Here's a book we can't wait to delve into once the nights get longer! The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year, by author Linda Raedisch, seems right up our alley: We love a good Yuletide ghost story and we love learning about the origins of traditions... and this book has both.

Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen. Along the way, you'll discover how to bring the festivities into your home with cookie recipes and craft instructions, as well as tips for delving more deeply into your relationship with the unseen.

Steeped in history and adorned with a bit of enchantment, The Old Magic of Christmas is the perfect book to read by a winter's fire with a mug of mulled cider in hand. —Deborah Blake, author of The Witch's Broom