The Muppets are about as joyful as things gets at the best of times. But how much is the joy factor increased when its Christmastime and Kermit, Fozzy and Gonzo and the gang have to go all the way to the North Pole to deliver some letters to Santa that Continue Reading
Christmas in July 2020
Time to start singing with Fa-la-la-la-llama by Alix Bosco #ChristmasInJuly
If you haven’t noticed yet, Christmas books for kids are the absolute, creative best. All those hilariously quirky permutations of festive language use that we have known and loved since we ourselves were kids, find their way into these books and with a talented writer and inspired artist working together, Continue Reading
Book review: One Day in December by Josie Silver #ChristmasinJuly
Making an enduring love affair, especially one thwarted by time and circumstance feel wholly and immersively believable is no easy feat. Especially when you are also trying in the grandest of all romantic comedy traditions to keep the escapist magic alive and well too. But Josie Silver manages it with Continue Reading
During #ChristmasinJuly I listened to The Christmas Present by Robbie Williams
Such have been the virus-riven rigours of 2020 that many people have joked we should simply fast-forward to December and the attendant delights of the festive season and forget the horrors of COVID-19 amidst a delightful cloud of caroling, eggnog and gathering with those we love around a brightly-decorated tree. Continue Reading
Time to have a retro “Christmas with the Addams Family” #ChristmasInJuly
Just how many Santas is too many? And, by extension, how many presents are too many? You might think that there can’t possibly be a surfeit of either thing at the most wonderful time of the year but in “Christmas With the Addams Family”, broadcast on 24 December 1965, that Continue Reading
#ChristmasinJuly book review: Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
It’s not an unusual thing to be so completely drawn into the lives of a book’s characters that they come to feel like temporary flesh-and-blood fellow companions on the journey of life. Far from merely residing on the pages, these people are as real as your own family and friends, Continue Reading
Pop culture festiveness! The 5 ornaments I hung on my #ChristmasInJuly tree
I have put up a Christmas in July tree! Those who know me well will not be surprised by this at all, since I love Christmas with the same fervour and passion that I reserve for caramel cheesecake and releases of new books by my favourite authors. But in previous Continue Reading