Christmas favorites – movies/books

December is Christmas month and I have been seeing posts on Christmas favorites everywhere so I thought of coming up with my own favorites list. Here are some movies and books that I love –

Movies:

I am not going to describe what these movies are about as that will make this post too long. Please check IMDB for more details if you think these movies sound interesting.

1. Home alone movies – I am not a Christian and we do not celebrate Christmas. Until I came to US, I had not even seen a Christmas tree in real life. But I had seen the biggest Christmas tree in New York, thanks to the second Home Alone movie. I love these movies and especially love watching them during Christmas time.
2. A Christmas Carol – The animated movie with Jim Carrey was absolutely wonderful. I watched the movie and then read the book immediately and loved them both. It is probably the most perfect Christmas movie to watch.
3. The Polar express –  This is another animated movie with Tom Hanks and it is one of my most favorite animated movies. This is about a boy who goes on an adventure to North Pole on Polar express.
4. Frozen – I want to watch this movie again during Christmas. It has such a winter theme with all the snow and ice. One of my absolute favorite movies ever.
5. The nightmare before Christmas – This was probably my first Tim Burton movie. This animated movie is quite spooky and terrifying. It definitely is not for kids.

Books:

This year I wanted to read some books with Christmas theme. I already finished reading the first book on this list and absolutely loved it.

1. Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien – This book is a collection of letters that Tolkien wrote to his children during Christmas every year.
   Review: Why did this book have to end? This is probably one of those rare books which I hoped would never end. I had no idea this book was so awesome, otherwise I would have picked it long back.
   -> perfect read for Christmas. This book put me in Christmas mood
   -> I might reread this book every Christmas. Yes, it is that awesome.
   -> Tolkien was a great father. His children were lucky to receive such great letters from him for Christmas
   -> Tolkien was a great artist too and not just writer. The illustrations and pictures in this book were done so well. I had no idea before reading this book that he was THAT good. Some of the pictures were stunning. If not for the text, get this book just for the pictures.
   -> The book has letters but these are no ordinary letters. The letters have short stories in them involving polar bear, elves, goblins, cave bear and so many other wonderful characters. Even poems are there.
   -> As children grew up, the number of people to whom the letters were addressed decreased and for some reason, that made me sad. I guess I knew once all the children grew up, these letters would stop and that was a sad feeling. He wrote letters for 23 years or so! Wow!
   -> Tolkien’s handwriting is so good. This book has scanned versions of all the original letters.
   -> one of my favorite Tolkien books for sure.
2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – Like I mentioned earlier, I have already read this story and love it. I want to read it again this year, along with some of the other Christmas stories by Dickens. This story is a classic and it needs no introduction.

So what are you watching and reading this month?