- 30 daily readings (a snippet from Chesterton plus commentary from Smith)
- 11 poems
- 5 essays
- 2 short stories
- 10 recipes [not sure if these were from Chesterton]
- 8 games and traditions [ditto]
- a smattering of old-fashioned paintings related to the holiday season
The book was . . . okay. I love Chesterton's wit and wordplay. It was nice to read some of his article snippets (many are from G.K.'s Weekly or other sources I didn't know). It was interesting to see how the struggles with Christmas in his day mirror our own (commercialism, etc.). Smith's commentary was mixed: occasionally helpful and complementary, but more often simple regurgitation of the Chesterton writing for the day. The poems, essays, and short stories were fine. The recipes, games, and paintings felt like filler. Overall, I would have preferred more Chesterton content and less of the other stuff.
Rating: C+
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