Happy Sunday, everyone! If you work this week, try to strike a  perfect balance between productivity and candy-cane fueled procrastination. It’s difficult, but I believe in you. If you’re off, have fun, don’t forget to leave your den of Netflix and leftover Christmas ham to spend time with friends and family (you know, real people). In the spirit of the season, here is a special Christmassy Sunday Reads.

One of my favorite things to do is read ridiculous YA fiction and eat Christmas candy. When I was 15, I devoured Twilight along with an entire bag of peppermint Hershey’s kisses over my Christmas break. This year, I’m planning on re-reading an old favorite, A Great And Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray’s beautiful Victorian-era fantasy adventure. I find that reading familiar books feels soul-soothing, like making it home after a tough finals season and a six-hour flight. I love the thrill of discovering a new great read, but there is something comforting in knowing how the story ends.

Another must read is the timelessly sweet letter, “Yes Virginia, There is A Santa Claus.” It never stops being cute.

“A Kidnapped Santa” by L.F Baum. From the beloved author of The Wizard of Oz comes this whimsical piece of Christmas mythology.

Today I discovered a humorous tale of the nature of giving, “Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor” by John Cheever, which originally appeared in the December 24, 1949 edition of The New Yorker. It’s a quick read, and unexpectedly charming.

In 2009, McSweeney’s, one of my favorite sources of literary snark, published a breakdown of the 12 kind of awful gifts in the eponymous “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Because really, who needs all those birds?

Finally, no Christmas would be complete without a reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It makes me all warm and fuzzy! I’m planning on making cookies for Santa just for fun this year, even though there’s no little kids in our house anymore. Make believe and play are rare in our fast-paced world, so I have to make sure I nurture my need for imagination and creativity. After all, isn’t that why I love theatre?

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Have a Merry Christmas week everyone!

Love and theatre (and gingerbread),

-K