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Great Holiday Reading

The holidays are now upon us. Soon many of us will have a few extra days off and perhaps we will be traveling. Perhaps you are one of those people who loves to read. If so, the holidays are a great opportunity to squeeze a book or two. If that sounds like you, your Denver heart doctor group has some great holiday reading suggestions that are perfect for this festive season.
Before we get into the reading list, let’s cover off on how reading helps keep you healthy. From a heart perspective, reading helps reduce stress. And, we all know that stress is a contributor to heart disease. Also, reading has been shown to help improve memory and brain function as well as increase your attention span. Lastly, a Harvard study found that reading can help you live longer. So, please read!
Immovable Feast: A Paris Christmas by John Baxter
This book is a charming and witty story and is a favorite when it comes to great holiday reading. It is about food. It is about Paris. And it is about Christmas. It is the true tale of the author, John Baxter, who has ended up with the sacred duty of preparing the Christmas meal for a Parisian family. But this is not just any family, this is his in-laws’ large family, all of whom is skeptical of him as he has just, rather impulsively, married their daughter. So, they bestowed the honor of the feast upon him as a test. Now he must find ways to impress them with his culinary skills. For the feast, he travels to the furthest reaches of France to find the best ingredients and recipes. Full of fun and misadventures, this book has plenty of Christmas spirit and Parisian charm.
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
David Baldacci is a best-selling thrill writer, but this book is an unexpected Christmas delight. It is about a disillusioned journalist who must travel by train from Washington D.C. to L.A. for Christmas. While on the train he encounters different people and he begins to rediscover goodness. This is a fun read that is filled with memorable characters while at its heart is the story of second chances to fulfill hopes and dreams.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
Turned into a movie, Christmas with the Kranks, this book is about a couple that decides to skip Christmas. Tired of all the office parties, decorating, and shopping, the couple decides it is not worth it. Instead, they will just take off all the holiday traditions and then set sail on a Caribbean cruise on Christmas day. But, they soon discover that skipping all the Christmas traditions has consequences and is not as easy as they think.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol is the standard when it comes to great holiday reading. This is the timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge who finds that he has little time to correct his way of life before his eternal fate is sealed. Full of ghosts who take him to Christmases in the past, present and future, he sees how Christmas has changed him and how his selfish choices affect others. This is a classic heart-warming and redemptive tale that everyone should read over the holidays.
How to Use this Information
We hope these great reads will help encourage you to read a book or two over the holiday season. After all, it is a great way to relax and help reduce stress. And, we all know that the holidays can be notorious for stress. Another way to reduce stress is knowing your calcium heart score! We can help as we offer calcium heart scoring for only $99. Then you can see where you are when it comes to your heart health.

South Denver Cardiology
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