Anyone here like a good short story read aloud after Christmas Eve dinner?

[CTyankee]

My two recommendations: "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry and "The Night the Bed Fell" by James Thurber.

The first is just so touching, the second is hilarious.

A few Christmases ago my daughter read from "My Life in France," Julia Child's account of her first French meal when she and her husband moved to France for his State Dept. job. The description of the food was just wonderful. It was a great treat to hear it at the table after a marvelous Christmas dinner (my dtr and s.i.l. are real foodies).

[Squinch]

1. What a great tradition!

[The Straight Story]

2. I'll probably listen to a Dr. Who radio drama

Got a ton of them downloaded.

[s-cubed]

3. It's not short, but every Christmas, my dad would read "the Other Wise Man".

The other wise man missed the trip because he was helping someone in need. Throughout the story, he gives away the jewels he brought to give to the child to others in need. He never finds the child, but in the end, sick and dying, Christ appears to him and tells him that what he did or others, he did for Christ. Really is the spirit of Christmas.

[CTyankee]

6. nice tradition!

[LWolf]

4. It's a family tradition.

I've read everything I could find over the decades, always looking for something we haven't shared.

[msongs]

5. hound of the baskervilles nt

[Laxman]

7. Any Jean Shepherd Christmas Story...

Red Ryder Nails The Cleveland Street Kid
http://www.archive.org/download/JeanShepherdholidays3/Red_Ryder_Nails_The_Cleveland_Street_Kid.mp3

Dad's Christmas Gift:
http://www.archive.org/download/JeanShepherdholidays3/1974_12_23_Dads_Xmas_Gift.mp3

Any of his other Christmas episodes that you can find at the Brass Figlagee
http://www.gigadial.net/public/find-by-podcaster-2?feed=http%3a%2f%2fwww.archive.org%2fdownload%2fbrassfiglageerss.xml_1%2fbrassfiglageerss.xml&station_id=

Or if you want to read- any of the short essays in In God We Trust

[Bigmack]

8. Any Jean Shepherd story...

... needs to be pre-read and rehearsed. Many times.

Otherwise, you are laughing so hard you can't see thru the tears and are incoherent.

After dinner, the only thing I want to do is watch "The Christmas Story". Again. For the 9,348th time.

[Laxman]

9. You're Right About That..

I once read the Orphan Annie decoder ring story from Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories to a group of elementary school students on Read Across America night. I had a hard time not laughing. When I got to the part where Ralph says "a crummy commercial, son of a....." one of the second graders accurately completed the sentence for me!
Not Christmas related, but you might enjoy this http://thehammerandthumb.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/does-this-always-happen-here/ from someone who clearly must have listened to Shepherd as a child.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

10. I Do Like Gift Of The Magi

O.Henry's Full House was just on TCM last week. But a really good sentimental short story to read is A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.

[Mister Ed]

11. "The H Street Sledding Record", by Ron Carlson

A family tradition here at our house since before the baby.