This was a very interesting book and I’ve enjoyed getting to know the origin of many Christmas traditions, even though some chapters were related only to American tradition. And there were many traditions used worldwide that are not even mentioned. Overall it was an interesting audiobook.

Highly enjoyable and easily digestible little chapters on various Christmas traditions. I'll be returning to this every year, as it was a fun way to get into the spirit.

Audiobook ARC from the publisher via NetGalley, but the opinions are entirely my own.

Title: Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday Traditions
Author: Brian Earl
Narrated by: Brian Earl
Publisher: Recorded Books
Length: Approximately 4 hours and 21 minutes
Source: Review Copy from NetGalley. Thank-you!

Do you like learning about the history of holiday traditions? I love it! I’ve been reading books about holiday traditions since I was in elementary school.

I was very excited to discover this audiobook this year, Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday Traditions. I was even more excited to learn as I listened that Brian Earl has a podcast called Christmas Past and I have also been enjoying listening to it this Christmas season. Christmas Past is a short fun book that has four main sections: food, entertainment, sights and sounds, and society. Each section has several chapters with a variety of subjects. I loved learning about fruit cake, Christmas cards, wrapping paper, Christmas songs, Christmas movies, and why do we say Merry Christmas rather than Happy Christmas? There were many other interesting topics as well.

Brian Earl the author narrated this and also does his podcast. He was a great narrator and very interesting to listen to. After I finished up this book, I immediately started listening to his podcast.

I highly recommend this book and podcast to anyone who is interested in learning more about Christmas traditions.

I have often wondered where some of our Christmas traditions have come from. Learning the history of these traditions was so neat. The author described the book as an advent calendar of information. I felt like that was the perfect description. I recommend this for a nonfiction Christmas read. Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great book that I learnt so much from reading. It was fantastic learning about the history behind so many of our iconic Christmas traditions. If you have ever wondered why we do something at Christmas or ever thought when we started doing certain Christmas things then you really need to read thos book as it covers so many interesting traditions. I loved how the author also compares these traditions to different countries. Especially the differences between UK and American traditions. I was especially fascinating reading the bit on which country eats KFC at Christmas I was certainly surprised. I listened to the audiobook and loved that the author read it.he had a great voice and I loved his passion that came through in his reading of this book. I was totally engrossed and definitely shocked in places. This book was well wrote and lots of research obviously went into the writing of this book. It certainly kept my interest throughout and I am so glad that I found this book. I can't wait to talk about it with family at Christmas. Its a perfect read for the Christmas know it all.

I really can't recommend this book enough. There is something for everyone to enjoy learning and there will be loads you never knew about.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this wonderful and very interesting book. I would definitely like to read more books from this great author.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/christmas-past-by-brian-earl-rb-media-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions is a light, pithy, chipper exploration of a score of yuletide traditions, ranging from mistletoe to eggnog to 1960s cartoon specials. Inspired by a hit podcast and narrated by the author, Christmas Past is sure to delight Christmas superfans. For everyone else, there are enough interesting details to hold the audience's interest, even if some of the origin stories aren't quite as comical or extravagant as one may have hoped.

This is a fun compendium of various Christmas traditions with short form explanations of how many of our favorite Christmas foods, songs, and activities came to be.

The book is based off the podcast of the same name, so you’ll recognize some of the content if you listen to Earl’s podcast. He did a lovely job of choosing a variety of topics to be included in the book, and while I sometimes found myself wanting more information on a given subject, the shorter vignettes make it easier to retain more when presented with so many different Christmas-themed topics at once.

The food and decor subjects seem to work best in this format, as well as Christmas traditions like wassailing and Santa Claus. I probably could have done without going over Christmas movies and tv specials, but in all it’s a great collection of Christmas fun and facts, and is worth a read whether you are a podcast listener or not.

Audiobook readers: It probably goes without saying that since the book comes from a podcast, it works very well in audiobook form.

The voice was awful on this audiobook. I could Not finish listening to it. The overall story was ok but not interesting enough for me to keep listening when the voice was so bad.

