Merry Christmas!
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
Read “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens for free on Google Books.
There are multiple versions of this timeless classic available from Project Gutenberg. The online option includes four separate versions, including the first edition and a first edition with illustrations and handwritten pages. An extraordinary Christmas treat! Dickens is credited by some with inventing our modern conception of Christmas. He certainly went a long way popularizing Christmas as a time of year when the normal toils and hardships of life should be forgotten and relieved.
There have been countless movie adaptations of “A Christmas Carol.”
My favorite varies every time I watch one. The 1984 film starring George C. Scott is certainly high on the list, as is the 1999 film starring Patrick Stewart. David Trumbore’s ranking of the top 21 versions has the 1951 film version at the top. In 2022, Netflix produced “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” which was an animated musical version of the story. The 2017 movie “The Man Who Invented Christmas” focuses on Charles Dickens and stars Dan Stevens and the late Christopher Plummer and different versions of Charles Dickens.
See The Charles Dickens Page for an article on How Dickens Influenced the Celebration of Christmas. The opening lines of “A Christmas Carol” reflect the Puritan influence of the time: “Christmas was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.” (Other versions begin: “Marley was dead …”) Dickens and Queen Victoria, whose husband Prince Albert introduced a Christmas tree to Windsor Castle, helped revive Christmas in England. Today, Christmas is celebrated in most places in the world, even those where there is a modest Christian community. Because of its economic impact, Christmas is a very popular commercial holiday and businesses encourage gift-giving at this time of year. Dickens also wrote a number of “Short Christmas Stories” that are available on Project Gutenberg, including the very popular Christmas story “A Christmas Tree.”
“A Christmas Carol” is the most downloaded Christmas book on Project Gutenberg, but it ranks only 52nd (as of December 16, 2022) with 9319 downloads over the previous 30 days, as compared to the most downloaded book, “A Room with A View,” which was downloaded 173,427 times! I’ll update this later in 2023.
200th Anniversary of “The Night Before Christmas”
The Night Before Christmas and Other Christmas Stories
Read “The Night Before Christmas” for free on Google Books.
Read “The Night Before Christmas” and Other Christmas Stories for free on Project Gutenberg.
In 1822, Clement Moore read to his family his new poem, “The Night Before Christmas.” It was published the next year anonymously in a small upstate New York Newspaper, The Troy Sentinel, as “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” See the poem and its history at the site https://www.twasthenightbeforechristmas.com.
This collection of stories and poems sets the tone for Christmases a century ago. These Christmases were more a relief from the routines of hard work and want than celebrations of presents and plenty. There are numerous movies titled “The Night Before Christmas,” including one starring Tom and Jerry, linked HERE.
“The Night After Christmas” is a tale of hangovers from too much celebration. The send-up poem is unattributed.
The Gift of the Magi
Read “The Gift of the Magi” for free on Project Gutenberg.
The Magi were the wise men who visited baby Jesus bringing gifts. This wonderful short story tells of a brother and sister who surprise each other with Christmas gifts that show their special love for each other. The story is graced by a classic O. Henry ending that surprises and delights. In 2010 a t.v. movie version of the story was made with the main characters shown as newlyweds, rather than brother and sister. “The Gift of the Magi” is also one of five anthology films in the 1952 production “O’Henry’s Full House.” “The Gift of Love” starring Marie Osmond is loosely based on “The Gift of the Magi”.
The Christmas Angel
Read “The Christmas Angel” for free on Project Gutenberg.
By Abbie Farwell Brown
This piece of short fiction has elements of “A Christmas Carol” and “Gone with the Wind”. The Christmas sentiment is heartfelt and would make a nice Hallmark Christmas special after several edits for contemporary sensibilities. However, the Hallmark drama, “The Christmas Angel” is not related to this book. Nor is the 1904 silent film “The Christmas Angel” by George Melies.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry van Dyke
Read “The Story of the Other Wise Man” by Henry van Dyke for free on Project Gutenberg.
