Looking for suggestions for those hard-to-buy-for religious and/or spiritual friends for Christmas? Add these titles to your list:
Who knew? What might have been trivia (“Who came to the White House for Christmas in 1941?”) becomes fascinating—and musical—history in the hands of popular historian David McCullough and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In the Dark Streets Shineth (Shadow Mountain, Oct.) recounts the early wartime visit by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a Christmas Eve solidarity gesture. During his visit, Churchill heard for the first time the classic American carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” McCullough narrates his story on an accompanying DVD that includes the 2009 Christmas concert by the renowned choir.
Yes, Virginia, Santa is real, but Jesus isn’t: The Atheist’sGuide to Christmas,edited by comedy writer and journalist Ariane Sherine (Harper Perennial, Nov.), features the irreverent wit of a crew of American and British writers, comedians, and, naturally, uber-atheist Richards Dawkins in a compendium of essays about how to take the Christ out of Christmas and still have a holly jolly holiday. Less subversive and differently provocative is Christmas—Philosophy for Everyone: Better than a Lump of Coal, edited by philosophy professor Scott C. Lowe (Wiley-Blackwell, Oct.), another collection of essays on seasonal topics ranging from Christ to consumerism.
I’ll be Amish for Christmas: The Amish do mark Christmas, but forget the tinsel and the lighted Santas on the lawn, because they don’t decorate. A stocking jammed full of gut novels includes Grace (A Christmas Sisters of the Heart Novel) by Shelley Shepard Gray (HarperCollins/Avon Inspire, Oct.); A Plain and Simple Christmas by Amy Clipston (Zondervan, Sept.); Sarah’s Christmas Miracle by Mary Ellis (Harvest House, Aug.); and A Simple Amish Christmas by Vannetta Chapman (Abingdon, Oct.).
At Christmas, some things don’t change: Fans of Joel Osteencan learnhis family’s holiday history and traditions in The Christmas Spirit: Memories of Family, Friends, and Faith by Joel Osteen (Free Press, Nov.).Family photos included in the book show Osteen with his characteristic smile, even as a li’l shaver.
