Max says: There are two things I really love about this Christmas Stories hardback: the tasty-looking bird on the cover and the red tassel bookmark that makes an excellent toy when you're tired of turning the pages. I'm not much of a reader -- picture books of lady cats make up the lion's share of my library -- but there are lots of intriguing short stories in this handsome Everyman's Pocket Classic to get you in the seasonal mood. Authors from Dickens to Tolstoy and from Munro to Cheever unfurl their Yuletide tales here, with ghosts, burglars and Sherlock Holmes along for the ride.

 

The idea is to pour a glass of your favourite festive tipple (warm roast chicken juice recommended) nibble on some tasty seasonal treats (turkey-flavoured, grain-free crunchies, of course) and settle in for a long read on a big fat cushion as the low winter sun fades from the sky outside. Make sure the humans in the house don't sit on you -- and be sure to get them to dangle that red tassel bookmark in front of your eyes a few times.

 

If you like the format of these good-looking gift tomes, feel free to add one of the series' other anthology volumes to your Christmas wish list: Dog Stories looks terrible; Cat Stories looks like an epic; and Fishing Stories certainly shows some promise. Happy reading!

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Price: $21

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Where to buy: Available from good bookstores in Vancouver and beyond.