My Top Five Christmases (in books), by Deborah Jenkins

"Christmas is a time for reading - for losing yourself in stories that make you sing. Otherwise, the sheer tragedy in other people's lives (and sometimes your own) which can be brought into sharper focus at this time of year, will make you cry. And if you cry too loud and too long, you'll miss the magic - that there is kindness and goodness and hope in other people's lives too (and sometimes your own). The best books reconnect you with these."

Question: Can you tell me which book that's from?

Answer: No? (That's because I just made it up.)

Do you ever feel as though the books you want to read just aren't there? I want to read things that are inspiring and hopeful at Christmastime, usually because it helps me when I do crass things  - like mistake a neighbour for the amazon man, sit on my glasses, drive into a stone pot while having a light-bulb moment plot twist. When I'm too busy, I need to read and write more than usual. Otherwise, the startling minutiae of daily life constantly defeats me. I remember when the children were small, reading books by Ross Campbell - How to really love your child/teenager (great books by the way if you haven't read them, They transformed our parenting style). He talks a lot about how to keep their emotional tanks full so that they don't do bad stuff to try and get your attention. That's just how I am with reading and writing. They keep my emotional tank full and when it's empty, I do crass things. Maybe for attention - who knows?! (Note to you: I do have actual human beings in my life who keep my emotional tank full too).

Anyway, I have a few favourite lines that inspire me at Christmastime. Here are my top five, in no particular order.

1. "Christmas Eve. Determined to be festive, Miss Cameron arranged her cards on the mantlepiece and filled a bowl with holly..."

This is from a beautiful short story by Rosamunde Pilcher (from a book of short stories called The Blue Bedroom). It's about a spinster who has led a fairly solitary and unremarkable life and I read it every year. I love these lines because there is something so brave and dogged about those two simple acts. Miss Cameron is alone at Christmas but she is not defeated. She will celebrate the season and in her own way, she will make her happiness. Something else rather nice happens too, nothing romantic or life changing but again, something simple. It's a lovely story.

2. "A cold coming we had of it,
     Just the worst time of the year
     For a journey, and such a journey
     The ways deep and the weather sharp
     The very dead of winter..."

The opening lines of T S Eliot's poem, The Journey of the Magi, never fails to inspire me. It's such a tranforming poem, changing you as you read it, especially when you read it aloud. But the beginning is so apt for Christmas which always come when you least want it - when you are too busy at work, or you have little money, or someone you love is ill or no longer with you. Just the worst time of the year. Somehow this poem comforts me and reminds me that even in, perhaps especially in, difficult times, Christmas can change us.

3. "In each stocking, there was a pair of bright red mittens, and there was a long, flat stick of red-and-white-striped- peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side. They were all so happy, they could hardly speak..."

This is from my favourite childhood book, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It's set in Wisconsin in the 1870s and is the true story of a family of pioneers living in a log cabin with all the challenges of extreme weather and an isolated life. I love this story and read it every year because it conjures up a simpler (and much harder) life where small things mean such a lot and in which gratitude and simplicity make for wonderful Christmas celebrations. It always warms the heart of my bottom.

4. "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!"sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and others girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
"We've got Father and Mother and each other," said Beth, contentedly from her corner."

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is great to read at Christmas. The image of this little family, not untouched by tragedy, working together to make their own celebration and everyone else's the best it can be, is a comfort read worth having. It doesn't minimise the hardships either. Best of all, it's about a writer! Confession - I love the movie too, the one with Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon. It's so Christmassy. Looking forward to the new one I'm taking our Ladies Group to see it in the New Year.

5. "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."

These lines from John's Gospel (the bible) do me in every year. I love the opening chapter. There's something incredibly powerful about light in wintertime. I love seeing lights on the outside of neighbours' houses and my own - even the garish ones. I love seeing a lamp in the window, a candle on the table. Any attempt to dispel the darkness and bring warmth and light is beautiful. This is what Christ does, at Christmas and always.

So Happy Christmas, Writers. Know that the light is there this Christmas even if you don't see it, even if you are mourning or unwell. Squeeze the juice out of every moment spent with those you love and draw inspiration from books.

Steal away to read and write when you can. You won't cope if your emotional tank is empty ;) 

Click on the link to see the novella on amazon

Deborah Jenkins is a primary school teacher and freelance writer who has written articles, text books, devotional notes and short stories. She writes regularly for the tes. She has also completed a novella, The Evenness of Things, available as an Amazon e-book and is currently working on a full length novel. Deborah loves hats, trees and small children. After years overseas with her family, who are now grown up, she lives in Sussex with her husband, a Baptist minister, and a cat called Oliver.