A Lot Like Christmas

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Eliza Foss, L. J. Ganser, Lori Gardner, John Keating

Holiday stories and traditions enchantingly reimagined - with an insightfully satirical twist. Featuring five stories new to this collection, plus seven previously published stories, now all collected together for the first time.

From the award-winning author of Crosstalk.

No one could ask for a better present than a collection of Connie Willis Christmas tales. These are amazing stories, representing all the best of the Connie Willis experience: true Christmas gifts to her many fans. They are full of humor, absurdity, human foibles, tragedy, joy, and hope. They both send up and embrace many of the best Christmas traditions, such as the Christmas newsletter, Secret Santas, office parties, holiday pageants, and Christmas dinners (both elaborate and spare). There are ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come; debates over which is the best Christmas movie (Connie argues for the original Miracle on 34th Street, hands down); Rockettes; modern-day Magi; and the triumph of generosity over greed.

©2017 Connie Willis (P)2017 Recorded Books

Best Christmas stories ever!!

Connie Willis has it all in her Christmas stories: humor, intelligence, nostalgia, and a true love of Christmas. Don't miss her list of great xmas stories and films at the end!

Wonderful Christmas Stories

I read these stories every other Christmas and love them all. Thank you, Connie Willis.

A Joy to Read

Best Christmas book ever. Lots of wonderful short stories, perfect while decorating or shopping. Cheerful, thoughtful with fun twists that keep you entertained. One you can listen with the whole family. Highly recommend, wish I could give 6 stars.

Loved it!

I don't often write reviews, but for this book I have to as it was sooo excellent, (a 5 +++) and so exactly what I wanted to listen to a few days before Christmas As a long time fan, .I've read quite a lot of Willis so I knew the narrative would be good and probably humorous, I just didn't expect it to be so well developed specifically for a Christmas read. It's also very nicely narrated

The dozen short stories, except for one, weigh in at about 40 pages. They're all linked with a slightly different Christmasy theme and spirit, but there's a lot of humor in them, some light futurist sci-fi, and a tiny sprinkling of romance. I smiled and laughed and sometimes my heart was touched. It's been over 2 days now and I still can't find my next listen. Enjoy.

I couldn't get through it

I love Christmas short stories and I have several audio books that I go to every year. Most of them as the classics, like Hans Christian Anderson or Louisa May Alcott. They all feel Christmasy, in one way or the other.

I listened to the first story and more than half of the second.

I would say that they were both "cute" but not my cup of tea. Just a little too camp for my taste. What's more, they are pretty long for short stories... over an hour each.

I much prefer "Christmas Book at Bedtime: Complete Series" or "Classic Christmas Stories: A Collection of Timeless Holiday Tales."

But your mileage may vary.

Great collection of unexpected Christmas stories

Connie Willis always tells unique and amazing stories. This collection is no exception. The stories are funny, touching (in a non-heavy handed way), and enjoyable.

A lot like Christmas

Connie Willis is a wonderful writer and this compilation of short sci fi Christmas stories proves it. Narration by Eliza Foss , L. J. Ganser, Lori Gardner and, John Keating was very good.Recommended for teen on up.

Three stars down the line

Three stars and I didn’t finish. I gave up during Epiphany, because again the short story seemed to be going on far too long. As with most others in this collection, that story seemed padded and never paid off for that padding. The best story, the Adaptation one, is the shortest I made it through. The one with music and aliens came early, and I was just about to quit all the way through and at the end kept going through pure bloody-mindedness. It’s not bad. It’s not really all that good. the readings are okay, though in one the narrator’s Scandinavian assistant’s name is read as “enj” again and again and yet again and the name is “Inge” which is pronounced “Inga” and ruined the whole thing because I kept screaming “IT’S INGA WHY HAS NO ONE CAUGHT THIS???” And scaring the neighbors.

Very, Very Long Stories

Several friends had told me how much they enjoyed Connie Willis's Christmas stories, so I was excited to check this collection out. But I was quickly surprised by how long the stories are. While I enjoy stories that take their time, I prefer short stories (including novellas and novelettes) to be economical with their words. Here, most of the stories are close to 2-3 hours in length and and unfortunately feel it. Willis doesn't quite agree on the economics of words in short stories, apparently.

"Miracle," like at least half of the stories in this collection, is a romantic comedy about an office Christmas party getting hijacked by a environmentalist trickster. This sounds pretty funny, but there's also a lot of arguing about which is the better Christmas movie: Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life. Can't we like both? The execution dragged on and on, and couldn't charm or tickle me. "Newsletter" is about how ridiculous and ludicrous Christmas newsletters from friends and family can be. In the end, it of course turns out to be one of the newsletters itself but it's hours long (30 minutes would've been a stretch). "Now Showing" is a SF story where a pair of film lovers discover that the movie theater theme parks with one hundred screens they've been patronizing hold some big secrets about the industry -- secrets which broke my suspension of disbelief.

That said, some of the stories are delightful -- "Cat's Paw" is a SF mystery that riffs off Sherlock Holmes and Poe's "The Murders of Rue Morgue." "deck.halls@bough/holly" is about a Themed Christmas Decorator who does installations for clients who is surprised when she starts to fall for her newest client. "Epiphany" sees two modern wise men and a woman searching for their own epiphany. "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" attempts to put a fun speculative spin on one of Willis's favorite Christmas movies -- Love, Actually -- by stringing together several different stories of a global White Christmas, some which are pretty fun. But my favorite is "Adaptation," a small, quiet story which takes place in a bookstore on Christmas Eve and shows the spirits of Christmas Past and Yet to Come struggling in the modern era of the holidays, while a fellow clerk wishes he could just spend the holiday with his daughter. The reading by L.J. Ganser on this is particularly excellent.

Something else I really enjoyed were the introduction and afterward by Willis, who talks about what makes Christmas stories special and goes on to share some of her favorites as a fan. Even though I found this collection to be over long and half the stories forgettable, it would be delightful to spend a couple of hours talking to Willis about Christmas stories. Some of these tales I might come back to in holidays yet to come, but next time I'll be skimming and skipping some of the other stories.

Favorite Christmas listen

Several new Christmas stories and now on audio! I read these on kindle every year and am happy to see them now on audio!