough little history - everything i wanted to know in 245 pages, without getting bored by too much detail. It was interesting to see how secular Christmas has been & how different periods have created a nostalgia for ancient traditions that are actually not old! ⬇️

Season‘s Readings!

I loved this book about the history of Christmas traditions. Flanders covered why there has been a war on Christmas for centuries because of revelry, how Washington Irving helped inspire Christmas cheer, as well as how Santa‘s look changed through the years. Of course she discusses the date of Christmas in its alignment with the winter solstice and other holidays, twelfth night, Dickens, and the start of the use of Christmas trees. ♥️🎄

Well, I've now read two Christmas books right on top of each other. I like Judith Flanders, but the other book was better. The organization of this one was odd. It was more or less ordered chronologically, but that led to some weirdness. I think they realized that because they included odd little pictures in the margins trying to organize it thematically. Just organizing it thematically would have made it more readable.

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 43
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

Answer 6 to the #CreepyChristmas by @teebe and asked by @Chrissyreadit Here is a moodboard of my Christmas aesthetic - very Scandinavian - lots of red and white, toadstools, little house with tea lights in and plenty of fir tree foliage and warm light.

Final monthly wrap-up of 2019! I didn‘t make my goal of reading a book I already own, but at least I finished all of the books that were in progress so I can start fresh for 2020. December was a much better book month for me than November: 9 books, the majority of which I greatly enjoyed!

4 🎧 audio
0 🖥 ebooks
5 📚physical books
Fiction: 6
Nonfiction/essays/memoirs: 3
From my shelf: 0
#monthlywrapup #decemberstats

My holiday #weeklyforecast is mostly on theme... and a few books started earlier this month that I‘d like to finish. Since I‘ve got three full days off this week with minimal (almost zero) obligations, I‘m confident I can get quite a bit of reading done and finish a few of these. 🙂

A fun little book about the history of Christmas celebration, predominantly in Britain and the US. Spanning the 4th century to the 21st in under 250 pages, it‘s not a comprehensive history by any means, but is a decent overview and has some nuggets I hadn‘t known or thought about before.

Day 7 of #bookadventcalendar I found this one at the bookstore the other day and thought it looked fascinating so brought it home with me. @LeahBergen

Currently on sale in the US Kindle store. One of my current reads. Flanders a pretty just-the-facts-ma‘am writer, but this one is not as dry as some of her other books. Interesting stuff, at any rate.

#Stella, the book model, with the one I‘m starting tonight. Not a lot of enthusiasm for this one, apparently. Or maybe she‘s just trying to avoid looking me in the eye because she‘s sleeping ON MY SIDE OF THE BED! As always. 🧐
#pibble
#DogsofLitsy
#PitBullsofLitsy

With rich research and writing, Flanders effectively takes the reader on a Polar Express through time and cultures, deftly illustrating how Christmas the wonderful, festive mess of a holiday that Christmas is.

Oddly organized but filled with fascinating tidbits. Overall, an information dump to wade through rather than a cohesive history or narrative.

Season's reading!

Here‘s the only tree we probably will have (darn cat!) but I love this tree and it always reminds me of my time spent living in New Orleans. (It‘s made of oyster shells) we will be putting up our Christmas lights tonight on the patio and a wreath on our door trying to get festive, will attempt to hang stockings but who knows if Alastor will let them be lol ❤️💚🎄🤶🏻🎅🏻