Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

Tove Jansson’s Life, Art, Words. I don’t remember how it started, but for several years now, over Christmas, I have read a non-fiction book to inspire or educate me as a writer. It somehow feels like a helpful pause, a time to reflect on my practice. I bought this book in September at the Edinburgh Book Festival specifically to read this Christmas. I’ve long admired Tove Jansson; writer, painter, illustrator, cartoonist and very stylish dresser. This authorised biography, by Boel Westin, is a satisfying 576 pages, so I’m looking forward to finding out a lot more about this multi-talented woman and wallowing in her wisdom.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The Fairy Tellers, by Nick Jubber. I have a daughter who was enthralled by fairy tales as a child and still is as an adult, so when I came across The Fairy Tellers I knew exactly whose stocking it was headed for, with its beautiful cover, and rich, transporting material. Nick Jubber provides a magic carpet to whisk us through time and space to the origins of our most familiar fairy tales, to meet the people who first told them, and follow their mutation with time and travel.

My book of the year . . .

Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver. I read it recently on a short break in Spain with the most beautiful outlook I’ve had for nearly three years. I barely looked up. With David Copperfield as a template, this consummate storyteller and ventriloquist extraordinaire roots us in America’s opioids crisis in the mountains of southern Appalachia. With astounding skill, Kingsolver enables us to hold on tight and accompany her character though childhood neglect, foster care, short-lived athletic success, subsequent addiction, love, loss and survival. A breathtakingly brilliant novel.

Emma Carroll, author of The Tale of Truthwater Lake

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. Her writing is incredibly rich and immersive so I’m hoping to be in Robert Browning’s Renaissance Italy for much of the festive period.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The Midnight Panther, written and illustrated by Poonam Mistry. It’s such a beautiful publication I might have to keep one for myself.

My book of the year . . .

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler. One of the titular Booths is Edwin Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln. We know how his story ends: it’s the other Booths in this sprawling, complicated family that bring a real living, breathing energy to the page. This is very fine – and funny – historical fiction.

Charlotte Vassell, author of The Other Half

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

To my eternal shame I have never read A Christmas Carol. I have however seen The Muppet Christmas Carol many, many times. As excellent a movie as it is, I intend to put it right this year.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

I will be giving out copies of Aja Barber’s Consumed. I’m trying to consume more consciously and Barber’s book is a masterful, and sometimes uncomfortable to read, polemic against fast fashion – one of the worst exploitative and environmentally damaging industries we have.

My book of the year . . .

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz is beautiful. Lyrical and rousing at the same time. Vignettes of our foremothers that yearn for basic freedoms and the right to artistic expression.

John Grindrod, author of Iconicon

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

The book I can’t wait to read over Christmas is Harold Wilson: The Winner by Nick Thomas-Symonds. I’ve long been fascinated by Wilson, who remains an enigma, and I’m hoping this book helps illuminate his life and provide insights into all the strange episodes of his premiership and those dreams of high tech ’60s and ’70s Britain.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The book I’ll be giving as a present this year is Hilary Mantel’s Giving Up the Ghost, her incredible haunted and haunting memoir, which reminds us of the genius we have lost in 2022.

My book of the year . . .

My book of the year is Matthew Hollis’s The Waste Land: A Biography of a Poem, which beautifully interweaves voices and perspectives just as Eliot’s poem does, and opens it out in new and generous ways.

Dizz Tate, author of Brutes

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

Die, My Love, Feebleminded and Tender (The ‘Involuntary Trilogy’) by Ariana Harwiczs. Ever since reading The Wind That Lays Waste by Selva Almada, I’ve loved Charco Press and their translations of contemporary Latin American literature. The bundles are great for discovering new work, and I’m excited about this trilogy by name alone.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

Chilly Scenes of Winter by Anne Beattie. I read this book every year when it gets cold and give it to a lot of people; it’s witty, heart-warming, full of snow and many varieties of true love.

My book of the year . . .

The Inseparables by Simone De Beauvoir and Space Invaders by Nona Fernández. Both these books are short and a little sweet, but mostly cold, brutal and brilliant, with images that still rattle around in my mind. I loved them.

Addendum

For the Ariana Harwicz, the translators are Sarah Moses, Carolina Orloff and Annie McDermott. For The Wind that Lays Waste, it is translated by Chris Andrews. Space Invaders by Nona Fernández was translated by Natasha Wimmer, and the Simone De Beauvoir was translated by Lauren Elkin.

Peter Swanson, author of Nine Lives

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz. This is a series that shouldn’t work, with Horowitz inserting himself into whodunnits as a slightly dim-witted narrator. But I’ve enjoyed each one immensely, and look forward to the latest. Should be a perfect book accompaniment to an eggnog or two on a winter evening.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice. Giving novels as gifts has always felt a little pushy to me, honestly, as though you’re handing the recipient a lengthy reading assignment. Poetry, on the other hand, usually comes packaged in nice slim books that readers can dip in and out of at will. And Autumn Journal is such a beautiful expression of a time and place by the underrated poet MacNeice, a contemporary and friend of Auden. The lyrical poems grapple with personal and political change during the autumn of 1938.

