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1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
This classic story is not to be missed.  If you haven’t read the story recently you should give it a try.  The library has a dramatized audio version available through Dial A Story.  Follow along as the miser Ebenezer Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future. 

2. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
The book is far better than the movie adaptation.Imagine a year without Christmas.  No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents.  That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether.  Theirs will be the only house on the street without any decorations; they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren’t even going to have a tree.  They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise.  But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences--and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined.   

3. Christmas in Harmony by Philip Gulley
This is the fourth book in the Harmony series.  All the books capture the essence of small-town life with humor and wisdom.  If you haven’t tried any of Philip Gulley’s lovely stories, give this book a try. 

4. Christmas Branches: Stories of the Season by Jack Kline
Local author Jack Kline writes a Christmas story every year for his family and friends.  This is a collection of some of his best stories that will put you in the mood of the season.  “Each December we try to practice what He preached.  We are kinder, we give more and share more, and in my case, become a little less self-centered.  Hatchets are buried or set aside.  Families come together, if only for a brief time.  Maybe some of the goodwill wears off in the cold of January.  But the traditions and memories, which go back as far as we can remember, rest inside us, waiting for a spark." 

5. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
Richard Paul Evans is a master of Christmas stories. This is probably his most popular story and may become as popular as the Christmas classic at the top of this list.Richard, a busy and preoccupied father, discovers a Christmas box full of love letters from an old woman to her dead daughter and, with the help of an angel, begins to learn the true meaning of Christmas.