Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions reveals the surprising, quirky, and sometimes horrifying stories behind the most wonderful time of the year. With 26 short chapters, it is a festive, digestible Advent calendar of a book that is perfect fireside reading for the holiday season!

"Christmas... it's that one time of year that brings family and friends together from across the miles (of course Thanksgiving too).

Every family has their own special holiday traditions. Some people decorate their Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Some families open up their gifts on Christmas Eve too. Their are families that go caroling, and families that hang their stockings by their chimneys. There are even people who hide pickle ornaments in their trees (no kidding) and other families who watch a movie marathon of their favorite holiday movies. Each and every family has something that is a holiday tradition.

Where do many holiday traditions and fixtures come from? What is the origin of Santa Claus? How did candy canes come about? Did people always kiss under a sprig of mistletoe? Most people will never know the answers to all of these questions unless you plan on spending hours on the internet doing searches. There is an easier way... read the book Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions, written by Brian Earl (Vanity Fair, USA Today, Bustle, Huffington Post, Pop Sugar, etc.)...

I was sent a copy of the book to check out for myself.

This book is OVERFLOWING with text, facts, funny stories and more. Sadly, the review copy I received has a HUGE sticker on the front of it that I can't remove. That really stinks because I want to keep this book in our family book case so we can all read it and re-read it over the years. It's a shame too because it's a pretty cover.

There are things in this book that I NEVER knew about Christmas. I have not even finished the book yet. I am about a third of the way through the book.

The text is a bit too small for my personal preference, but I have "old eyes," so that has a lot to do with it. I think I'm entering the realm of large print books. Sigh...

And no... there really were "naked" presents, as in people (although THAT would be an interesting holiday tradition indeed, ha ha). If you think about it, it's referring to gift wrapping.

The titles for each of the sections are amusing. I appreciate that about this book.

There are plenty of illustrations in the book (black and white). The illustrations are sprinkled throughout the book.

As you can see, the illustrations give the book a more nostalgic feel to it. After all, almost all of the traditions we have today, and things we associate with the holiday, started decades or a hundred years ago.

From what I've read thus far, there are A LOT of things about the holiday season that I was not aware of (meaning traditions I never heard of before) and some fascinating facts.

This is a really cool book for anyone who has ever questioned why we decorate evergreen trees for Christmas, or the origins of "jingle bells."

You can find this book at many major retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble)."

"Where do many holiday traditions and fixtures come from? What is the origin of Santa Claus? How did candy canes come about? Did people always kiss under a sprig of mistletoe? Most people will never know the answers to all of these questions unless you plan on spending hours on the internet doing searches. There is an easier way... read the book Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions, written by Brian Earl... This book is OVERFLOWING with text, facts, funny stories and more."