Christmas Is All Around Us

On November 7, 2003, two new Christmas movies hit movie theatres across the country. One had a strong opening, grossing about $30.9 million in its opening weekend and the other had a much lower opening weekend, grossing only $6.9 million. Both movies, however, went on to bring in over $200 million in box office revenue that season, with the slow opener surpassing the stronger one. Today, as both movies celebrate their 20^th anniversary with theatrical re-releases and exclusive DVD editions, they remain two much-loved holiday movies.

These two movies are Love, Actually and Elf. Elf was the higher grossing movie out the gate but Love, Actually, despite its slower start, has gone on to win the hearts of many across the world as an annual Christmas movie favorite. It is also my favorite Christmas movie, and I thought it only appropriate that on this Christmas Day 2023, in the year that ThriftBooks is also celebrating its 20^th anniversary, that my Christmas message to all of you bring Love, Actually into the discussion.

I used to think Love, Actually was my favorite Christmas movie because of the remake of the song “Love is All Around”.  (If you recall in the movie, they remake that song into “Christmas is All Around”).  “Love is All Around” was the wedding song my husband and I choose for our first dance when we were married in 2000. Back then that song was not a popular wedding song pick. So to hear a version of that song in a movie, even if they did change the lyrics, had me hooked!

But over the years, I grew to appreciate Love, Actually for the many story arcs which unfold throughout. In fact, I find Love, Actually to be perfect for book lovers because of all the various love story tropes it covers: Office romance, friend pining after his best friend’s wife, puppy love, bromance, second chance love, and more! There really is something for everyone.

The most relevant part of Love, Actually to share with all of you today, is that the nine intertwined stories of the movie, are all versions of the one emotion that connects us all: Love. In the movie, Billy Mack says “Christmas is the time to be with the people you love” and goes on to sing “Christmas is all around.”

Today, Christmas certainly IS all around us. Let us feel it in our fingers and feel it in our toes. Christmas is all around us, so the feeling grows.

And when the Christmas season is over, 12 days from today, on the Epiphany on January 6, we will still have Love. With all the various tropes that we know of and read about in books, and all that we live every day, Love, actually, is all around.

Merry Christmas from all of us at ThriftBooks to all of you in our ThriftBooks community.

Barbara Hagen
VP, Sales and Marketing, ThriftBooks

For more cheer, see our previous Christmas Messages:

• 2022: That Christmas Morning Feeling
• 2021: My Grown-Up Christmas List
• 2020: Welcome, Christmas!

About the Author: Barbara Hagen is the Vice President of Marketing and Sales here at ThriftBooks. She has more than 20 years of experience as a senior marketing executive, with an undergraduate degree in marketing from Syracuse University, an MBA in international marketing from NYU's Stern School of Business, and an MS in data analytics, also from NYU's Stern School.

Read more by Barbara Hagen