Christmas 2021 is nearly upon us, so to help with some last minute gift inspiration we’ve put together a series of themed Gift Guides rounding up a selection of our favourite new releases – with a little something for everyone!
Next up: Gift Books & Stocking Fillers!
A SCANDINAVIAN CHRISTMAS 🎄 🇸🇪 🎄 🇩🇰 🎄 🇫🇮 🎄 🇳🇴 🎄
By Various
Publisher: Vintage Classics
A truly beautiful little book and the perfect Christmas stocking filler, A SCANDINAVIAN CHRISTMAS transports readers to a winter wonderland of magical, mystical and often rather poignant festive tales from some of the most famous names in Scandi literature.
Have yourself a truly Scandinavian Christmas… Of visions and prophesies seen in dark, dark woods. Of toys and trees come to life. Of trolls raising chaos, and of families torn apart — only to be brought back together by festive cheer. In this collection, classic tales from Hans Christian Andersen and Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlof blend with modern day stories from Karl Ove Knausgaard and Vigdis Hjorth. Each touch on the warm and wild spirit of Christmas, where the cosiness and contentment of the season can often give way to the unexpected.
A SCANDINAVIAN CHRISTMAS has a little something for everyone and the stories are an ideal length for dipping into this Christmas. The folksy and traditional festive stories range from the enchanting to the beguiling and even those tinged with sadness, but it’s a lovely little collection and the book itself is a joy!
By James Norbury
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Two years ago, Charlie Mackesy’s charming The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse captured the hearts of many and became an instant must have. This year, James Norbury’s heartwarming BIG PANDA AND TINY DRAGON, inspired by Buddhist philosophy and spirituality, has taken over the mantle, and it is an inspiring and wonderfully uplifting book that everyone should read and own.
Friends Big Panda and Tiny Dragon journey through the seasons of the year together, day and night, in rain and in sun. Travelling through nature, they find hope and inspiration in the world around them, realising that even in the darkest of days, Spring will always return. Feel the calming influence of Big Panda, who reminds us of the bigger picture while appreciating the simplicity of small moments. Explore your surroundings with the inquisitive eye of Tiny Dragon, our friend who is big in heart if not in stature.
In BIG PANDA AND TINY DRAGON, we join the pair on their journey through the ever-changing seasons as they learn how to live in the moment, be at peace with uncertainty, and find the strength to overcome life’s obstacles, together.
It is the perfect gift for anyone looking for a little hope and comfort this Christmas.
MIDDLEMARCH – 150TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
By George Eliot
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Discover one of the greatest and most influential novels in English literature with MIDDLEMARCH – 150TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, a sublime new edition of the great novel from Vintage Classics and a perfect long read this Christmas.
Dorothea is bright, beautiful and rebellious. Lydgate is the ambitious new doctor in town. Both of them long to make a positive difference in the world. But their stories do not proceed as expected and both they, and the other inhabitants of Middlemarch, must struggle to reconcile themselves to their fates and find their places in the world. Middlemarch contains all of life: the rich and the poor, the conventional and the radical, literature and science, politics and romance, but above all it gives us a vision of what lies within the human heart.
MIDDLEMARCH really is a masterpiece and one of the greatest English novels of them all. At over 900 pages the length may seem daunting to some, but it’s a rich and sweeping novel that deserves to be read and fully rewards anyone who takes the time to do so!
By Sara Santini & Andrea Di Filippo
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
If you are wanting to up your Instagram game or just want a bit of Insta-worthy inspiration, then check out this curated guide to the most chic, stylish and unique sites in London from the co-creators of successful Instagram account of the same name.
PRETTY LITTLE LONDON invites you on a stunning visual tour of the city, your guides Sara and Andrea present the most Insta-worthy destinations in the capital. With everything from cafes and restaurants to galleries, parks and hotels, Pretty Little London introduces more than 100 perfect places to explore all year round. The authors also share advice drawn from their experience on the platform, from using the right equipment to photograph these stunning locations, to how to build followings and understand trends and algorithms. Whether you’re looking for a picturesque wisteria-filled stroll, a romantic rooftop bar for a cocktail, an inspiring museum, or a magical day of Christmas lights and festivities – Pretty Little London has a whole host of offerings.
Filled with enviable photography, beautiful maps, Instagram advice and insider tips – PRETTY LITTLE LONDON will inspire you to discover parts of the city you’ve never seen before.
OSEBOL – VOICES FROM A SWEDISH VILLAGE
By Marit Kapla
Publisher: Allen Lane
Near the river Klarälven, snug in the dense forest landscape of northern Värmland, lies the secluded village of Osebol. It is a quiet place: one where relationships take root over decades, and where the bustle of city life is replaced by the sound of wind in the trees.
Winner of Sweden’s August Prize and a Sunday Telegraph and Guardian Book of the Year, this extraordinary first book from Marit Kapla – an unexpected cultural phenomenon in its native Sweden – collects together a series of interviews she conducted with nearly every Osebol villager between the ages of 18 and 92, and records their stories verbatim.
What emerges is at once a familiar chronicle of great social metamorphosis, told from the inside, and a beautifully microcosmic portrait of a place and its people.
Over the last half-century, the automation of the lumber industry and the steady relocations to the cities have seen the village’s adult population fall to roughly forty. But still, life goes on; heirlooms are passed from hand to hand, and memories from mouth to mouth, while new arrivals come from near and far.
OSEBOL – VOICES FROM A SWEDISH VILLAGE is a truly fascinating glimpse into this small and unassuming little village, with the stories of Osebol’s residents brought wondrously to life in their own words.
