Christmas Mail (2010)

Christmas Mail stars AJ Buckley as a disillusioned postal worker, Matt Sanders, who has the custody of his young orphaned niece. If you have ever seen CSI New York, you may recognize Buckley as Adam from that show. One day he meets Kristi North, a mysterious woman who shows up at the post office to answer Santa's mail.  Sanders' boss is convinced that she is up to something and appoints Sanders to spy on her. The two manage to fall in love. One thing I like about this movie is that the magic is subtle. It is implied that North is the daughter of Santa Claus, but this is never explicitly said. A wonderful movie for the holidays.

A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Moore

A Visit From St. Nicholas was first written in 1823, although its author did not acknowledge the poem until 1837. It is sometimes called The Night Before Christmas or Twas the Night Before Christmas, based on the first line of the poem. This poem has shaped many of America's modern ideas about Santa Claus. It gives us his reindeers' names, and the concept of Santa coming up and down the chimney. It is a true Christmas classic with countless illustrators taking up their pens to give us new drawings. I love this story.

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

So how can you go wrong with David Niven and Cary Grant? The answer is you can't, at least not in this movie.  Niven plays Bishop Henry Brougham, who prayed to God for the money for a new cathedral and is neglecting his family in his pursuit of a bigger better cathedral. So God sends Dudley (Grant) in order to teach Brougham a little Christmas spirit. The two of them instantly clash especially since Dudley starts to fall a little bit in love with Brougham's wife Julia. The story is a great one and was actually remade in 1996 as the Preacher's Wife. One interesting fact is that originally Grant was cast as Brougham and Niven was the angel, but Grant asked that the roles be switched. The result is pure magic.

The Merry Wanderer by Nancy Butler

It's that time of year again, time for mistletoe and holly. Today I am reviewing just one story in a collection of Christmas novellas called Regency Christmas Spirits. I love classic regency romances because there is hardly any sex in them, because quite frankly in those days gentlemen did not seduce ladies before their wedding night :). I will only review one story though because the title of such a collection can be open to interpretation. One story can be about the Ghost of Christmas Past helping his descendants find true love and happiness and the next story can be about how true love is the real "magic" of Christmas.  So about that story...

The Merry Wanderer by Nancy Butler

Robin Goodfellow (or Puck as he is commonly known) is sent into Regency England to confront Julia, the last guardian of the Book of Trey. The Book is the only thing keeping the land of Faerie attached to the mortal realm and if it is lost, then Faerie is lost as well. But Julia does not believe in Christmas or magic or Faerie and it is up to Robin and his ally Merlin of Arthurian lore to convince her that such things do exist.  A fun little romance and one where everyone lives happily ever after in the end.

 

Magician Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist*

Magician: Apprentice is the first of Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga. It begins the story of Pug and his friend Tomas and the adventures that spring for them. Pug becomes the apprentice of the wizard Kulgan in this story, but it is soon learned that his magic is unlike anything found in the Kingdom Isles that is his home. It would take being captured and taken to another world before his true potential is realized. And Tomas, well he has a destiny like none would ever imagine. Feist is a master at his craft and still writing great books so many years after this one came out.