TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE…

WE’RE EMBRACING ICELAND’S CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITION OF GIVING BOOKS, JÓLABÓKAFLÓÐ. HERE ARE OUR PICKS, HANDILY PAIRED WITH CHOCOLATE

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan (Vintage)

Lucy Mangan was always captivated by the spell a story could cast and the emotions it could conjure. In this lovely memoir she revisits childhood favourites – from The Very Hungry Caterpillar to The Secret Garden, to the saviour of her teens, Judy Blume. Lucy celebrates what made them so special and describes how they changed her life in ways big and small.

Give to: the person who loves nothing better than escaping into a world of words.

Give with: a suitably nostalgic Cadbury Selection box.

Educated by Tara Westover (Hutchinson)

Tara Westover grew up in rural Idaho, in the shadow of a beautiful mountain and under the shadow of her religious, tyrannical, survivalist father, who didn’t trust the government, teachers or doctors. Tara didn’t set foot in a classroom until she was 17. But now she’s a Cambridge graduate, reflecting on the price she paid to transform her life, and herself, in this wonderful memoir.

Give to: a reader who’ll be intrigued by this insightful, thought-provoking book.

Give with: equally intriguing Kernow Bah Humbug milk chocolate.

To Throw Away Unopened by Viv Albertine (Faber)

Punk rocker and feminist, Viv Albertine is obsessed with the truth – the truth about family, power, and her identity as a rebel and outsider. In this ferociously honest book, she explores her tempestuous relationship with her beloved mother and her family history, full of dark and dangerous secrets. There’s sadness and damage, but there’s also bravery, humour and a fierce determination to survive, create and celebrate. Give to: a fan of spiky, inspiring, brave memoirists. Give with: a Wham Bar (remember those?) – so punk it’s not even chocolate.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (Raven Books)

A huge, crumbling mansion, a masquerade ball and a devastating murder – the scene is set for a diabolically intricate read. The victim is Evelyn, but who is the killer? Guest Aidan Bishop has been tasked with solving the crime in a scant eight days, but ingeniously, he’s doomed to repeat every day in the body of a different guest until the puzzle is solved.

Give to: anyone who loves a marvellous mystery that will mess with their head.

Give with: a milk chocolate teapot from chococo.co.uk: because that’s how much use the reader will be while they’re engrossed.

The Overstory by Richard Powers (William Heinemann)

The Overstory is about trees and nature and people, and the complicated relationships that hold the world together. It’s layered and intricate – a wonderful epic. It starts in the late 20th century timber wars in America and heads to the present day, when a longlived strand of trees is threatened with destruction – revealing along the way how trees protect each other, and how important they are to our world.

Give to: those who’ll appreciate a beautiful book with a vital message.

Give with: farmer-friendly, Fairtrade Divine Chocolate; Limited Edition Gingerbread Crisp, anyone? »

Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber)

A read-in-one-sitting exploration of a changeable relationship. Marianne and Connell, school friends and lovers, head to the same university and grapple with their differences, while keeping hold of love. Power shifts, misunderstandings, missteps and missed chances make for an intense, intimate, entirely engrossing novel that explores how hard it is to be true to your emotions. Subtle, seductive and brilliant.

Give to: someone who’ll be seduced by bold contemporary fiction.

Give with: Assorted Lindor Truffles – for exploring a changeable relationship with Milk, Dark, White and Hazelnut.

The Hoarder by Jess Kidd (Canongate)

Curmudgeon Cathal Flood, looks like ‘a long, thin, raw-boned, polluted old giant’ and lives in a ramshackle, haunted mansion, filled to the rafters with stuff and memories. Cathal is keeping secrets, which the house seems determined to reveal to his care worker, Maud Drennan. She’s an unwilling psychic, who attempts to solve the house’s clues – burned photographs, tantalizing trinkets and old newspaper accounts of a missing school girl.

Give to: a fan of inventive characterisation and incident-filled plot.

Give with: Terry’s Chocolate Orange – a hoard of orangey, chocolatey segments that’s not for sharing.

The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anna-Marie Crowhurst (Allen & Unwin)

We’re in 17th century England, where sparky Ursula Flight is keen to write for the theatre, in the dark, glittery world of Restoration drama. Her creative ambitions are decidedly frowned upon by the rigid expectations of her well to do, but conventional family. Along the way she encounters ‘scoundrels, bounders… and heartbreak’, and deals with them with spirited aplomb in this hugely enjoyable coming-of-age debut.

Give to: those drawn to the theatrical who love a historical romp.

Give with: Popping Marc de Champagne Chocolate Truffles from rococochocolates.com – suitably frothy, topped with popping candy.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)

Juliet Armstrong had been recruited by MI5, and she’s hoping to be a spy. Instead she’s stuck in a stuffy flat, transcribing conversations between a special agent and the Nazi sympathisers he’s hoping to entrap. But then her work takes a turn for the deadly. Murky, mysterious and with double bluffs and untrustworthy narratives aplenty, it’s a vibrant piece of historical fiction that explores the nature of truth.

Give to: a lover of spy fiction where all certainties are upended.

Give with: After Eights, because chocolates that come in envelopes are very MI5.

The Corset by Laura Purcell (Raven Books)

Teenage Ruth Butterham is a seamstress, who believes that she has an uncanny ability to cause harm by the power of her stitches. Imprisoned for murder, she is visited by young, well to do, educated Dorothea, who is convinced there’s a rational explanation for Ruth’s crime. But the more she hears of Ruth’s story, the more she wonders if science can be a match for the supernatural in this deliciously dark mystery. Give to: fans of thrilling, chilling Gothic tales.

Give with: wonderfully Gothic Thorntons Cherries in Liqueur.

Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (Hutchinson)

Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott’s spellbinding debut novel tells the story of Truman Capote and the bevy of socialite swans he surrounded himself with. Capote’s charm sprinkled everything ‘with magic-dust’ for these glamorous women – until, fatally, he revealed in print what they’d confided in private. Cue a downward spiral into drugs, drink, regret and writer’s block. Greenberg-Jephcott beautifully captures the pain and poignancy, alongside the privilege.

Give to: whoever loves fabulous fiction grounded in tantalizing truth.

Give with: Beech’s Lime & Chilli Dark Chocolate Thins – sophisticated with a touch of Southern heat.

I Am The Seed That Grew The Tree by Fiona Waters (Nosy Crow)

Published in collaboration with the National Trust, this trove of 366 nature poems – one for every day of the year, and an extra for leap year, is aimed at children, but is so beautiful that adults will want to dive in, too. Spanning 400 years of poetry, and with stunning illustrations from Frann Preston-Gannon, there are words from Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Carol Ann Duffy and many more.

Give to: poetry lovers who’ll enjoy a celebration of the natural world.

Give with: Quality Street Matchmakers – like woodland sticks, only tastier.