This is a terrific collection of Christmas fantasy stories by the fabulous Connie Willis, with a couple of should-be classics and some other fascinating stuff. Willis spends more time on pop culture like movies and songs than on religion, thought she does some of that as well. Most of the stories are quite funny.

The book starts off brilliantly with "Miracle," a very funny and charming story about a woman plagued by a genial but hugely irritating Christmas spirit. This is a must-read.

Other great stories include Now Showing, Newsletter, and All Seated on the Ground.

The weirdest story is the Kafkaesque "In Coppelius's Toyshop." If you've ever wondered what a Kafka Christmas story would be like, this is it.

Most of the rest are also fun but leave less of an impact. There's a murder mystery that has virtually nothing to do with Christmas and is almost entirely the "solution" part, there's a cute sci-fi riff on All About Eve, there's a fun story about an overworked Christmas planner.

Of the two specifically Christian stories, one is a cute thing about Joseph and Mary very far from home and the other is an okay thing about a guy looking for the second coming. They're okay, but the sincerity takes out some of the fun.

The only story I would excise is "Adaptation", which is both depressing and stressful and ultimately has a peculiar moral that made zero sense to me.

A great set of Christmas stories even if like me you read them in the summer.