Tis the season to read Christmas

We've done the Christmas crafts and cooking, so the next step on our Christmas book journey is Christmas stories. And when you consider that authors such as Anne Perry, David Baldacci, Patricia Scanlan, Fern Michaels, John Grisham, Maeve Binchy, Mary Higgins Clark and Cecilia Ahern (to name just a few) have all either dabbled or dived into the Christmas fiction genre, then I think there might be something for everyone. And that's even if you are feeling "Bah Humbug!"

To kick things off, the classic A Christmas Carol is available in many different versions in the library, from the original Charles Dickens through to children's abridged, illustrated or graphic novel versions.

Our Romance sections have a variety of seasonal fare. For Mills & Boon fans click on this Christmas romance link to see the titles that we have and which library they are in. Still plenty of time to order them to your local library for the holidays.

If you like a touch of crime in your fiction try Anne Perry's Christmas series which is described as "a perfect combination of mystery and murder mixed with yuletide cheer." Likewise Mary Higgins Clark sends her Regan Reilly character on a whole host of season crime chases as well as penning one-off Christmas tales.

If you are already over Christmas, maybe The Worst Noel collection is the book for you. With stories such as "The Bite before Christmas" and "That's just about enough figgy pudding actually" this sounds like it may have a bit of the scrooge and a reasonable dollop of humour about it.

There's plenty of inspiration and poignancy about many of the books if you are looking for something with a Christmas message in it. I recently read Zanna's Gift: A Life in Christmases by Orson Scott Card writing as Scott Richards. It was "a touching tale of love, loss and the true meaning of Christmas" and the story of a gift which wasn't large or expensive, but had the power to inspire love and tradition in a family through the generations. Although not strictly a Christmas book, one I finished last night has a similar message of magic, faith and hope. The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo is a children's book, but don't let that stop you picking it up as there it is well worth reading, telling the story of an orphan, an elephant and the diverse group of people who come together to make "the extraordinary come true".