Over the next two weeks, I’ll be featuring posts from some of my reading and writing friends, sharing an aspect of Christmas dear to them, and suggestions to add to your own to-be-read stack. I hope you enjoy each of these contributions as much as I do!

A tradition I love in this season is the cookies – gingerbread and shortbread are my favorites! Baking them requires effort, to roll the dough and locate the cookie cutters in the basement, so I only make them at Christmas. Anything that starts with "Cream a cup of butter and blend in 1 1/2 cups of sugar" has got to be good! Now that my kids are in their own homes, I can’t count on them to wander through the kitchen grazing at the cookies all day and night, so I have to be aware of the hazards of a pile of fresh cookies on the countertop. Still, one batch can’t hurt. Below: early cookie art by my kids circa 2011. (Possibly by me, I don’t remember; but a friend once told me she passes off all her imperfect baking as “by the kids” so let’s go with that.)

For holiday relaxation, I’m going to read a memoir, which reminds me of the kind of books my parents gave and read over Christmas. I remember books under the tree like “Don’t Fall Off the Mountain,” by Shirley MacLaine; “The Brass Ring” by Bill Mauldin; an early biography of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. I read them all, too, but doubtless missed a lot of subtext in my tweens, especially in Shirley MacLaine!

My 2024 pick is a new memoir. Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in outer space on October 5, 1984, and impressed me when he was the keynote speaker at my engineering graduation in 1985. He’s had an amazing career since then, and I’m looking forward to reading his book, A Most Extraordinary Ride.

Happy Holidays!