An Everything Book for Christmas: A Family Christmas by Caroline Kennedy

Celebrity anthologies usually require a bit of circumspection lest they turn out to be vanity pieces. Caroline Kennedy, however, has proven her editorial chops with several best-selling compilations, including poetry and historical anecdotes, and judging from the reactions to her A Family Christmas she's hit the mark again.

In addition to the staple Christmas Charles Dickens and Truman Capote pieces, Kennedy juxtaposes authors as diverse as Groucho Marx and Harper Lee, John and Yoko Lennon and E. B. White, Calvin Trillin and Nikki Giovanni, and even throws in some Kennedy family memorabilia in the form of an early letter from her to Santa Claus.

It's a great gift for young families and for those people who are frequently called upon to do a "reading" durng the holiday season. And if you have need on this Midwinter's Eve, it's also a good way to dispell the "Bah, Humbug"* Christmas blues.

*Today is Bah, Humbug Day, so it's officially OK to be a Scrooge for the Day. Go ahead and say it!