What I wonderful way to start this year's Christmas season. If you're in any way interested in history and the development of the human experience, this is the perfect book for you - it's also funny and thought provoking.

Thank you NetGalley.

Why Christmas trees? What's the deal with fruitcake? Read this book and find out! This was a quick interesting read. I was not aware of the podcast before requesting this book but it appears to be a curated selection of some of the best facts and stories from the episodes. This book does a good job of keeping pace so that the information stays light and interesting. It traces the mostly secular origins of traditions so it might not be the right book for people wanting a religious framework. This would be a fun gift for someone who loves the holidays or for a game of trivia by the fire. I listened to it when the weather turned cold and it made me crave all the holiday flavors and also want to try several new things that were apparently very traditional at one point or another. The author narrates his own book and has a nice storytelling voice. Totally recommend for getting a start on some holiday spirit!
Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this history of many different Christmas traditions. This book looks at 25 of the most popular secular Christmas traditions in America and delves into the origins of each one. I was often surprised by how recent some of our "long held" traditions really are.

I listened to this on audiobook and so the chapters ran together a little, but the idea of being able to read one chapter a day in December does seem like a nice use of this book!

The only thing I did not enjoy was that the opening of the book felt really long and Brian Earl takes quite a moment to promote his podcast which, at least while listening to the audiobook, sounds like it is the exact same thing that the reader is currently consuming.

Rounding up to 4 stars. The audio version was reviewed, but not yet an option on GoodReads. The audio version was well done; between 4-5 hours.

The author had several podcasts about fascinating holiday traditions; and evidently decided to put his collection together for sale, in time to capture this season's Christmas shoppers.

What bothers me about this collection of "Christmas Past" is that it never mentions the original Christmas ... at all. Never a mention of the baby in the manger. What a shame. I kept hoping that it might be there as the last chapter, but ... nope ... just The End. So tempted to round down to 3 stars. How can you so love Christmas to go through all the effort of capturing and researching the stories and traditions, but bypass that God so loved us that he shared his son with the world?

Narrated by the author, Brian Earl.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author and narrator/Brian Earl and also to RB Media Recorded Books.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook. I was excited to give this book a listen since my family and I truly enjoy Brian Earl's podcast of the same name. This audiobook did not disappoint! Brian Earl shares the often unknown history of so many of my favorite parts of Christmas in this book. It is well researched and written with care. Earl has a way to covering very specific details about Christmas traditions with humor and so much information. Whilst narrating this audiobook Earl kept me engaged and interested in learning more. If you love Christmas, I would highly recommend a listen.

Brian Earl has done an amazing job with deep diving into how we got to present day Christmas traditions. I am a bit of a Christmas geek and loved learning new things about my favorite holiday. I did not know people used to put a piece of fruitcake under their pillow to dream about their future spouse. I have no idea what fruit cake could do, but whatever works! Wassailing was kind of like trick or treating, but with booze. I wish that was a thing in my neck of the woods.

The amount of little nuggets of trivia made my heart warm. I highly recommend if you are a trivia aficionado and want to learn a little more about how we got to today’s Christmas traditions.

His narration was on point and I would gladly listen to anything else he may choose to narrate.

A huge thank you to Net Galley, RB Media and Recorded Books for the ARC Audiobook. All opinions are my own.

5/5

This is an interesting book that tells the story behind some common Christmas traditions. It’s written in a way that is both engaging and informative.
Every Christmas tradition has a story but many of them have been forgotten over the years. Every year those that celebrate the holiday are continuing these traditions but knowing how these began is a whole different story. This book tells you stories about some quirky, disturbing, mysterious and surprising tales behind the most wonderful time of the year. Covered are traditions both ancient and those that are more modern. There are 26 short chapters.
This book tells of happy accidents that have led to some great traditions, cultural histories, criminal acts and more that have influenced what we see as so common today. It’s a fun book that can leave you laughing or picking your jaw up off the floor.
This is a great book to pick up and read a chapter here and there during the holidays to see if anything you celebrate or traditions you have are in here so that you can see where it all started. Fun book.
I received the audiobook from Netgalley (thank you!) so I don't have the physical book but I’ve seen some of the artwork from it and it looks fantastic!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and RB Media for my copy of Christmas Past The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions by Brian Earl Narrated by Brian Earl in exchange for an honest review. It published November 1, 2022.
This podcast, turned book is just so neat! I really enjoyed the listening experience, due to Earl's podcasting experience, the narration was done wonderfully.
The subject matter of this book was so fun, and I found every possible excuse to continue reading it! This would make an excellent gift for any Christmas-lover in your life!

