ten book gifts

(Christmas in the little Cotswolds bookshop)

It’s the nicest time of year in the little Cotswolds bookshop where I work once a week. The bookshop windows are full of snowflakes, stars, and tempting hardback books. Bells on the door jingle and jingle and jingle until my fingers go numb from the cold draught so I warm them on my flask of coffee. I slip a copy of The Night Before Christmas into a paper bag and wrap a book about lighthouses in gold paper. A tiny person in a striped coat comes up to the counter, reaching on tiptoes for a sticker, and the smiling postman arrives with a huge stack of boxes—his wife’s just had a baby. I tidy the fiction shelves and offer up personal recommendations to customers who are seeking gifts for mothers, and sisters, and fathers, and nephews and friends.

Perhaps you, too are looking for a book gift? Here are ten of my favourites:

An elegant, elegiac novel:

A gorgeous memoir about what it means to be rooted in an ancient landscape:

A lyrical extended essay for the darkest moment of the year:

Sweet, funny and charming short stories about many kinds of love:

A year of a life collected in glittering, glowing, poetic fragments:

A book I wish I could hand to my sleep-deprived new mother self:

Three heartwarming interlinked festive stories for teens:

The perfect gift for a writer:

A book for deep thinkers:

A magical solstice story for children:

And finally, my book — for nature-lovers, memoir fans, or anyone who sees wonder in landscape and weather:

If you’d like to buy a copy of Chasing Fog from the little Cotswolds bookshop, you can click here to order a copy (signed, dedicated and gift-wrapped for free).

Alternatively, you can gift a month or a year’s subscription to my writing here:

I hope that you receive a book gift of your own (and that you find some peace in which to read it…)

Laura x