December Book Selections

Introducing a history of Christmas and a wintery historical novel

Hello, readers!

I’m excited today to announce our fiction and non-fiction selections for December. On the classic side, we’ll be continuing Great Expectations — it’s definitely not too late to jump in on that one if you’re interested!

The two new titles, meanwhile, are perfect for the season.

---

City of Thieves by David Benioff (2008)

“You bring me a dozen eggs by Thursday, I give you your lives back.”

Benioff is best known for co-creating and writing the Game of Thrones TV show, so the guy obviously has some serious storytelling chops. The premise of this book seemed strange at first, but quickly grabbed me: Set admist the 900-day siege of Leningrad during WWII, two Russians on the verge of manhood are assigned to each other’s company for not quite doing their duty to their Mother Country.

Thinking they might be executed, Lev and Kolya are instead sent on a fool’s errand to find a dozen eggs. That’s right: their life and death mission is to bring their superior officer twelve eggs.

It’s a bit humorous, at first. But then Benioff will take a surprising, dark turn—on a dime—and shocks the senses back into realizing this is in fact an intense story of survival between unlikely comrades.

City of Thieves was an incredibly fun roller-coaster of a story. I’m positive you’ll enjoy it just as much as I did.

The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford

This entertaining non-fiction read is the true story behind the creation of Charles Dickens’ all-time great tale, A Christmas Carol. The 1843 novella remains one of my very favorites, which I find myself re-reading more years than not.

In the early 1840s, Dickens’ career was struggling. He was bottled up creatively, which was hampering his income. In a 6-week fit of inspiration starting in late October, Dickens cranked out A Christmas Carol with nary a break, taking nightly 15-mile walks through the streets of London to work things out in his head.

Carol resurrected not only Dickens’ career, but also, as Standiford compellingly argues, the Christmas holiday itself. It’s quite possible that our cultural obsession with Christmas was at the very least kickstarted by Dickens’ instant bestseller.

Join me for this book and I guarantee you’ll get in the Christmas spirit in no time.

The benefits of a paid subscription

When you subscribe for $5/month (or $50/year), you’ll get the following:

• Weekly recaps with background, contextual material, and highlights from that week’s chapters.

• Access to our weekly discussions, where you’ll get invaluable insights from a diverse community of readers.

• The motivation and accountability to read more books.

---

Hope to see you all in December!

-Jeremy