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions
Brian Earl
If you enjoy the Christmas season as much as I do you must read/listen to this book! Author Brian Earl has gathered the history and stories about all the Christmas traditions we have come to enjoy. Learning the history of these traditions adds a bit more meaning to our Christmas spirit. Some of the stories are unusual, unexpected, puzzling and some are even disturbing.
Have you ever wondered about the origin of gingerbread, candy canes, or fruit cake? The Brothers Grimm published the story of Hansel Gretel around 1812; the original story speaks of a house with a roof made of cakes and windows made of sugar, in later editions it became gingerbread. Queen Elizabeth, I had gingerbread figures made in the likeness of guests. Most candy canes are made in at Spangler Candy; they make 2.7 million candy canes a day.
The origin of the Christmas tree is found in Germany around the 16th century; Christians decorated trees. The evergreen reminded people of warmer months ahead. Candles were used on trees but finding a way to keep them in an upright position was difficult. A bucket of sand and water was kept close at hand in case of fire. Among other things discussed in Christmas Past are wrapping paper, Santa Claus, Silent Night, snow globes, Christmas movies, Rudolph, animated Christmas specials, Christmas caroling and much more.
This book is easy to read and very interesting. The reader should be aware that it is a secular book; it does not discuss the Christ child. I would have enjoyed more of an emphasis on the Nativity, Christ, and Christianity however this is still a great read.

I love finding out more about the traditions of Christmas, so I was excited to listen to this book. The narration is so engaging and the various traditions are broken into digestible parts. My wife and I listened to this in multiple sittings and we both learned a lot of new things with lots of new stories and history. I found this to be a very enjoyable listen and one that I will come back to in the future. I highly recommend this as an addition to anyone's Christmas celebration.

I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Christmas Past is a podcast and they put the most interesting stories into this book. From the modern version of Santa to fruitcakes being banned the stories are varied and interesting. Brian Earl is the host of the podcast and what a great idea for a podcast I enjoyed this book very much and thought The narrator who I believe was Brian Earl himself did a great job. There were so many things about Christmas I didn’t know and now I do I listen to it all in one go and highly recommend it. If you love Christmas you really should listen to this podcast so much to know from Crime‘s to sins it’s all covered in Christmas Past by Brian Earle. I received this book from NetGalleyShelf and the author but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I might be coming into this a little biased having been previously exposed to Brian Earl's style via the "Christmas Past" podcast. When I saw that there were advanced listening copies available on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance. I'd like to thank them for this opportunity, and this review is unbiased and entirely my own.

Brian Earl's book is just as comforting and wholesome as his podcast. Having this audiobook felt like a little bonus for his regular listeners.

I like how the book itself is broken down into little bite-size sections like an advent calendar, and I could easily see it being read that way. (Listening to it in one large chunk in order to get the review out in time was a less pleasurable experience because I wasn't able to savor it in the actual Christmas season.) The historical facts are interesting, and they provide some depth to holiday traditions that I hadn't known much about.

I miss hearing about the Yule Log. I wish that one had been included.

I will also say that in the audio version, the subsection titles sounded a little out of place, and at moments I didn't realize that was what they were until a few beats later. But, hearing Brian's voice was a treat in and of itself.

Overall, an enjoyable holiday read. I might get myself a hard copy version so that I can read it and enjoy it more thoroughly in the future.