Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December...

The six mean Herdman kids lie, steal, smoke cigars (even the girls) and then become involved in the community Christmas pageant.

"Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that's not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one--until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera's help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request--a Christmas quilt for Mama. Vera will have to get a ragtag...

"When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself--with enthusiastic...

Written between 1850 and 1867, the Christmas Stories appeared annually in the Christmas issues of weekly journals. Many are sketches and essays full of autobiographical interest as he recalls childhood stories and scenes, excursions in Europe, a haunted house, and the den of a misanthropic hermit. All the stories Dickens wrote in collaboration with Wilkie Collins are included in full in this edition, presenting these adventure tales in complete form...

"Jack loves his childhood toy, Dur Pig. DP has always been there for him, through good and bad. Until one Christmas Eve something terrible happens--DP is lost. But Christmas Eve is a night for miracles and lost causes, a night when all things can come to life ... even toys. And Jack's newest toy--the Christmas Pig (DP's replacement)--has a daring plan: together they'll embark on a magical journey to seek something lost, and to save the best friend...

Dear Universe, Is anyone out there? Thinking no one is reading, a blogger who calls herself LBH writes about her most personal feelings, especially her overwhelming loneliness. She goes from day to day showing a brave face to the world while inside she longs to know how it would feel if one person cared about her. Alex Bartlett cares. He's reading her posts in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nursing his own broken heart and trust issues, he finds himself...

Tchaikovsky's musical setting of the Christmas fantasy with musical scenario revised by Peter Wright and the dancing of the Royal Ballet.

Holiday novella about a man who sacrificed his family in the single-minded pursuit of success and the courageous little girl fighting for her life who crosses his path. It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn't your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he's taken a life but he won't say whose -- not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl...

We see Mary -- young, strong, and inquisitive -- as she first meets Joseph, a serious-minded young carpenter who is steadfastly devoted to the religious traditions of their people. The two become betrothed, but are soon faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Aided by a great and abiding love, they endure challenges to their relationship as well as threats to their lives as they come to terms with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the birth of...