*AD – the item in this review was gifted to our household for this post. All opinions, as always, are our own.
The Holiday season is just around the corner, and this year I have been pretty excited for Christmas! There is just so much to do, so many fun things coming up, and I have been waiting quite some time for the holidays after not being able to do much last year. Though I can’t start decorating the house until after Halloween, I am excited to plan, prep, and feel the holidays around me. Calm by the Christmas Tree is a book full of little holiday stories, to get you thinking about and enjoying the mood of the holidays, even if it’s not quite time to decorate yet.
This book is filled with 14 short stories, which all have the topic of the holidays or are set around wintertime. Many of them are just two pages long, though some range to slightly longer. The idea is that you could make yourself a nice mug of warm hot chocolate, sit down by the fire, and spent ten or so minutes on you – reading out a little story and soaking up the holiday feelings that you get from them. Calm by the Christmas Tree is meant to do what the title says, really, and provide a moment of calm in the middle of the holiday season, so that you can take the time for you and bring your mind somewhere else for a little while.
These short stories are quite interesting in nature. At first, I felt like they were all going to be a bit same-y – in that Halmark holiday classic sort of way. The first few stories contained a few classic, cheesy endings to their issues; man can’t get home for Christmas, man argues with wife, he is then stuck in traffic trying to make it home but it’s too late, he ends up cheering up due to Christmas music and makes it home in the nick of time, oh and his wife announces she is pregnant. Everything works out perfectly, which is great for a heart-warming little story about Holiday spirit and having just enough luck to make it through, but I was just hoping they aren’t all like that – and thankfully they aren’t. You’ll go from reading interesting stories about families trying to come together, to snippets of people taking time out for themselves for the holiday, to stories about socially awkward teenagers trying to make Christmas their own, to murderers using the winter holiday to… uh… hide bodies. There is quite the variety in this book.
And I think that variety is something I really enjoy. At the end of most of the stories, you are left satisfied with this snippet of someone’s life. They are full and complete, leaving you understand what is going on with them and how the wintertime has affected them or contributed to their lives. Some of these stories are quite small, simple things that are just happening around the holidays – they are relatable in a lot of ways. Others are more curious tales, or tales that contain a diverse cast of people, which is always good to have in a book. There were a few stories that I was more curious about the characters, wondering if they had their own full story of how they met or why they were together, interested in their life beyond.
Calm by the Christmas Tree does a good job of giving you a moment of calm, something to enjoy in the evenings or when your children are at school, and you can just take a moment for yourself and read a little story and feel more excited for the holidays.
These are my favorite types of holiday stories to read. Short stories are great and you don’t have to be as committed as a full book. Great suggestion.
It is way easier to fit into your day, as it’s just a bunch of small stories!
I like the idea of so many short stories. You don’t have to feel like you are sucked in and want to read just “one more chapter” that way. I’m not quite ready for anything to do with the winter holidays yet (I refuse until after Thanksgiving) but will look into this one for a December read.
Lol! It’s good to get once the rush of Thanksgiving is over!
This sounds like such a lovely book. I think it’s great to have a Christmas theme to the stories. It’s certainly different!!!
It is something so different!
I would love to read this. The holidays are my favorite time of the year.
I love celebrations myself!
Always love reading books especially if it talks about holidays. They are an inspiring kind of way that puts a smile on your face after reading.
They really do!
This sounds like a really lovely book! Short stories are often better when you have kids!
They are, as you never have enough time to finish a full book it seems!
yessss to holiday stories!!! Great way to set the mood for the upcoming season, can’t wait!
It is so good for getting into the holidays!
This sounds like truly heartwarming stories to read in the run-up to the festive Christmas period.
Quite a few of them are!
I am loving the idea of this book being packed with short stories as I always enjoy a good Holiday story and an assortment of Holiday themed short stories it’s perfect for this time of the year 😉 Thank you!
It is a really great book for sitting by the fire!
Wow almost holiday season. I very intrigued
This sounds like a lovely book with lots of fab little tales. I will definitely be picking up a copy!
I have really enjoyed my time with it.
This book sounds like a lovely festive collection of stories
Laura x
It is such a nice read.