Like the other wise men from the book of Mathew, this fourth wise man, Artaban, sees the signs in Heaven proclaiming the birth of
a savior. Artaban travels to give the new King gifts but is delayed when he encounters emergencies that require charity on his behalf. His journey is delayed, though he keeps seeking the Christ for 33 years. He spends all of his treasure helping others and laments that he has failed in his quest. But has he? This Christmas story keeps Christ in Christmas! In 1985, a television movie starring Martin Sheen as Artaban was made, titled “The Fourth Wise Man,” based on the van Dyke book.
First published in 1895. Henry Van Dyke also wrote “The First Christmas Tree: A Story of the Forest,” which is a popular download on Project Gutenberg.
Jimsy, The Christmas Kid by Leona Dalrymple
Read “Jimsy: The Christmas Kid” by Leona Dalrymple for free on Project Gutenberg.
In 2022 this book ranks #2 on Goodreads list of Christmas books in the public domain, trailing only Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” However, Jimsy was downloaded 14 times to “A Christmas Carol’s” 17285 times. So, there is a gap there. Grace S. Richmond has the #3 and #4 books on the Goodreads list of Christmas books in the public domain, “On Christmas Day in the Morning,” and “On Christmas Day in the Evening.”
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Ten Christmas Stories by Edward E. Hale
Read “Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Ten Christmas Stories” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Ten Christmas short stories that reflect a different era. The theme of these stories can be summed up as Christmas giving one the strength to overcome hardship.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
In celebration, of Halloween, visit PoeStories.com
Halloween is Monday, October 31, 2022
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Read “Dracula by Bram Stoker” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “Dracula by Bram Stoker” for free on Google Books.
Dracula was written in 1897 by Irish author Bram Stoker. After Frankenstein, this is probably the best known work in the horror genre.
Wikipedia estimates that Dracula has appeared in over 700 films, television shows and video games with over one thousand appearances in comics and other media with new sightings practically every week. I list Dracula before Frankenstein because Dracula entails the entire vampire species. As early as 1812, Sivestro Palma presented vampires in opera in “I Vampiri”. John Corigliano features Dracula in “The Lord of Cries” which premiered in July 2021 at the Santa Fe Opera, depicting the vampire as tenor. Read Alex Ross’s New Yorker article “John Corigliano’s New Opera Reimagines Dionysus as Dracula” for this latest take on the dark lord. Also visit the New York Times archives for this November 13, 1992 Vincent Canby review of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dizzying Vision of Dracula” regarding his film starring Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. IMBD ranks the 1922 film Nosferatu as the best Dracula film of all time with the Coppola film at #5.
Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Read “Frankenstein” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “Frankenstein” for free on Google Books. (Very readable large type.)
The perfect book for Halloween. Frankenstein was so far ahead of its time that it practically invents its genre. The book was published anonymously in 1818 and celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018, commemorated by this New York Times appreciation by Jennifer Schuessler, “Frankenstein at 200“. For an entertaining look at “Frankenstein” see The Guardian’s “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – in Charts“. Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818 and turned 200 in 2018. Read Jennifer Schuessler’s appreciation, “Frankenstein at 200” in the New York Times. For an entertaining look at the monster, see The Guardian’s “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – in Charts“. The Guardian has also ranked the Top 20 Frankenstein Movies of all time, with the 1935 “The Bride of Frankenstein” ranked #1 and the original classic Karloff 1931 “Frankenstein” at #4.
Frankenstein consistently ranks as the most downloaded book on Project Gutenberg.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” for free on Project Gutenberg. This Project Gutenberg entry only contains the short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
“The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon” contains all of the stories featured in the Penguin Classics book shown to the left.
This is the story of the lanky, gossipy schoolmaster Ichabod Crane who is spirited away (perhaps) while riding the fiery steed Gunpowder after being chased by a Headless Horseman. This tale has been captured in a 1922 silent film starring Will Rogers, a 1949 Walt Disney animated film, and a 1999 big budget Tim Burton film, “Sleepy Hollow” starring Johnny Depp.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Read “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” for free on Google Books.
