Leisure reading

Edited by Alberto Manguel

Ecco Press, $19.95

The editor and the publisher of this book have done a genuine service to those who look for good stories at Christmastime — stories they can tell over and over or read every year as a holiday tradition. These are written by some of the best short-story writers and novelists of all time.

The first, "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story," is by prolific novelist Paul Auster. Some of Auster's work is complicated — but not this one. It is about a story told to him by Auggie Wren, a guy working behind the counter of a cigar store in downtown Brooklyn.

Auggie tells of a teenager stealing some paperbacks from his store — and he chased him for a while, then stopped and picked up the kid's wallet. It had his driver's license and address in it. Auggie kept it around — and on Christmas Day he decided to deliver the license.

He even went out and got food for a Christmas dinner, which they enjoyed together.

Similarly, there is "Creche," by Richard Ford; "Horatio's Trick," by Ann Beattie; "Another Christmas," by William Trevor — and even some that have never been published in English before, such as "A Risk for Father Christmas," by Siegfried Lenz, and "The Night Before Christmas," by Theodore Odrach.

There are also stories by John Cheever, Truman Capote, Alice Munroe and Graham Greene.

'1,000 Common Delusions'

By Christa Poppelmann

Firefly, $19.95, softcover

While this isn't the kind of book you would want to read in one sitting, this is still a pleasure to have around the house. It's filled with little chunks of knowledge that can be quickly digested.

The author aims to clear up 1,000 common but false beliefs, such as Nero didn't fiddle while Rome burned; the Mayflower didn't land at Plymouth Rock; George Washington wasn't the first president of the United States; women didn't burn their bras in the '60s; redwoods aren't the oldest trees in the world; koalas aren't bears; ants aren't always busy; sugar doesn't rot your teeth; and Eve didn't tempt Adam with an apple.

The Mayflower actually landed initially at Cape Cod Harbor — then sent a boat to scout out Plymouth. The rock didn't come into it for 120 years.

As for the first president — a man named John Hanson was elected by Congress to be the first president under the Articles of Confederation, and he served for one year.

The themes here are diverse: history and politics, science and technology, culture and entertainment, health and diet, society and everyday life, religion and philosophy, earth and space.

For all the explanations, you'll have to get the book.