Beth Kempton’s Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year: A Little Book of Festive Joy is a delightful holiday read.
I’m always searching for Christmas books that are a little outside the box. Yes, I want something with more substance than a rom-com. However, I don’t want someone dying or discovering they have cancer around the holidays, either. (Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter Street Series, I’m looking at you.)
Even though I usually read fiction at Christmas, Kempton’s motivational nonfiction book is exactly what I was looking for this holiday season.
What’s Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year about?
Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year provides tips on how to have a more relaxing, enjoyable, and meaningful Christmas during the most stressful (ahem! I mean, wonderful) time of the year.
Kempton breaks down the holiday season (and her book) into three parts. There’s the lead-up to Christmas covering the weeks before the holiday. Then comes Christmas Week with the ever-chaotic Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Everything culminates with the week between Christmas and New Year’s, which Kempton poetically refers to as “The Hush.” Love.
Each section of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year contains advice on how to bring yourself joy during the holiday season. Finding said joy is discovered by exploring one’s past Christmas experiences and what they mean to you. It’s also discovered by figuring out how to reduce your stress level and eliminate aspects of the holiday that don’t bring you joy.
Kempton offers examples from her own experiences about how she discovered what’s important to her, and how she decided to prioritize those aspects over the exhausting commercial and family demands of the season. The book also weaves in holiday stories from different cultures, wintry nature tidbits, interesting holiday history, snippets of festive poetry, and cozy, simple lessons to help you combat the commercialist Christmas shuffle.
What I loved about Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year
Since I’m a big proponent of hygge, a lot of the suggestions Kempton doles out were familiar to me. I was happy to discover that I’m already doing a lot of what she suggests, which may be why I find the holiday season a smidgeon less stressful than most people I know. (Also? I don’t have kids.)
However, there are still many aspects of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year that I found unique and meaningful. For example, analyzing what kind of Christmas is most special to you, and to your loved ones. Is Christmas a time of childhood magic for you, or is it a very religious-focused holiday? Do you enjoy hosting your loved ones, or do you only do it because you feel guilty if you don’t? Through exercises and examples, Kempton helps you break down what you want to experience during the holiday.
Although Kempton’s book focuses on Christmas, many of its principles can be applied to any major holiday. Stress, pressure, exhaustion, and unrealistic expectations aren’t singular to the Christmas experience. Other major holidays like Thanksgiving, Eid, and Rosh Hashanah all carry their own weight in expectations and traditions. Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year has applicable lessons for any annual experience in which you feel pressured to 1) make the day memorable, and 2) please others at the expense of pleasing yourself.
What I didn’t love about Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year
The only thing I didn’t really like about Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year is how (very, very) similar the book is to Kempton’s podcast of a similar name. I started listening to The Calm Christmas Podcast last November. After just a few episodes of Kempton’s lovely British accent and tranquil message, I bought a copy of her self-touted book, Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year.
A lot of what Kempton discusses in The Calm Christmas Podcast is plucked word-for-word from Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year. In fact, that I’m not really sure I needed to read the book. After listening to an entire season of The Calm Christmas Podcast – and, after listening to two additional seasons of back episodes – I’m pretty I’ve heard an audiobook version of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Do I feel cheated out of my $20.46? A little. Is it enough to make me not like the book? Nope. It’s still a good read. I just hope Kempton writes a new Christmas book soon because I think she’s gotten all the mileage she can out of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Should you read Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year?
Pick up a copy of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year if you’re someone who loves the Christmas season but often finds it stressful or overwhelming. (Um, so, that’s everyone, right??) It’s a lovely little book filled with lovely little ideas. Who can’t use a bit of that around the holidays?
Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year is a short book. I read it in stages, per Beth Kempton’s recommendation. Dive into Part 1 in late November/early December, then read Part 2 about a week before Christmas. Explore Part 3 and the rest of the book during “the Hush”. It’s a great way to end the year.
Alternatively, you could listen to The Calm Christmas Podcast. Season 4 kicked off a few weeks ago, and I’m already enjoying it.
What’s the book-inspired recipe for Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year?
Be sure to check back in for my book-inspired recipe: Orange Craisin Chip Pound Cake with Cinnamon Chocolate Ganache.
Thanks for the rec! Reserved a copy from the library.