Christmas books: read or listen?

On our checks, the clearest Christmas listens are The Snow Queen, Let It Snow, Christmas Shopaholic, The Snowman and the Snowdog, Miracle on 34th Street, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret and The Christmas Pig, all clear cut for audio, with nothing confirmed pointing to print. The strongest recordings add something beyond a straight reading: a full cast, music, a narrator for each story or narration that critics have praised. Every verdict links to its full breakdown.

Listen, on our checks (62%, close call). Hugh Grant’s reading is the one we score, and it is praised, but the story moves between Christmases past, present and future, which counts towards reading it in print. If you want the story behind the story, The Man Who Invented Christmas tells how Dickens wrote it.

For a quick listen on Christmas Eve: The Snowman and the Snowdog (11 min), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (12 min), The Gift of the Magi (13 min), The Polar Express (17 min), The Wood at Midwinter (34 min) and A Child’s Christmas in Wales (48 min). Each verdict page gives the speed times too.

Only a few are better read in print, each for a reason a recording cannot get round. Nothing Lasts Forever (100%): no audiobook was found on Audible UK or US, so the book is the only way to have it. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (65%): a story that moves out of order through a tale within the tale, with nothing confirmed pointing to audio. The Christmas Appeal (60%): the book is told entirely in documents, which the printed book lays out as written, and that points to print. AudioFile’s praise for the four narrators points to audio.

For family car journeys, the full-cast productions work best: The Christmas Pig and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, each with its own cast and music. For little ones, The Snowman and the Snowdog, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and The Polar Express each run under 20 minutes, though the picture books are lovely to share in print too. A Boy Called Christmas is read by Stephen Fry.

Plenty, and each book has a verdict: Die Hard comes from Nothing Lasts Forever; Christmas with the Kranks comes from Skipping Christmas; Miracle on 34th Street comes from Valentine Davies’s novella; The Polar Express comes from Chris Van Allsburg’s picture book; How the Grinch Stole Christmas comes from Dr. Seuss’s book; The Man Who Invented Christmas comes from Les Standiford’s history; A Boy Called Christmas comes from Matt Haig’s novel; Carol comes from The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith; Little Women comes from Louisa May Alcott’s novel; Bridget Jones’s Diary comes from Helen Fielding’s novel.

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret (100%) and The Mistletoe Murder (65%) are the clearest listens. The Christmas Appeal is better read in print. A Carol and a Killing, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, Midwinter Murder, Murder Under the Mistletoe and The Christmas Card Crime come out as either works, so pick the format you enjoy.

Every book is checked against the same thirteen criteria. Six point to listening, such as a full cast or produced audio, or one narrator for a single point of view. Seven point to reading, such as jumping timelines, three or more points of view or a story that depends on images or layout. Each has a weight, and the total sets the verdict. Verdicts are never paid for. See how we decide.