Stevenson’s short story “The Body Snatchers” is included the collection of short stories “Tales and Fantasies“. His horror story, “Thrawn Janet” is included in “Masterpieces of Mystery in Four Volumes: Ghost Stories by Joseph Lewis French“. “The Waif Woman” is a short supernatural work. Olalla is considered one of the great horror stories of all time. The 1931 film of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is still considered the best rendering of this excellent book though a few prefer the 1941 film starring Spencer Tracey and Ingrid Bergman.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Read “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “The Turn of The Screw” for free in Google Books.” (1st selection in “The Two Magics“.)
This novella was published in serial form in 1898. It is a work of Gothic fiction which is considered one of the finest horror stories ever written. For a contemporary review of this great novella, read “Ever Scarier: On The Turn of the Screw” by Brad Leithauser in the October 12, 2012 New Yorker.
There have been several film adaptations of “The Turn of the Screw” including “The Innocents” in 1961 and “The Turning” in 2020.
In 2018, a theatre production of “Strange Window: The Turn of the Screw” revived James work with a gig economy twist.
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Read “The Fall of the House of Usher” for free on Project Gutenberg.
While Project Gutenberg lists “The Fall of the House of Usher” as a book selection, it is actually a short story, not even a novella in length. Published as a short story in 1839, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is one of Poe’s most celebrated works and has been the subject of operas and movies, the most recent being the 2006 Australian film “The House of Usher.”
Also by Edgar Allan Poe, read “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Cask of Amontillado” both on Project Gutenberg. “The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 2” on Project Gutenberg contain his most famous works; also see “The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 1“.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Read “The Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “The Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux for free on Google Books.
Before the play, there was the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux. The 1986 play by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on the novel has gone on to be one of the most successful musicals of all time, second only to Les Misérables in the length of its Broadway run. It is a classic tale of Gothic horror. In 2004, Joel Schumacher directed the film version Lloyd Webber’s play which was moderately successful. There had been a 1925 silent film starring Lon Chaney based on Gaston Leroux’s book. The 1925 film is in the public domain.
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
Read “A Journal of the Plague Year” by Daniel Defoe for free on Project Gutenberg.
Defoe’s classic, “A Journal of the Plague Year,” shows London during the plague of 1665, apt reading during the current pandemic. DeFoe’s narrative was published in 1722 and was based on official records and the testimony of survivors and witnesses. The illustration to the left is the cover of an edition published by The Folio Society, which published collectible reprints of books, sometimes as facsimiles and sometimes as limited editions but always in a high quality format.
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Read “The Trial” by Franz Kafka for free on Project Gutenberg.
Though hardly typical Halloween fare, “The Trial” is as harrowing a tale as one could encounter. As Benjamin Winterhalter writes in the July 2, 2019 JSTOR Daily, “in Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial, first published in 1925, a year after its author’s death, Josef K. is arrested, but can’t seem to find out what he’s accused of. As K. navigates a labyrinthine network of bureaucratic traps—a dark parody of the legal system—he keeps doing things that make him look guilty….” And as Kafka says in the penultimate chapter “the proceedings gradually merge into the judgment.” Orson Welles directed the 1962 film version of “The Trial” starring Anthony Perkins. The film has grown in reputation over the years.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Read “The Hound of the Baskervilles” for free in Project Gutenberg.
Read “The Hound of the Baskervilles” for free in Google Books.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” was Conan Doyle’s third crime novel involving Sherlock Holmes. (The first was “A Study in Scarlet” and the second was its sequel “The Sign of the Four“.) Doyle had tired of Holmes and had killed him and Moriarity off in a plunge down the Reichenbach Falls in the short story “The Final Problem” in 1893. By 1901, however, the public – including Doyles’ mother – clamored for Holmes’ return. Doyle thought that he would price himself out of the market by demanding exorbitant fees for the novel. Instead, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” made Doyle a great deal of money. Doyle’s final Sherlock Holmes’ novel was “The Valley of Fear” (1914). The Sherlock Holmes Society of London holds regular events in the London area and publicizes Holmes events wherever.
