26 great Christmas traditions explained. So many things we do during the holiday season now have so much more meaning and value. A must read just before entering the Christmas season.

Pretty good explanations of various different Christmas traditions, told in an interesting way. However, because the author goes from A to Z through the traditions, there is quite a lot of repetition. Could have been tightened up, but then it would only be a pamphlet. Sources would have been appreciated.

This was an enjoyable and fun little book. A few things felt like they were grasping at straws but I'm not going to complain about it. Very interesting and cute holiday read.

Sometimes I struggle to get through a book like this and yet I will pick them up time and again because I do enjoy the subject.

This book was really interesting. It gave more meaning to even small traditions like colors, trees, lights, etc. I was surprised at how many traditions--that some people criticize for not being centered around Christ--really started centered around Christ; even Santa Clause. Consumerism has mostly geared most of these Christ-centered traditions away from Christ.

What I found most interesting was how and when Christmas really got started. I knew Christ wasn't really born in the Winter, so I had always wondered why we celebrated his birth in December. Now I know and it makes sense.

Fun book, and I'll be buying it to add to my Christmas book collection.

I love all the stories behind the traditions! Learned a bunch of cool facts and will definitely pick up again around the holiday season.

I learned a lot about the background of many Christmas traditions. This was extremely interesting to me and gave me a new respect for all of these rituals. While many began as pagan rituals Christianity took them and turned them into the well loved and beloved traditions we have today. A must read for those who love Christ and celebrate his birth.

Alright, I know it’s ridiculous to get put off by a book about a Christian holiday that is overly Christian/religious. My gripe here is that the author actively disapproves of secular celebration of the holiday. I am not religious but I love traditions. I am also interested in sources and bibliographies for nonfiction books. This title did not have any sources cited nor a bibliography. I am not going to waste my time on reading a nonfiction book whose content I can not verify as fact. This book was not for me. I lemmed it (did not finish—see the Sword and Laser podcast).

If you are looking for a book that eradicates Christ from the Christmas story by taking things "back to their pagan routes," then you will be sorely disappointed. This isn't Robert Langdon pointing out how Christianity's symbols aren't its own. Instead, I view this as a Robert Langdon counterargument.

This book does take you back to the source of 26 of the most widespread Christmas traditions. The author highlights pagan origins of some of these symbols and practices but doesn't stop there like Dee Brown. The author points out how, why, when, and where these symbols and practices became Christianized and Christmasized over the centuries into the traditions we know now. The author highlights how what we see as frivolous activities, traditions, and symbols in an over commercialized, cynical, and growing anti-Christian world were mainstays of faith back when they were started.

This book is well written and keeps you engaged while teaching you things along the way. The sad thing is that many will not be open to the lessons within its pages.

Really interesting read on various traditions of Christmas. It helped me during Advent to reflect on the various sources of mainstream Christmas traditions today. Traditions have come, gone (sometimes for very good reasons), and been revived (often for noble reasons, but helpful to know why perhaps they were phased out).

I think this book is perfect blend of history and personal conviction. The author is clearly a Christian who loves his faith and tradition. I especially liked the chapters about the history of Santa Claus (Christmas was not a true Christian or child-appropriate holiday until Santa came on the scene in the mid-to-late 19th century), Mistletoe (a parasitic plant revered by many ancient cultures as magical), The Twelve Days of Christmas (the song was a code that taught catholic doctrine in 16th century England when practicing Catholicism was punishable by death), and X-Mas (X was used as a symbol of Christ among the early Greek Christians and marked the graves of martyrs).

I liked the author as a writer but the writing is informal and some of the language is redundant.

I checked this book from the library but I would definitely buy a copy to keep!

There are so many interesting facts placed in this book. It will surprise you how many things you do at Christmas without really knowing the reason why. I really enjoyed this book.