The Fir Tree, by Hans Christian Andersen (author), Carol Phillips (narrator)

Bookstream Audiobooks, January 2022

This is the story of a beautiful little fir tree, living in a lovely spot with good neighbors, and all too eager to grow up, so eager he doesn't appreciate the excellent things that he has. He wants to be tall and strong, and handsome, and he doesn't take the correct lesson from the big, strong trees around him that do get cut down and carried off.

Eventually, one Christmas, he does get cut down, and carried off to be a Christmas tree. Which, initially, seems like a wonderful experience.

It's Hans Christian Anderson, well done, well translated, and well performed.

Christmas at Baskerville Hall: A Sherlock and Lucy Short Story (Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery #7.7), by Anna Elliott (author), Charles Veley (author)

Wilton Press, November 2019

This is a short story in a larger series in which, in addition to the regulars we are so familiar with, Sherlock Holmes has a daughter, Lucy James. She's married to a young policeman, called Jack, who has a ten-year-old sister, Becky, for whom they are apparently responsible. (This is the first and so far only story in the series that I've read.) They also have a large dog, a mastiff called Prince.

This entire found-family group has received an invitation to Baskerville Hall for Christmas, ten years after the events of "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Sir Henry has been married to Beryl, the former Mrs. Stapleton, for eight yeas, and they have a five-year-old son, Hugo. Lady Baskerville is pregnant again, and due right around Christmas.

A Festive Surprise, by Margaret Amatt

Leannan Press, ISBN 9781914575815, October 2022

Farid Al-Karim is a Syrian refugee living in Scotland. He had to flee Syria because of his political activities, snuck across several countries, and finally reached the UK. He speaks good English, and is an experienced computer programmer, but even after getting legal approval to stay, his Syrian qualifications aren't recognized in the UK. So he's in Scotland, where a business connection of his father's, Archie Crichton-Leith, can give him a job. Unfortunately it's as a lumberjack, but it's work, and Archie also gives him a cottage to live in. The island is small, and friendly, and if he doesn't love the work, he does like Archie and the people he's working with.

Holly Devaney is a programmer working remotely, taking on the projects she wants, and living wherever she wants, usually for a few months at a time. Once she wanted to marry and put down roots; now she wants no permanent abode and no long-term relationship. She's in Scotland, on the same island as Farid, because her university friend Georgia, who married Archie earlier in the year, has offered her a cottage to stay in for the month of December, doing her work in splendid isolation. It's the one right next to Farid's.

The Twelve Wishes of Christmas, by Ruby Basu

HQ, ISBN 9780008471361, October 2022

Sharmila Mitra is a young British woman whose parents are from India, and have now moved back. Sharmila is a lawyer, who had been practicing family law. After the death of her fiancé, Hari, who had lied to her about where he would be, she just can't o it anymore. She can't be objective with or about her clients. She takes a leave of absence, after which she is transferred to a different role in the firm--and from Birmingham to London.

But while she was on sabbatical, she visited her aunt and helped out at her café. One day in July, she was working at the café, and had Christmas movies on. Soppy, romantic, Hallmark movies. An older American man came in, seeming rather sad, and she took his order. The movie on at the moment caught his eye, and they started talking--especially about her fascination with American Christmas as portrayed in those movies. Her own family doesn't celebrate Christmas at all, being Hindu.

The Mistletoe Mixtape, by The Christmas Collective

The Christmas Collective, October 2022

Twelve Christmas romance short stories, by twelve different authors. They're set in the UK, Ireland, and the US. Guaranteed happy endings!

We have a woman who ran away from the Irish aunt who raised her to her Indian father's family in England. Having planned to finally return for Christmas before her impending arranged marriage to a presumably "appropriate" man whom she hasn't met yet, she learns her aunt has died. Instead, she's returning for the funeral. But why did she leave? We know as soon as she encounters her old friends, James and Caitlin.

We meet Charlie, a successful and fairly famous musician, in December 2016, December 2017, and December 2018, as this gay man's love life rises, falls, and rises again.

The Post Box at the North Pole, by Jaimie Admans

HQ Digital, October 2021

Sasha Hansley hates Christmas, and has ever since her mother was killed in a car crash, and her father, Percy, after recovering from his injuries in the crash, left England. He calls, but he doesn't come home, not even for Christmas, not even when he has promised to do so. Instead, he asks her to join him on one travel adventure after another, and she refuses, having no desire to travel. Sasha occupies her time with one dead-end job after another, feeling unimportant and unvalued. Her father, though, thinks she's now the manager of a major hotel, and turned its fortunes around. She didn't tell him that; it was a misunderstanding when she applied for the job, told him, and he decided that she obviously got it. Now, she feels he's finally proud of her, and can't bear to tell him it's not true.

Right now, she's just lost her latest job, with a dog-walking business, because the owner's sister needed the job.

