6. Guitar Winterlude This is one of the first Christmas cds I start listening to each year. I like to turn it on and listen to it in the early morning, while the world is still dark and quiet. It is just really pretty, ambient, mostly guitar-led Christmas carols. There is a whole Winterlude series that was popular many years ago, and I also have Piano Winterlude and just plain Winterlude. They are all quite lovely, but Guitar Winterlude is my favorite. 
7. The Soul of Christmas: A Celtic Music Celebration with Thomas Moore I don’t remember where or why I got this cd. I think I ordered it blindly from a catalog, and I’m glad I did. It came encased in a little blue book that has some pictures, poems, and philosophical writings on Christmas by Thomas Moore. There is also a cd with a man with a really nice Irish brogue readings from the book. But the accompanying music cd is a treasure. It isn’t overly Celtic sounding, as the title would suggest, but calm, quiet carols of Christmas, my favorite being Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. (Does anyone know why this song is only done at Christmas? I like to sing it year round.) 
8. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ~ The Christmas Album I’ve been known to drive people crazy with my incessant playing of this cd around Christmas. In my opinion it's the perfect mix of traditional Christmas songs and new Christmas songs, with just enough of a country feel that you will wish you were in a snug cabin somewhere on a mountain side. It is just an all-around great Christmas album, especially for people from Colorado who truly know that “the closest thing to heaven on this planet anywhere, is a quiet Christmas morning in the Colorado snow.” 
9. Anne Sofie Von Otter ~ Home For Christmas Anne Sofie Von Otter is a mezzo-soprano from Sweden. On this disc she sings some classic Christmas songs, but also sings several Swedish carols in her native tongue. It is beautiful music and instrumentation. On most of the songs she is only accompanied by one or two instruments, a guitar and a violin, an accordion, which really allows her voice to come through. Standout tracks include the opening song Kopangen, which she sings in both English and Swedish, Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, I Wonder as I Wander, and Deck the Hall/Utterns Polska.
10. The Carpenters ~ Christmas Collection (Christmas Portrait & An Old Fashioned Christmas) When I was about seven years old, I was fairly certain that I was going to grow up to be Karen Carpenter. Obviously that didn’t happen, but I still enjoy her music. These Christmas albums cover just about every Christmas song ever written, and they are done in classic Carpenter style with Richard’s sparkly piano playing, tight vocal harmonies, and Karen singing like only she could. #11-15 tomorrow!
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