By: Ryan Chamberlain, OverDrive Publisher Account Specialist

Merry mid-December.

It’s that time of year again, the time when everyone’s merry’d you with just about every possible holiday. You’ve been wished, impossibly, a happy Black Friday, been spammed with decks of ‘gift cards’ for the full week of Cyber Monday. You’ve skirted lines leading to signs that read DON’T MISS THIS DAY ONLY, whatever, SALE—you know the tune. It is the farthest thing from Mariah Carey wanting you for Christmas.

Holiday Spectacular

I’m here not to merry anybody. I’m the mid-sale man: I’m here to humbug with you.

So I hope you’ll join me—but, please, keep your distance—in turning off whatever it is that’s jingling. Missing out is not a possibility here. Our staff librarians have done all the work, so the sale-sifting mirth some people allege having is winnowed mercifully down. No paging through search results—you already know what’s popular. And now our Holiday Sale lists include a new bowl of candy. We have a new category of curated lists showcasing what’s Beyond the Bestseller.

Speaking of weeding out the cloying sweet injected into the Holiday Cheer we’re fed, our Sci-Fi and Fantasy collections are now free of Romance. If you are after some of that cross-genre syrup, we may part here, reader, but you are not alone. Now available is our Best of Romantic Suspense. We’re unveiling some other handy lists, too, including Literary Reads and Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. For the younger ones, with their dreams of sugar plums and whatnot we also have Kids Fiction, Kids Nonfiction, Teen Fiction, and Teen Nonfiction lists.

Before I go, Buyer: beware. There is no mad dash you need to take part in. We appreciate that you’re not channeling your efforts into the year’s single hot item, but into, potentially, tens of thousands of patrons’ wish lists for an indeterminate and shifting future. But please, there’s no need to door-bust for anything we offer. We do ask that you take care to look through our collections, which were built for you to peruse comfortably and with a resting heart rate.

To the mad-dashing, competitive shoppers: we’re keeping our catalog’s breadth and price reductions institution-grade. Let’s cool it this holiday season.