And her father calls from Norway, sounding old and frail, and telling her that he's had a heart attack. He wants her to come to the Christmas village where he's living and working. He's insistent. He's already paid for her tickets. And he needs her.

Dog-Free Dinner (Auntie Clem’s Bakery, Christmas Short), by P.D. Workman

P.D. Workman, December 2020

In Bald Eagle Falls, Tennessee, baker Erin Price, and her friend and assistant Vic, or Vicky, are prepping Christmas dinner for their friends, police officer Terry Piper, and local handyman and jack of all trades Willie Anderson. Growing up in foster homes has left Erin with no love for Christmas, but for Vic, it's a favorite time of year. Erin wants to make sure it's special for her.

It becomes special in an unexpected way when the friends realize that Terry's police dog, put in the fenced back yard to enjoy his turkey giblets, has disappeared. The other three are at first very puzzled by Terry's reaction, discouraging an immediate, full-scale search. It turns out there's a pet-napping ring the police are trying to keep quiet so that the thieves don't realize the police are actively investigating. After Terry finally spills the beans, Erin and Vic organize a search anyway.

Skiing with Santa (Secrets in the Snow #1.5), by Roz Marshall (author, narrator)

Bookfunnel, December 2020

Sandy is a ski school instructor, and also a bit of a Scrooge, hating what he sees as the commercialized claptrap of Christmas. Unfortunately, his boss, Jude, has a new marketing plan--skiing with Santa. Even worse, she's picked Sandy as the instructor best able to pass for Santa with the younger students. He has to deck himself out in costume he hates, and listen to his students' Christmas wishes, while conducting their skiing lessons.

But much as he resents the assignment, Sandy doesn't want to be mean to the students. Children, teenagers, and even one or two adults, need someone who will play the part--and Sandy finds himself hearing dreams and needs he wasn't prepared for.

It's a sweet short story, perfect for the holiday season.

This audio short story was offered for sale through the author's newsletter, and I'm not sure how widely available it is. Recommended if you see it. I am reviewing it voluntarily.

How Lovely Are Thy Branches (Young Wizards #9.5), by Diane Duane

Errantry Press, December 2014

It's one day before the Winter Solstice, five days before Christmas, and a wizards' holiday party is about to descend on the home of Juan and Marina Rodriguez.

The Rodriguez parents know that their two younger kids, Kit and Carmela, are wizards, but unlike Nita and Dairine Callahan's dad, they haven't pyreviously experienced a full-blown wizard party at their home. Moreover, this time, the guest of honor is Filif, the Demisiv, who just happens to look an awful lot like the Christmas tree of your dreams.

You Make It Feel Like Christmas, by Louise Marley

Louise Marley, October 2020

Elizabeth Holly is a book editor, and the younger daughter of the Holly family. That's the Holly family of "Holly Jolly Christmas," Britain's longest-running Christmas program. 

Agatha Holly has been determined for the last two decades or so to teach everyone how to have the perfect Christmas--even if drives her family to insanity.

Lucy Holly, the older daughter, has grown up to found her own production company and produce her mother's Christmas extravaganza. In pursuit of her mother's continued success, she hasn't hesitated to use Elizabeth's, or rather "Beth's, as she's known on air, clumsy moments and awkward missteps and unsuccessful attempts at rebellion as hilarious laugh moments--making her the star of thousands of hilarious, but humiliating, gifs and memes.

That's why Elizabeth has refused to participate for the last several years, and this year, after a disastrous date resulting in a quite public unwanted marriage proposal, is heading for a not-yet-opened hotel to be a test-run guest for a traditional Christmas. Or at least, that's what she thinks.

Christmas at Ladywell, by Nicola Slade

Crooked Cat Books, November 2019

In a previous book, Freya Gibson inherited Ladywell, a ramshackle old house in the English countryside, that turned out to have a long connection to her family, family she never knew about. In particular, it's tied to a long line of strong women who held the family and the farm  together, and kept it a place of peace and healing.

Now, Freya is happily married to Patrick, and they have a little girl, Violet. But successful action/thriller writer Patrick has been in Los Angeles and Vancouver for months, working on the tv adaption of his novels. Freya has been working on redoing the cottage on the property to be rented out as a romantic getaway spot--after the holidays. Christmas is coming, and Patrick will be home, but first he calls and tells her he's got a deep-secret guest who'll be coming to stay in the cottage with another person, and can she please get it ready in time?

Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage, by Katie Ginger

HQ Digital, October 2019

Esme Kendrick thinks she's living her best life, with a job as food technologist on a popular cooking show, a handsome boyfriend, and amazing apartment in London.

Then she loses the job because she objects to the star claiming one of Esme's grandma's most treasure recipes as her own, and that same day, her gorgeous boyfriend dumps her for the woman he's been seeing behind her back. Since the amazing apartment is his, that's gone too.

