What I’m Reading: Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop

Just a little booktalk as I make my way through these short stories.

Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop by Otto Penzler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I heard about this when it came out (last year?) and was immediately interested. Every year Otto Penzler would give 1,000 copies of a specially written Christmas story to regular customers. The requirements were that the story must include the bookstore in some way and must be set at Christmas. The 17 stories (through 2009) are printed in this book in chronological order. Each is by a different luminary in the mystery writing genre. Thus far they have all been fun and fairly light and quite enjoyable. Perfect holiday fare with cozy stories that are perfect for a busy time of year.

UPDATE
Perhaps a bit too light to have this be one’s only fiction reading, unless everything else in life is weighing you down. It remains perfect for picking up, reading a bit, and putting down again when life is busy … such as right now, with Christmas looming on the horizon.