Westerly Sun Column | The Library Will Help You Get in the Holiday Spirit

I absolutely love this time of year. The twinkling lights and decorations at every turn. The carols. The smell of fresh-baked cookies. The eggnog (oh, the eggnog). I can’t get enough! In an attempt to fully immerse myself in the Christmas spirit, I’m making a point to watch and read as many holiday-themed things as possible this December. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of holiday materials at the library, so it’s not much of a challenge!

When it comes to films, the true challenge is deciding which ones NOT to watch, because you can’t possibly get through them all. If you love the classics, Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1947) should clearly be at the top of the list, but then there’s also Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” (1954), “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) and “The Bishops Wife” (1947). Which to choose?! If you’re looking for something the whole family can enjoy, your prospects are similarly overwhelming. “A Christmas Story” (1983) and “Elf” (2004) are crowd pleasers, but we can’t forget “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965) and “Home Alone” (1990).

Then there are the remakes (oh, the remakes). You could easily spend the entire month watching and reading adaptions of one or two classics. Charles Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol” (1843) has a staggering number of remakes; truly, the Wikipedia page listing them all is probably longer than the book itself. One of the best known is the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, but there are also more non-traditional ones, like the 1988 comedy “Scrooge” starring Bill Murray. You can’t miss the musical retellings either, like the 1970 film starring Albert Finney, also titled “Scrooge”, and the beloved “The Muppet Christmas Carol” from 1992. Most recently, Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds starred in the 2022 musical comedy “Spirited”, but it’s currently only available in theaters and on AppleTV+. At least that’s one you can scratch off your list (for now)!

It’s also a busy time of year, and we don’t all have 2+ hours to watch a whole movie. If that sounds familiar, consider doing what I do, and watch the holiday episodes of your favorite TV series! Comedies like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation” have one each season, and they’re all hilarious and under 30 minutes long. Don’t forget to make time for the iconic season 9 episode of “Seinfeld”, which brought us the Festivus holiday! There’s so many others to consider, like “Friends”, “Schitt’s Creek”, and “Downton Abbey”.

You’re not overwhelmed yet, right? Because I haven’t even mentioned the thousands of holiday novels we have, the music CD’s and soundtracks, the Hallmark holiday film collection on Hoopla, and the many cookbooks that offer mouthwatering winter and holiday recipes. In short, the library is here to help you get in the spirit all month long.

By Cassie Skobrak, Adult Services Librarian