Her friends help her get her stuff out, but unemployed now,, her only option is to go back home to Sandchester, and start rebuilding her life and career. Her parents give her the money they'd been saving for her wedding, and a guy she knew in school, Joe Holloway, is back in Sandchester as an estate agent, after a disappointment he doesn't discuss in Australia. He helps her find a small cottage she can afford for a few months, to avoid living with either her parents or her married sister. (Who are lovely people, but for reasons that quickly become clear, it wouldn't have worked.)

A Typical Family Christmas, by Liz Davies

Independently Published, September 2019

Kate wants a happy, stressfree, family Christmas.

Unfortunately, she has two teenage daughters, a son on the edge of being a teenager too, a husband who is stressed at work and thinks her part-time job plus three kids who need to be supervised, fed, and ferried everywhere is easy and stress-free, a mother-in-law who after twenty years still thinks Kate isn't good enough for her son and makes snide comments whenever she visits, and a mother who "hates Christmas." And who says so constantly at Christmas time.

Most years, only her mother-in-law comes for Christmas. This year, her mother his coming, too. And along with everything else, the two mothers hate each other.

Her mother-in-law, Helen, normally arrives on Christmas Eve, but her mother, Beverly, has decided that she will arrive five days early. When Helen finds out, of course, so does she.

Secret Santa (Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series: Mystery Shorts 25), by Matthew Costello (author), Neil Richards (author), Neil Dudgeon (narrator)

Lübbe Audio, December 2017

Bill Vokes has been the Cherringham Santa Claus for years, an important part of a happy community celebration. This year, though, he changes into his Santa costume--and disappears. At first there is more puzzlement and annoyance than alarm; Bill has a habit of disappearing for short periods, though doing so in the hour or so prior to his scheduled appearance as Santa seems atypical.

By the next morning, though, some people are growing concerned, and Jack and Sarah are asked to look into his disappearance, since there is not yet enough basis for the police to do so.

The Christmas Hirelings, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (author), Richard Armitage (narrator)

Audible Audio, December 2018 (original publication 1894)

This is a Victorian Christmas tale, and it's a good one.

Sir John Penlyon is spending Christmas with his niece, Adela, and his friend Thomas Danby, a makeshift family for the aging man with no closer family left to him. Long widowed, his older daughter died just a few years after her own marriage, with no children. His younger daughter married a penniless curate, in defiance of her father, and was of course disowned.

Adela mentions how dull a Christmas with no children is, and Sir John, a bit of a curmudgeon, says Christmas is pointless for a household without children. In short order, Danby has persuaded Sir john to agree to his scheme to hire some suitable young children to enliven their holiday.

The Christmas Train, by David Baldacci (author), Tim Matheson (narrator)

Hachette Audio, December 2004

Journalist Tom Langdon is tired and disillusioned, and has abandoned his career as a war correspondent to write fluff pieces. He's living in Washington, but has a girlfriend in L.A. Temporarily banned from air travel, he boards a train to reach L.A. by Christmas.

He's thinking he can probably get a story out of this, about the mix of people from all walks of live traveling across America. He has no idea what he's about to experience. Transcontinental train travel necessarily crosses some rugged territory, but the big surprise Tom gets, early on, is that old lover and reporting partner Eleanor is one of the "Hollywood people" he's heaTherd are on the train.

The Autobiography of Santa Claus, as told to Jeff Guinn (author), John H. Mayer (narrator)

Listen & Live Audio, December 2004 (original publication 1994)

Nicholas of Myra, the Bishop of Myra, eventually St. Nicholas, was the real, historical bishop who became the basis of St. Nicholas/Father Christmas/Santa Claus, beloved gift-giver to children at the darkest time of the year.

This is Nicholas of Myra's own story, in his own words, of how he became Santa Claus. It's light, upbeat story for the holiday season, as Nicholas and slowly growing band of helpers both create Christmas traditions, and respond to traditions that develop without their help.

Christmas Joy, by Nancy Naigle

St. Martin's Press, ISBN 97812501060700, October 2016

Joy Holbrook has fled the small town where her mother died, staying in contact with her Aunt Ruby but living a life totally divorced from Crystal Falls. She's a market researcher with a growing career in Washington, D.C. The promotion of her dreams seems to be within reach--and she gets a phone call telling her Ruby has fallen and broken her ankle. On a Friday afternoon not long before Christmas, she's on her way to Crystal Falls with the hope and expectation that Ruby will be set back in her own home by Monday.

It's not going to happen.

The break is serious, and it quickly becomes clear that Joy will be taking leave until the end of the year.

And taking care of Ruby's home and animals during her recuperation is no simple matter. Two goats, a donkey, chickens, a rabbit whose mate has died, and a 4H cow that a 4H member named Tommy feeds and cares for.