PFL staff are back with more holiday recommendations! Did you miss Part 1? View it here.
Please note, not all of these gems are available in our catalog. We have put links to the ones that can be places on hold through Minerva. Visit the Information Desk for help tracking down anything else that looks interesting to you!
Books
Christmas in Allagash: The Early Years edited by Cathie Pelletier
An anthology containing dozens of long-ago holiday memories from folks who grew up in the Allagash area. -Shannon, Tech Services
The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service
I like to take some alone time to sit down and read this one as it reminds me of my late grandfather, who loved the poetry of Robert Service. -Shannon, Tech Services
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
A favorite and one of the few books for which I equally enjoy the tv version. -Karen, Children’s Room
Flour, Too by Joanne Chang
Not a holiday book at all but it has the best Buche de Noel recipe. -Sarah, Reference and Children’s
Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil by Al Ridenou
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Films
We like to watch all the Christmas episodes- they are so weird and wonderful (and often musical as well!). -Hannah, Programs and Outreach
Christmas Greetings From Aroostook
This special that airs on Maine PBS every December and shows different holiday scenes and traditions from the County. Fittingly for that area (and I say this with love, being a County-native myself), it was produced around 2007 but looks like it was filmed on giant camcorders in the late 90s. -Shannon, Tech Services
My sisters and I watch it every year and quote it incessantly. Buddy the elf finds out he’s a human, not an elf, and goes to NYC around Christmas to find his birth father. What a good story about found family, acceptance and holiday cheer! -Mary, Head of Children’s Services
Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas
Movie marathon! –Andrea, Circulation
I enjoy enough of the story lines to put up with the ones I don’t like. -Karen, Children’s Room
I always wrap presents and watch Moonstruck on Christmas Eve. Not a holiday movie at all, but it is winter and there is opera (and lots of Italian humor) so it feels festive to me! -Gia, Children’s Room
Rick Steves’ European Christmas
My whole family loves watching the Rick Steves’ European Christmas special annually, mostly because we all fiercely want to sled home down a Swiss mountain at night by light of giant torches…-Laurel, Reference
Set during WWII and starrting Linda Hamilton who plays a German woman who is traveling with her young son and has stopped at their family cabin for shelter. They’re soon joined by a few American soldiers, then later by a few German soldiers. Linda’s character handles the tense situation admirably, and they all soon learn to see each other as humans, rather than simply as enemies. I love the hope in this movie, the idea that there may be people completely opposed to each other’s ideas who can actually learn to respect each other. -Karen, Children’s Room
A heartfelt holiday movie that does not usually get recognized for being a holiday movie. –Laurel, Reference
