ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

Spell the Month in Books is a linkup hosted on Reviews From the Stacks on the first Saturday of each month, but that’s the day for #6Degrees, so here we are, a week later instead.  This month we are challenged to spell the current month using only titles referencing Winter, Christmas, or Christian themes.

Winter, eh? #NoteToTheNorthernHemisphere: for millions and millions of people on the Other Side of the Equator it’s either Summer or Wet Season, so I’m going with ‘seasonal’ themes not winter.

Plus, as a matter of respect for the multicultural, multi-faith community that I live in, I’m going with ‘festive season’.

Links go to my reviews.

D

A Dry White Season (1979) by André Brink.

The image on the cover of this groundbreaking novel is what Australians are more likely to see than snow!

A Dry White Season was South African author André Brink’s first novel, and it of course it was banned because — by tracing the enlightenment of a man who was indifferent to South African politics until he is confronted by the effects of apartheid on someone he knew — it exposes the corruption and immorality of the ruling apartheid regime.

It may not seem like a book well-suited to the festive season, but actually, to read it now offers hope.  Well into my adulthood, South Africa was an intransigent racially segregated society like the one so astutely observed in this novel, and yet in 1994 the first multiracial general election was held and Nelson Mandela became president. Miracles do happen.

See my review

E

Enjoyed for Generations, the History of Haigh’s Chocolates, by Barbara Santich.

Hmm, I am drawing a bit of a long bow here, and even as I write this I’m wracking my brain for books to match the next two Es in DecEmbEr.

But the festive season is a time for chocolate.  Posh chocolate if the budget can accommodate it.  And Haigh’s — the Australian chocolate manufacturers who are the subject of this very readable history — make very nice posh chocolate indeed.

A quick look at their current Christmas range reveals all kinds of goodies, but my vote goes to the sustainable Advent calendar, which is made of cloth and has little pockets into which a little treat can be put.  Naturally Haigh’s have the right-sized mini chocolates to fit, but an enterprising parents could choose alternatives if they want to.

And the book, as I said in my review is ideal for gift-giving.

C

Scrooge and Bob Cratchit celebrate Christmas in an illustration from stave five of the original edition of A Christmas Carol 1843. (Wikipedia)

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Yes, I know, not the least little bit original.  And sentimental.  Well, Dickens was.

But I loved A Christmas Carol when I was a kid. Did you know that Goodreads lists 13528 editions?  My edition is from a set of 14 Dickens novels published in the 1930s by Odhams and it has the original illustrations by John Leech.  A Christmas Carol is only 79 pages long, in print so small that my ophthalmologist recommended reading books from this set to strengthen my eyes…  I remember reading it aloud to The Offspring when he was a boy.

The other four stories in this volume are The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain.

E

The Elf on the Shelf, by Carol V Aebersold and Chanda A Bell

Where would the festive season be without some argy-bargy about the values it embodies?  And what better book than The Elf on the Shelf to arouse passionate debate about consumerism, greed, creepy parental surveillance and whether praying for presents is sordid or not?

My favourite review of this product at K-mart is from Rachel E, who wrote

On Dec 2, I am already regretting this purchase.
However the product itself is perfect.

See my review.

M

The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism is Changing Ideas about Living Ethically, by Peter Singer

Ok, the festive season, whatever your religion or lack of it, is when most of us get out our wallets and make a donation to a worthy cause because we like to spread the joy — and offset any guilt we have about overspending.  (The other time when the charities beseech us to part with our money is at the end of the financial year so that we can claim a tax deduction on the donation. That’s a bit sordid, compared to the more worthy motivations that influence festive season donations.)

Peter Singer is my favourite philosopher after Marcus Aurelius, because he deals with practical matters.  In this book he outlines the reasons why we should donate, and how to counter arguments from the Whataboutery crowd.  He advises on the principles that should inform donations so that your money is spent where it’s needed and can achieve long term outcomes.

It’s an empowering book.

See my review

B

Bake, by Paul Hollywood

If you cook, then you almost certainly bake during the festive season, and Paul Hollywood’s Bake is my favourite go-to for successful recipes that are easy to do.

For many Australians, entertaining outside, the traditional Christmas cake and pudding have been ditched for …

*drum roll*

The Pav.

Made with summer berries.

The recipe is here.

See my review

E

The Evening of the Holiday by Shirley Hazzard

When the frenetic activity of the festive season is over, we lapse into the long lazy days of summer.  For many, it’s a month of loafing about by the beach, but for schoolteachers, pinioned into taking their holidays only when it’s school holidays, the summer holiday is the only one that’s long enough for long-haul getaways.  Europe in winter, anyone?

Spain and Italy are the best bet for avoiding snow (but possibly not the best for avoiding romantic entanglements). The Evening of the Holiday is set in Tuscany. It was Shirley Hazzard’s first novel and is  sharply observed story of a love affair between English-Italian Sophie, and Tancredi, a sophisticated Italian whose wife has left him.

I have Shirley Hazzard, a Writing Life by Bridget Olubas on the TBR…

See my review.

R

Rivers, The Life Blood of Australia, by Ian Hoskins

While I’m on the subject of holidays, Rivers is a lovely book to entice the holidaymaker to inland waters rather than the beach.  My brief sojourn as a resident of Seymour in Victoria is associated with breathtaking summer heat (no aircon in house or car) assuaged by the chill of a dip in the Goulburn River.

Rivers have significant advantages over the beach.  No sharks, stinging jellyfish or sand for a start.  It’s easier to mark out your own territory without the crowds.  We would sit under the gentle shade of the gum trees, and slide into the water on and off, occasionally paddling the canoe when we were feeling energetic.

And it was blissfully cold.

See my review.

Thanks to Jennifer from Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large for reminding me.  Her December list is here.

Image credits:

• Scrooge and Bob Cratchit celebrate Christmas in an illustration from stave five of the original edition of A Christmas Carol 1843: By John Leech (1817-1864) – https://archive.org/details/christmascarolin20dick, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30299416
• Berry pavlova: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10802155/Paul-Hollywood-brought-time-favourite-recipes-mouthwatering-new-book.html