Books Under the Christmas Tree

This year, I decorated my Christmas tree the day before Thanksgiving. I guess I felt the pressure to do it a little earlier this year, and I am not sure why. Perhaps it was the displays going up in the stores on Halloween. At any rate, I decided to put things up a little earlier so I could enjoy them more.

My tree takes a while to decorate because I only use glass ornaments, and care is required when placing them on the branches! I have dropped a few. These vintage-type ornaments are my favorites.

As a child, I can remember that our trees always had this type of glass ornaments. They seemed ordinary at the time, but now they seem magical. Christmases were never easy for me as a kid, but the tree was always right.  I am sure these ornaments were purchased at the local five-and-ten. How I wished I had saved them to enjoy now!

Once my tree was up and ready (it only took a whole day!), I looked underneath. My velvet tree skirt is certainly lovely, but indeed vary bare. I never quite know what to put under the tree, as gift-giving is done early in my house, most of it online or handed out way before the 25th. The solution came this past weekend, when I went to a friend's house for our book club gathering. Underneath her tree, she had smartly placed her favorite holiday books as a display. I am not sure why I hadn't thought of that.

So that's exactly what I decided to do.

My holiday books were not packed away like my ornaments and stocking hangers --wrapped in tissue, protected in sturdy plastic boxes . Instead, I place them on a their own shelf, knowing I probably won't read them from January to November.  I realized as I pulled them out that just as I take out ornaments from boxes and "ooohh" and "ahhhh" over beautiful ones I've forgotten, so too did I reacquaint myself with titles I hadn't thought about since last December. As I held the books, took in the cover art, and gently leafed through the pages, I remembered the stories again, appreciating once more how these books always make my holidays brighter. 

These are a few of the special holiday books underneath my tree:

And, of course, with new titles coming out every season, I added these 2017 books to my Christmas collection: 

(This is one I am looking to read next! Perhaps Santa will bring it to me!)

I should have known that books would add that unique touch of story and memory to my Christmas. They have become just as precious to me as the glass ornaments adorning my tree.