Funny Holiday Books

couple reading a book on christmas on the living room — franckreporter / Getty Images

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Updated on January 22, 2020

The holiday season can be hectic. Whether you love November and December or dread the string of parties and get-togethers, all of us have moments when we could use some comic relief. These holiday books are witty, sometimes moving and laugh out loud funny.

'The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog' by Dave Barry

Dave Barry's Christmas novella, The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog, takes place in 1960 and centers on a Christmas pageant and family antics. It is heartwarming, clean humor and can be read in an evening.

'Holidays on Ice' by David Sedaris

Little, Brown

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris was one of Sedaris' first books. It has been re-released with a few additions. Sedaris brings his sometimes dark and always astute humor to this collection of essays and short stories.

'I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence' by Amy Sedaris

Hachette Book Group

David Sedaris' sister, Amy Sedaris, also takes on holidays in I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. This is a "guide to entertaining" with wicked suggestions and humorous anecdotes.

'You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas' by Augusten Burroughs

St. Martin's Press

Running with Scissors author Augusten Burroughs offers a collection of holiday stories from his own life. Burroughs recounts such absurd anecdotes as the time he ate the face of a six-foot Santa and the time he woke up next to Kris Kringle himself. Slightly racy, often witty, You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs also offers moments of poignant reflection.

'A Christmas Blizzard' by Garrison Keillor

Penguin

Garrison Keillor, of Prairie Home Companion fame, offers a short novel about a Hawaii-bound holiday traveler who gets stuck in a blizzard in North Dakota after being summoned home to visit a sick aunt. Keillor's humor is laced with nostalgia and holiday epiphany, a good choice for those who want something funny and heartwarming to read.