The “Hound of the Baskervilles” has been made into several movies, the most recent being the three-minute comedy “Baskerville.” More traditional film versions were made in 2002, which at the time was the sixth adaptation of the book. The 1959 version and the 1939 version starring Basil Rathbone are the favorites of many. There is a Wikipedia list of the films HERE . Sherlock Holmes himself has been the subject of several recent big budget films including the 2009 film “Sherlock Holmes” starring Robert Downey, Jr. It was followed by a highly successful 2011 sequel. A Sherlock Holmes 3 has been in development limbo due to the pandemic and other reasons.
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Read “The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole for free on Project Gutenberg.
This 1764 novel is thought to be the first example of the “gothic” novel. It is set in a haunted castle and it initiated and influenced the literary genre that has endured ever since. This is a frequently downloaded book on Project Gutenberg. It was the subject of a short Czech film of the same name in 1977. Walpole was a significant parliamentarian.
The Romance of a Christmas Card
Read “The Romance of a Christmas Card” for free on Project Gutenberg.
By Kate Douglas Wiggin
A story of prodigal sons, preachers’ kids and Christmastime reconciliations.
A Google book selected by scholars as being culturally important, this heartwarming story makes for a pleasant if predictable seasonal read. This book is #6 on Goodreads’ Listopia “Public Domain Christmas“. #1 on the list is Dickens, “A Christmas Carol,” which is at the top of our list.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
This short book by the author of “The Wizard of Oz” was published in 1902 and provides a back story of Santa Claus. While this is said to be a children’s book, Claus is only able to deliver toys to children after a savage battle between good and evil. Closer to the “Lord of the Rings” tradition than some of Christmas’s lighter fare. However, Baum offers plausible solutions to some of the practical riddles of Christmas. (Think Santa deputizing parents.)
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Christmas Every Day and Other Stories by William Dean Howells
Read “Christmas Every Day and Other Stories” for free on Project Gutenberg.
This short story was published in 1892. As suggested by the title, it tells the story of a girl who wishes that Christmas would come every day of the year. Of course, this is not the true meaning of Christmas. The story was made into a television movie in 1996 starring Bess Armstrong.
Jimsy, The Christmas Kid by Leona Dalrymple
Read “Jimsy: The Christmas Kid” by Leona Dalrymple for free on Project Gutenberg.
In 2022 this book ranks #2 on Goodreads list of Christmas books in the public domain, trailing only Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” However, Jimsy was downloaded 14 times to “A Christmas Carol’s” 17285 times. So, there is a gap there. Grace S. Richmond has the #3 and #4 books on the Goodreads list of Christmas books in the public domain, “On Christmas Day in the Morning,” and “On Christmas Day in the Evening.”
Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving
This Project Gutenberg publication is the 1886 version. This is very much a compilation of English traditions and could have been written by Dickens or one of his contemporaries. Very charming and very English in small doses. Boring when taken as a whole.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Ten Christmas Stories by Edward E. Hale
Read “Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Ten Christmas Stories” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Ten Christmas short stories that reflect a different era. The theme of these stories can be summed up as Christmas giving one the strength to overcome hardship.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Truce of God: A Christmas Tale
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
A young girl, knowing her father wishes for a son, asks of a Bishop on Christmas Eve, “If I should lie in a manger all night,” she said, standing with her feet well apart and looking up at him, “would I become a boy?”
“It would not be well,” he replied, “to tamper with the works of the Almighty. Pray rather for this miracle, that your father’s heart be turned toward you and toward the lady, your mother.”
This short work of fiction may appeal to modern sensibilities as Mary Roberts Rinehart often does.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Some Notes on Christmas
For all of Project Gutenberg’s Christmas Books in order of popularity by download, click HERE.
You won’t find the word “Christmas” anywhere in the Bible. The word “Christmas” comes from “Cristes Maessse” meaning
the Mass of Christ or Christ’s mass. The word first appears in 1038 according to the internet. Still looking for the source document.