My book of the year . . .

The Appeal by Janice Hallett. I’d heard about this novel, probably from UK friends on social media sites, long before it was available in the United States. By the time I finally got to it I was worried that my expectations were too high. After all, how good could a mystery novel told entirely through emails and texts and theatre programs be? Turns out, very very good. And laugh-out loud funny. It’s a bold idea that is even better than its brilliant concept.

Hassan Ali, Faber Factory Manager

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

Devil House by John Darnielle. I’m a big fan of The Mountain Goats and love John Darnielle’s previous two novels, so I’ve been eager to read this for a while. Christmas and the cold dark of winter generally make me dwell on blood and ghosts; I think the Bible and Dickens would attest to this so I feel less weird about it. This novel about the current fascination with true crime and its consequences will no doubt satisfy my seasonal itch.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

London Feeds Itself edited by Jonathan Nunn. These essays on London’s food culture are endlessly fascinating – Vittles subscribers rise up, I know you already knew. This is an amazing gift for any Londoner, with a beautiful map and photographic postcard included. The only issue is it’s sold out of its first print run pretty much everywhere, so I’ll either need to find one of the last remaining first editions somewhere, or part with my own beloved copy.

My book of the year . . .

Babel by R. F. Kuang. It felt like this had a lot of hype to live up to when it came out with such an incredible publicity campaign. For me, it delivered this tenfold. This story of empire and resistance steeped in a supernatural world where language translates (quite literally) to power is vivid, original and emotional.

Jess Kim, Deputy Marketing Director

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

I’m spending Christmas in Italy this year, so no more perfect an opportunity to finally read Daunt Books’ new edition of Natalia Ginzburg’s All Our Yesterdays, which I’d optimistically picked up in the summer and never got round to.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

I’ve urged my brother to read Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and of course he’s ignored me like the fool that he is – even though, with his deep nostalgia for ’90s computer games, I think he would love this book so much, so maybe I’ll buy it for him for Christmas to guilt him into reading it. Even without any love of video games, I thought this was such a brilliant and heartfelt read. Maybe I’ll buy it for other people too.

My book of the year . . .

Stay True by Hua Hsu – I read this through a week of deep jet lag where I found it so quietly compelling that, instead of helping me finally doze off to sleep, I think it kept me awake even longer. A wonderful memoir about friendships from our youth and how they shape our view of ourselves, and how we process grief, which is full of both warmth and humour.

Nicole Gadras, Sales Assistant

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

The book I can’t wait to read over Christmas is Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles. Christmas feels like the perfect time to read about feelings of connection and home – and delicious food! – and all of that promises to be contained in Powles’s essay collection about growing up between countries and cultures. In the depths of December, I sadly won’t be travelling to Borneo or New Zealand, or swimming outdoors anywhere, but I’m excited to do those things vicariously through this memoir.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The book I’ll be giving as a present this year is Ten Days by Austin Duffy. This is a subtle and tender novel centred around a father-daughter relationship, and a great recommendation for fans of Small Things Like These. It takes place in New York over the ten days of Rosh Hashanah, where Wolf is accompanying his estranged teenage daughter Ruth to her mother Miriam’s funeral. There, Miriam’s staunchly Jewish family clash with Wolf over Miriam’s burial wishes, but there is more to Wolf’s story than first meets the eye. Duffy’s writing is pared-back, but still packs a mighty emotional punch, and anyone who’s ever had to spend the holiday season with a somewhat difficult extended family will definitely be able to relate.

My book of the year . . .

My book of the year is Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Set on the outskirts of Belfast in the 1970s, against a backdrop of daily bombings and threats, it follows Cushla, a young Catholic primary school teacher, who, while helping out behind the bar in her family’s pub, falls for the older, married – and Protestant – Michael. What follows is a love story, but also a completely gripping, complex and nuanced portrait of a community divided by the Troubles, as Cushla treads the line between following her heart and trying to protect those closest to her.

Phoebe Williams, Senior Marketing Executive

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

I’ve added Marple: Twelve New Stories to my Christmas list, so I’m really hoping that it will be waiting under the tree for me come Christmas Day. This collection of short stories featuring Agatha Christie’s iconic detective Jane Marple sounds like the perfect book to dip into during that lull period between Christmas and New Year.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead provides the reader with both a wholly immersive reading experience and an unforgettable protagonist – the perfect gift for anyone looking to invest in a great story. If that isn’t enough, the hardback edition includes a beautifully designed jacket complete with gold foiling.

My book of the year . . .

I read Hanya Yanigihara’s To Paradise right at the start of 2022, but it’s one of those books that has stayed with me throughout the year. I loved how the writing style encouraged me to slow down and think about what I was reading, unpicking the nuances of its characters’ emotions to create people and relationships that feel vividly real.

Ruth O’Loughlin, Publishing Manager

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

In my Christmas reading pile I’ve got a copy of Middlemarch which I’m determined to get through . . . But if that gets too much I’ve got a copy of the gorgeous graphic novel Alison by Lizzy Stewart to turn to. Tessa Hadley is a fan, and that’s good enough for me.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

I’ll be giving The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure to virtually anyone – a stunning compendium of some of the most wondrous animals on our planet, written so intelligently and wittily by Katherine Rundell that it will inspire awe in any nature lover.

