Thursday, December 24, 2009

Memoirs for Christmas Reading

It is hard to imagine a biography that concerned itself with a person's life just at Christmas, but memoirs are a different matter. Some authors have used the holiday as a setting for autobiographical writings. Here is a list of titles for you to consider reading this season.

Christmas at Long Lake: A Childhood Memory by Rick Skwiot (2005) - A novelist recalls living in a rural cabin in 1953 when his father was out of work.

Christmas in Plains: Memories by Jimmy Carter (2001) - Former president remembers how Christmases past have anchored his family in times of crisis.

Christmas on Jane Street: a True Story by Billy Romp (1998) - A Christmas tree farmer tells about his experiences selling his trees in Manhattan.

The Hired Man's Christmas by George W. Givens (1998) - A true mystery set on a hardscrabble farm in New England during the Great Depression.

An Idiot Girl's Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List by Laurie Notaro (2005) - Christmas seems to be a time for misbehaving for this humorist.

An Irish Country Christmas by Alice Taylor (1995) - A sentimental look at hard times in County Kerry.

Keeping Christmas: An Edwardian-Age Memoir by William F. Strickler (1981) - The author remembers Christmas in Baltimore between 1908 and 1920.

Memory of a Large Christmas by Lillian Smith (1962) - Author remembers welcoming a chain gang to an already large rural family gathering. Recipes included.

Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present by Hank Stuever (2009) - Really more of an investigative report about the holidays in a Texas suburb than a memoir.

You Better Not Cry : Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs (2009) - Darkly humorous stories of Christmas from the author of Running with Scissors.

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