The holiday season can be hectic. Whether you love November and December or dread the string of parties and get-togethers, all of us have moments when we could use some comic relief. These holiday books are witty, sometimes moving and laugh out loud funny.
'The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog' by Dave Barry
Putnam Adult
Dave Barry's Christmas novella, The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog, is a slice of classic Americana. This story of a boy in a Christmas pageant in 1960 can be read in an hour, but it is packed full of nostalgic illustrations, funny stories and the sort of Christmas spirit that is more A Christmas Story than It's a Wonderful Life.
'Holidays on Ice' by David Sedaris
Little, Brown
Holidays on Ice is a collection of holiday-themed fictional stories and personal essays written by David Sedaris, the best-selling humorist. Holidays on Ice was one of Sedaris' first works when originally published, and it's been re-released with the addition of a few passages, most of which have been previously published elsewhere. Even if you've read it before, Holidays on Ice is laugh out loud funny, and die-hard Sedaris fans need to spend their holidays reading this collection.
'I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence' by Amy Sedaris
Hachette Book Group
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence is just what the title implies -- a guide to entertaining written with a sense of humor that’s clearly under the influence of some questionable substances. The odd illustrations and strange narration might confuse those who pick it up in a bookstore, but this funny and subversive approach to hospitality includes real recipes peppered with a ton of funny tidbits. This is the perfect book to relieve the stress of holiday entertaining.
'You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas' by Augusten Burroughs
St. Martin's Press
Running with Scissors author Augusten Burroughs offers a collection of holiday stories from his own life. Burroughs recounts such absurd anecdotes as the time he ate the face of a six-foot Santa and the time he woke up next to Kris Kringle himself. Slightly racy, often witty, You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs also offers moments of poignant reflection.
'A Christmas Blizzard' by Garrison Keillor
Penguin
Garrison Keillor, of Prairie Home Companion fame, offers a short novel about a a Hawaii-bound holiday traveler who gets stuck in a blizzard in North Dakota after being summoned home to visit a sick aunt. Keillor's humor is laced with nostalgia and holiday epiphany -- a good choice for those who want something funny and heartwarming to read.