Quite a few popular Christmas songs are in the public domain. Check out this list.
One of the most popular Christmas poems is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Three Kings,” which is in the public domain.
The Twelve Days of Christmas begin with Christmas day and continue through the 5th of January. Some others count the twelve days of Christmas as the last six days of the old year (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 December) and the first six days of the New Year (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 January). The song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” is in the public domain. It concludes, “On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.”
The Little Match Girl
by Hans Christian Anderson
This English translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1845 “den lille pige med svovlstikkerne” by Jean Hersholt is hosted at the H.C. Andersen Centre. The setting is New Year’s Eve and a little girl selling matches is afraid to go home because she has sold no matches and fears she will be beaten by her father. She warms herself by burning the matches. She imagines feasting on a Christmas goose and finally dreams of being transported to heaven with her grandmother, the only person who showed her love during her sad life. This story can also be found among Andersen’s Fairy Tales by H. C. Andersen on Project Gutenberg. Disney made a six-minute animation short of The Little Match Girl in 2006.
Illustration by Helen Stratton – The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen (c1899) Philadelphia: Lippincott.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
This work of science fiction was first published in 1897 in serial form in Cosmopolitan magazine (U.S. publication). “The War of the Worlds” has been produced for movies, television, and – most famously – as a 1938 radio broadcast that convinced many listeners that a real Martian attack was under way.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
This work of short fiction is beautifully illustrated by Arthur Rackham. The classic tale of a henpecked husband who wanders off a subject of King George and awakes a citizen of the United States is a mix of fantasy and morality. Time waits for no man.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novella that tells the story of the journey of Charles Marlow (the narrator) into central Africa – blank spots of the map – following the Congo river and later its tributary, the Lualaba river. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” is loosely based on Heart of Darkness.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Man Who Would Be King
Short Story by 1907 Nobel Prize Winner Rudyard Kipling
The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Ghost Stories (Includes “The Man Who Would be King”)
“The Man Who Would be King” was immortalized by the 1975 film starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine. Christopher Plummer played Rudyard Kipling in the movie.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The History of Rome by Thoedor Mommsen
This William Purdie Dickson translation of Mommsen’s “History of Rome” contains all five volumes of Mommsen’s work. Mommsen received the 1902 Nobel Prize for literature, the second author so honored. The citation called Mommsen “the greatest living master of the art of historical writing” and made “special reference to his monumental work A History of Rome.” Compare to Gibbon’s “Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
Ranked forty-ninth by Modern Library on a 1999 list of the 100 best novels in English of the 20th century, “Women in Love” was original written as as part of a larger work that also consisted of “The Rainbow”. The decision was made to publish the books separately with “The Rainbow” published in 1915 and “Women in Love” published in 1920.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
The Truce of God: A Christmas Tale
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
A young girl, knowing her father wishes for a son, asks of a Bishop on Christmas Eve, “If I should lie in a manger all night,” she said, standing with her feet well apart and looking up at him, “would I become a boy?”
“It would not be well,” he replied, “to tamper with the works of the Almighty. Pray rather for this miracle, that your father’s heart be turned toward you and toward the lady, your mother.”
This short work of fiction may appeal to modern sensibilities as Mary Roberts Rinehart often does.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Ten Christmas Stories
By Edward E. Hale
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
There are multiple versions of this timeless classic available from Project Gutenberg. The online option includes four separate versions, including the first edition and a first edition with illustrations and handwritten pages. An extraordinary Christmas treat. Dickens is credited by some with inventing our modern conception of Christmas. He certainly went a long way popularizing Christmas as a time of year when the normal toils and hardships of life should be forgotten and relieved.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
This short book by the author of “The Wizard of Oz” was published in 1902 and provides a back story of Santa Claus. While this is said to be a children’s book, Claus is only able to deliver toys to children after a savage battle between good and evil. Closer to the “Lord of the Rings” tradition than some of Christmas’s lighter fare. However, Baum offers plausible solutions to some of the practical riddles of Christmas. (Think Santa deputizing parents.)
