By Elizabeth Wulfhorst
During the pandemic, the Monmouth County Library embraced virtual programming, including virtual book clubs.
This holiday season Trish Shrodo, reference librarian at the MCL Howell branch, took the concept a step farther, leading a virtual Christmas cookie and book swap Dec. 8.
“I’m a happily-ever-after person, in work and in life,” explained Shrodo, noting that most Christmas novels hold true to that philosophy. And Christmas – including all the family gatherings and traditions that surround the holiday – is very meaningful for her.
So Shrodo came up with the idea in June for a Christmas event as part of the library’s virtual programming. After emails and conversations with colleagues, the program morphed into what Shrodo called “some version of a tradition that we’re all familiar with – a cookie swap or a recipe swap.”
Library patrons were asked to register for the program and submit their favorite holiday cookie recipes which were then shared with all the registrants. During the Zoom event, Shrodo explained a little about the history of holiday novels and discussed her favorites. Participants were invited to share their picks as well and to comment on the recipes they submitted which included Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Aunt Margaret’s Almond Cookies, Candy Cane Cookies, Spiced Macaroons and more.
Shrodo began by giving a little history lesson about the Christmas novel. “Christmas novelists have been around roughly since Charles Dickens’ time,” she said. “And then of course, Sir Walter Scott wrote the Christmas poem ‘Christmas In the Olden Time,’ but Charles Dickens was really one of the first ones to write what we consider a novel today.”
While Shrodo said holiday novels have been written since Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the Christmas novel as a growing genre began trending with “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans
in 1995.
According to WorldCat, a database of over 10,000 libraries worldwide, in 1995 there were under 200 holiday-specific adult fiction titles published. By 2021 that number had risen to over 600. A quick search reveals nearly 17,000 titles in print that relate to Christmas.
There are now novelists known for their Christmas works, many of which involve food and murders, like Debbie Macomber who has “8 million and seven Christmas books, with recipes sometimes,” said Shrodo, and Joanna Fluke who writes food-based mysteries. “You can almost guarantee that sometime between September and December there will be a Christmas-themed one,” Shrodo said.
She noted there is a “pretty even mix across romance, young adult fiction and mystery” in the titles published, said the Christmas murder mystery is a popular sub-genre. She chalks that up – with a laugh – to reading being “a safe way to let off the stress by imagining the person that is jumping on your last Christmas nerve as the victim of the crime” in the book.
Shrodo said the pandemic reinforced something she’s always believed about books – they are a “dirt cheap vacation. Because once you’re in the book, you don’t care that the cat vomited or something just crashed in the background. You’re really in the book.”
And during the holidays sometimes people need to escape to someplace where the ending is guaranteed. “I think everybody needs, in the current climate, a guarantee of the ending you’re looking for, even if it’s not a happy one,” she said. “At least you know, if you’re reading a murder mystery, somebody is gonna die. Somebody else is gonna figure it out. You know what you’re in for. And in the current climate of uncertainty, that’s not a bad way to be.”
In addition to the mysteries, Shrodo likes to read the Christmas novels that are “the adult version of a fairy tale” to guarantee a happy ending. She also enjoys rereading holiday favorites.
“If you’ve read a book in the past and it’s a really stressful time, you can sort of turn off all of that and just settle into a comfort of knowing the rhythm and routine and what’s going to come and still enjoy it. Because it does check that nostalgic memory and that heart that you have for the season that maybe it’s hard to find among a pandemic and job losses and finals at school and, you know, the oven just broke and the dryer just broke and it’s Christmas and ‘Oh my God, my mother-in-law’s coming and I have to clean the house,” she said. “To be able to settle into a known quantity can be a great thing.”
For Shrodo, that novel is J.D. Robb’s “Holiday in Death,” a mystery about a serial killer obsessed with “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
“I’ve read that, I can’t even tell you how many times, and especially at this time of year and partially, yes, because I’m stressed and it’s good to see someone has it worse than me,” she joked.
No matter what you choose to read, Shrodo implores everyone to pick up a book and get lost this holiday season.
“This time of year, tradition and family and comfort is a big thing, and since you might not get that in a lot of other areas of your life, it’s nice to know that a book has that and can offer it no matter where you are or what you’re doing.”
The article originally appeared in the December 23 – January 6, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