My book of the year . . .

My book of the year is the Booker-shortlisted The Trees by Percival Everett. So smart and funny, he rides the delicate balance between humour and extreme gravity like no other writer, and I loved his novel so much.

Alice Swan, Editorial Director (Children’s)

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

As a working mother with three young children, I will probably still be reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver at Christmas! A completely brilliant masterpiece. Don’t be put off by the length if you’re short on time. It’s worth it!

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The best quality Christmas present you’ll find for 6-11-year-olds this year is The Faber Book of Bedtime Stories. Beautifully illustrated by Sarah McIntyre, packed full of inclusive modern-day stories to transport children off to a happy place before bed.

My book of the year . . .

If you’re looking for joy in a book, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus has it in spades. Sardonic, hilarious, angry, feminist: my cup of tea.

Melanie Tyrrell, Account Manager

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

I binged the first four books in Mick Herron’s Slough House series about a loveable (from a distance) group of failed MI5 agents over the summer and have been saving the next few titles for the Christmas holidays. A strangely comforting world of shady characters, rainy London streets and cold takeaways . . .

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

I will be gifting the gorgeous new edition of Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner. I firmly believe in giving presents that I would love to receive myself and this is the perfect book to read during the long winter evenings between Christmas and New Year.

My book of the year . . .

My book of the year is A Horse at Night by Amina Cain. An exquisitely beautiful collection of essays on reading and writing – this is the perfect book to keep on your bedside table and dip into before sleep. I promise you will have better dreams!

Rachel Darling, Trade Marketing and Product Manager

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

All Our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg. I read Family Lexicon last Christmas and it was such perfection I’ve been saving this recent re-release (with some difficulty!) for the same slot. AND it has a foreword by Sally Rooney.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner. I mean, just look at that cover! These stories are perfect gifting for the slightly world-weary this season – injecting some much-needed bewitchment, lots of charm and eccentricity, and plenty of wit.

My book of the year . . .

They by Kay Dick. It was incredible to see this lost classic return with renewed relevance and impact in its second life cycle. Not exactly hopeful in terms of plot or theme but a fantastic rallying cry for art under oppression and a new chance for an important voice to be heard.

Hannah Turner, Publicity Manager

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

The book I can’t wait to read over Christmas is I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I’ve been recommended this book by so many people so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

Definitely Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I have already gifted this amazing novel to so many people and every single person has loved it. It’s funny, moving and important. Everyone will fall in love with Demon’s voice.

My book of the year . . .

I raced through Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It’s always a good sign when a book is over four hundred pages, but you still don’t want it to finish by the time you reach the end! A very moving story of friendship.

Ruby Bamber, Sales Operations Manager

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

The book I can’t wait to read over Christmas is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I’m going to sit down with a seasonal snack selection and devour every word from one of my favourite authors.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The book I’ll be gifting this Christmas is Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. I firmly believe more people should be reading ghost stories in the festive period so I’ll be doing my bit to spread wintery unease and disquiet among my nearest and dearest.

My book of the year . . .

My book of the year is Alison by Lizzie Stewart. An absolute triumph for the eyes and for the soul; I read it in one magical sitting and have returned to it a few times since. A masterpiece!

Angus Cargill, Editor

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

I’ve loved both of Celeste Ng’s previous novels, so I’m really looking forward to reading her third, Our Missing Hearts.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

Two very different but equally beautiful graphic novels from this year will make great presents, Lizzie Stewart’s Alison and Luke Healy’s The Con Artists.

My book of the year . . .

Two standout books for me this year: Percival Everett’s novels are always fizzing with ideas and style, and with The Trees he really landed all his punches. Great to see it on the Booker Shortlist too. And in non-fiction, Preti Taneja’s winner of this year’s Gordon Burn Prize, Aftermath, was as brilliant and inspiring as it was devastating.

Stephen Page, Executive Chair

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

Seven Steeples by Sara Baume – Described by the Guardian as ‘a glacially beautiful book’ this new novel from the supremely talented Irish writer and artist offers exactly what I want from the open reading time of the holiday.

The book I’ll be giving as a gift . . .

The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell. A book of such exuberant brilliance with a powerful message for all generations makes this the perfect book to give, especially as it is also an object of great beauty.

My book of the year . . .

The Waste Land by Matthew Hollis. Meticulous scholarship and a poet’s imagination underpin this gripping and deeply perceptive account of how The Waste Land came into life, recreating the people, the time and world that surrounded Eliot’s masterwork.

Bonnie Jones, Commercial Director

The book I’m looking forward to reading over Christmas . . .

I am looking forward to reading Olivia Manning’s Friends and Heroes at Christmas. I have already read the first two parts of the Balkan Trilogy, set in Bucharest at the beginning of WWII and they were so extraordinarily evocative and vivid I felt I lived there and had my favourite cafes and restaurants. The final volume is set in Athens in spring and I am looking forward to some sunshine and a relationship drawn with extreme subtlety and elegance.