57. This is Christmas

57. This is Christmas: Song by Song: The Stories Behind 100 Holiday Hits. 2023. 224 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, Christmas, music appreciation]

First sentence: When you think of Christmas music, what comes to mind?

Premise/plot: This is Christmas: Song by Song is a nonfiction book bordering on a novelty book. Is this a good match for you? Maybe. Maybe not. With the right expectations you might find yourself lightly entertained. OR if you have an incredibly short attention span and are looking for a light, fluffy, unsubstantial read. OR if you are vaguely curious and want a light, shallow answer to satisfy your curiosity.

The book offers the story (or "story") of 100 holiday hits. Perhaps the clue is in the word HOLIDAY HITS. This isn't a book about the songs themselves. Not really. Which is perhaps fair enough. After all, look at ANY Christmas album and there's a good chance 75 to 90% of the songs are covers of Christmas classics. Whether it's a traditional Christmas hymn/carol--think Silent Night, O Holy Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, or a traditional Christmas song--think Sleigh Ride, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells--they've been covered thousands of times if not tens of thousands of times. This book has selected particular covers when it comes to some of these. So it isn't the history of the SONG but trivial, light stories of one particular cover that you may or may not have ever heard of...or liked...or wanted to hear again. There are a handful of songs that are highlighted by their original artist. This is for better or worse. IF you've heard of the song and liked it--and it's been part of your Christmases long, long ago--then it's interesting enough. If you've never heard the song, never heard the artist, then it's just dull and meaningless. Often I found myself wishing that the artist chosen to be highlighted was different.

Essentially everything about this book is subjective.

My thoughts: I think this one--which is arranged chronologically by the particular song (song cover) being released--has the potential to frustrate readers of all ages. For example, I was annoyed by all this "new" music that I'd never heard of and don't care to hear. I can easily, easily, easily imagine a younger reader being annoyed by all the "old" and "ancient" music that he/she had never heard of and don't care to hear. The book covers so many styles and genres that if there was a playlist with these particular versions of songs would be extremely disjointed and not much "fun" for any listener.

I would have personally loved if the book was the HISTORY of Christmas music. WHO introduced the song to the world first? OR which artist(s) made it a HIT in the first year or two of being written. WHICH artist(s) have made it his/her own. WHAT makes a particular rendition resonate with listeners? Even if it meant covering certain songs two or three times.

I also felt that this isn't the 100 "greatest" Christmas songs. Many of the songs were 'original' songs that may or may not be timeless and still played today. No one can denied that Last Christmas is played incessantly every Christmas. BUT some of these songs are VERY taste-specific.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews