These books will probably make friends or family
retreat to a cosy corner for a quiet hour between the festivities this year…
For the cook…
After the excesses of Christmas, Real Life Recipes
from top chef Tom Kerridge (Bloomsbury Absolute) is the perfect palate
cleanser. Kerridge runs us through stress-free dishes like smoky beef and bean
pie, pork pot roast, and cheddar sausage rolls, as well as being more than aware
of the cost-of-living crisis.
He offers recipes using a lot of basics that you
probably already have in your kitchen, including ‘pantry spaghetti’ or ‘fridge
raid soup’.
For the historian…
Banging the drum for the unsung heroines of
history, from the Women’s Prize founder Kate Mosse comes Warrior Queens &
Quiet Revolutionaries (Mantle), a brilliant account of the lives of nearly
1,000 women who deserve to be better known.
It’s great for dipping in and out of, as it’s split
into 10 sections covering a different aspect of achievement – from warrior
queens to the trailblazing women at the Bar, female inventors and scientists,
philanthropists and conservationists, authors and campaigners.
For the thriller-seeker…
Jack Reacher fans have a treat in store with Lee
Child’s latest novel No Plan B (Bantam Press) which he has co-written with his
younger brother, Andrew. It begins with an apparent suicide when a woman throws
herself in front of a bus – but one witness saw the truth, and that person is
Jack Reacher.
For the laughter lover…
Yes, Christmas is a magical time for children, but
frazzled parents may want to pick up a copy of Parenting Hell (Blink),
accompanying the hugely successful podcast by comedians Rob Beckett and Josh
Widdicombe, who offer humour and comfort in knowing you are not alone when
facing life’s dilemmas with little ones.
For the romantic…
This may involve you buying two books if your loved
one hasn’t read the first, It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover’s New York Times
bestselling novel charting the story of Lily and her first love Atlas, who
walks back into her life and threatens her relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle.
Fast forward six years and in It Starts With Us
(Simon & Schuster UK), we find Lily and her now ex-husband Ryle
co-parenting in a steady routine, when she again bumps into Atlas and embraces
a second chance at true love – while trying to manage her jealous ex-husband.
This one, however, tells Atlas’ side of the story.
It’s already way up the bestseller list and anyone who loves romantic fiction
will be hooked.
For the celebrity fan…
Autumn is always awash with celebrity
autobiographies, and this year is no different, with offerings from everyone
from Motsi Mabuse and Mel C to Gabby Logan, Nick Grimshaw and Hugh Bonneville.
But if you have to buy just one really good
celebrity read, a good bet is actor Richard E Grant’s A Pocketful Of Happiness
(Gallery UK), charting his life from Swaziland to his move to the UK to pursue
an acting career. Along the way, he met his wife, dialect coach Joan
Washington, who died in 2021.
Before she passed away, she told him to seek a
pocketful of happiness in each day, a mantra he now lives by.
For the wellbeing wannabe…
We’re all looking for ways to feel better, and as
we approach the New Year, someone who receives a copy of Just One Thing (Short
Books) by Dr Michael Mosley might be a step closer to getting that feel-good
factor.
Based on the eponymous BBC podcast, Mosley is on a
mission to find things you can introduce into your routine which will have a
significant impact on your mental and physical health.
It could be as simple as having more houseplants to
boost your mood, or singing to give yourself a natural high. He even suggests
eating chocolate can help your heart, which will be a comforting thought when
you’re tucking into the Celebrations at Christmas…
For the fashion follower…
The Crown In Vogue by Robin Muir and Josephine Ross
(Conran Octopus) is a chunky coffee table tome and ‘special royal salute’ to
the late Queen and the royal family, with photographs from the pages of Vogue
throughout the late monarch’s 70-year reign.
It features beautiful pictures of everyone from the
Queen to Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon, Princess Anne and the late Diana,
Princess of Wales, plus the younger royals who continue to grace its pages,
along with anecdotes explaining the settings.
For the pet lover…
As with so much of her writing, author Dawn
O’Porter’s latest novel Cat Lady (HarperCollins) is right on trend. It’s about
a woman whose devotion to her cat takes centre stage when her life is falling
apart – there’s an errant husband whose ex-wife is constantly popping round, a
toxic work environment, and some welcome solace in a pet bereavement group.
For the sports fanatic…
Again, there are plenty of memoirs to be had, from
Sue Barker’s Calling The Shots (Ebury Spotlight), to Micah Richards’ The Game
(HarperCollins, £22), in which the former Manchester City star and now TV
pundit goes behind the scenes of football.
But if the person you’re buying for is an all-round
sports fan, you may be better off bagging BBC Sports Report (Bloomsbury Sport)
by Pat Murphy, a reporter on the show since 1981.
It’s a compilation of 75 years on air of BBC Sports
Report – the longest-running radio sports programme in the world – and the
remarkable events that have shaped sport and society as a whole.