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Romance of A Christmas Card
By Kate Douglas Wiggin
A story of prodigal sons, preachers’ kids and Christmastime reconciliations.
A Google book selected by scholars as being culturally important, this heartwarming story makes for a pleasant if predictable seasonal read. This book is #3 on Goodreads’ Listopia “Public Domain Christmas”.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The book that inspired the classic film “The Wizard of Oz”, L. Frank Baum’s first book in the Oz series charms readers who – like Dorothy – will find themselves so glad that she is back home again.
Downloaded from Google Books.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christmas Stories And Legends, by Various
Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The perfect book for Halloween. Frankenstein was so far ahead of its time that it practically invents its genre.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
In celebration, of Halloween, visit PoeStories.com
What the heck, let’s go for an early start to Halloween!
October 31, 2020
“Dracula” by Bram Stoker
Dracula was written in 1897 by Irish author Bram Stoker. After Frankenstein, this is probably the best known work in the horror genre.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Gift of the Magi
By O. Henry
The Magi were the wise men who visited baby Jesus bringing gifts. This wonderful story tells of a brother and sister who surprise each other with Christmas gifts that show their special love for each other. The story is graced by a classic O. Henry ending that surprises and delights.
Downloads courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Christmas Angel
By Abbie Farwell Brown
This piece of short fiction has elements of “A Christmas Carol” and “Gone with the Wind”. The Christmas sentiment is heartfelt and would make a nice Hallmark Christmas special after several edits for contemporary sensibilities.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Night Before Christmas or a Visit from Saint Nicholas
by Clement Moore
Dr. Clement Moore wrote this poem in 1822 as a gift to his children, not expecting it to be published. The poem circulated among his family and friends and was published in numerous newspapers and other publications. Moore did not acknowledge it as his own work until 22 years later when he included it in a book of his own published poetry. This version, with Pictures by Jessie Willcox Smith was published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1912 and is published on Project Gutenberg.
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
When the Yule Log Burns, A Christmas Story
By Leona Dalrymple
The cheeriness of Christmas preparations are disrupted by a letter. “So John’s not coming home for Christmas either, eh?” he said at last. “Well, now, that is too bad! Now, now, now, mother,” as Aunt Ellen surreptitiously wiped her glasses, “we should feel proud to have such busy children…” And so, other plans are made and a happy Christmas is had after all. A short, sweet Christmas tale. (Two of them actually.)
Download courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
The Little Match Girl
by Hans Christian Anderson
This English translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “den lille pige med svovlstikkerne” by Jean Hersholt is hosted at the H.C. Andersen Centre. The setting is New Year’s Eve and a little girl selling matches is afraid to go home because she has sold no matches and fears she will be beaten by her father. She warms herself by burning the matches. She images feasting on a Christmas goose and finally dreams of being transported to heaven with her grandmother, the only person who showed her love. This story can also be found among Andersen’s Fairy Tales by H. C. Andersen on Project Gutenberg.
Illustration by Helen Stratton – The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen (c1899) Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Children’s Section
“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter
Read “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” for free on Google Books.
It appears that all (most at least) of Beatrix Potters books can be found for download on Project Gutenberg under her name, Beatrix Potter, so I encourage you to search there: Beatrix Potter. You can download the books directly in the format that you desire. The books contain the wonderful images for which Potter is so rightfully acclaimed.
Novels Today is a website that offers mainly free romance novels. However, it also offers some more contemporary books that are not yet in the public domain that can nevertheless be read online. For example, C.S. Lewis’s 1952 “Mere Christianity” was recently added to the site. Also on the site is J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and some science fiction. Most of the fare is, however, romance, young adult and fantasy. I’m still learning my way around the site, so there may be changes to this post.
There are several works of fiction that are being prepared for launch on You Read It Here. When these are ready, they will be posted here. In the meantime, stand by!
Shadow Unit is a million-plus word science fiction series that is available for free to readers through a variety of platforms. There’s nothing much like it that I’m familiar with so, go to it and enjoy!
