A fun set of sci-fi (ish) Christmas themed short stories that run the gamut from sappy to scary. All were very good.

I loved the lists of books and movies at the end of the stories and certainly plan to check them out. ( )

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This book was a delight. I liked every single story in here and would heartily recommend the anthology for a speculative fiction holiday read. ( )

I got this collection because I loved the last thing I read by Willis (The Bellwether), and we were looking for Christmas read-alouds this year. There are eight short stories in this collection, and here’s the rundown:

“Miracle” 4 stars

This was the one I read out loud, and I liked it more than my husband did. Having read the introduction, I knew going in that Willis thinks Miracle on 34th Street is a better movie than It’s a Wonderful Life, and that’s a running gag in this story. I enjoyed it. There was humor, romance, and a touch of the supernatural. It felt a little dated, particularly with the corporate Christmas present choice, but not enough to distract too much from the story and humorous social commentary.

“Inn” 3.5 stars

A little too cynical and on the nose for me, but still good commentary and a decent story. Knowing that Willis sang (sings?) in a church choir (which I found out later) legitimized the tone and mood for me.

“In Coppelius’s Toyshop” 4.5 stars

Short and extremely creepy. Yikes, I’m still shuddering a little.

“The Pony” 3 stars

Meh, this one didn’t feel fully developed, but since it’s Willis, maybe I just missed something. Ended on a very ominous note.

“Adaptation” 3.5 stars

I liked the setting and the bookseller main character, who I definitely related to from my Borders days. His daughter was precious, and his ex-wife was over-the-top bitchy. There are a couple of those horrible ex-wife types in this collection, and I’m wondering if there’s some personal experience thrown in like the movie preferences and church choir stuff. Neat idea, but I found the ending a bit abrupt.

“Cat’s Paw” 4 stars

This was a fun one, a play on Sherlock Holmes and Watson with some animal rights commentary thrown in, and a twist I didn’t see coming. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was quite wrong. The ending was dark enough, but not as dark as the one I had imagined.

“Newsletter” 5 stars

This was my favorite of the collection and the one I thought had the most clever twist. It’s a happy sci-fi lark, and a funny commentary on the ubiquitous Christmas letter.

“Epiphany” 4 stars

I had to go back and reread a little bit to get this one, but once I did, it upped my opinion of the ending. Again, a little dated with the search for phones, but still a nice, unique Christmas story.

The author included her recommendations for favorite Christmas reads and movies at the end of the collection, which was a nice touch.
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The Christmas season is almost the ideal setting for Coniie Willis's going through the rapids frantic pacing and several of the stories are in that mode. A couple are closer to horror stories. But it helps to like Christmas stories and be Christian, which I don't generally and am not. ( )