We’ve rounded up the best books to buy for your family and friends this Christmas, with options for everyone, from foodies to teens, gardeners to puzzle fans. Read on, and get that shopping list at the ready!
For foodies
Kitchening: Day-to-Day Good Food, Come Rain or Shine by Jeremy Lee
This new cookbook award-winning and acclaimed chef of Quo Vadis in London is packed full of delicious and accessible recipes focusing on what's best to eat each month.
Kitchening: Day-to-Day Good Food, Come Rain or Shine by Jeremy Lee
20 Minute Meals: Real Fast Food by Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver delivers another surefire hit, with 120 speedy recipes packed full of flavour. One for all the busy people in your life!
20 Minute Meals: Real Fast Food by Jamie Oliver
Ottolenghi SIMPLE TOO by Yotam Ottolenghi
Ottolenghi is known for his long ingredient lists but for this beautiful new cookbook he's simplified things with 135 easy, delicious recipres that any level of cook wuill pull off.
Ottolenghi SIMPLE TOO by Yotam Ottolenghi
Home Made: Comfort Food Cooked Better by Thom Bateman
With food photos so irresistible you want to lick the page, we love this collection of easy but impressive recipes. The GH VIP reader panel chose it as their Winner in the cookbook category in the Good Books Christmas Collection.
HarperCollins Melbourne Home Made: Comfort food cooked better by Thom Bateman
HarperCollins Melbourne Home Made: Comfort food cooked better by Thom Bateman
For Gardeners
My Gardening Life by Mary Berry
She might be best known for her baking, but Mary Berry is also a keen gardener. This gorgeous book, a photographic ode to her gardens and most-loved plants. The GH VIP reader panel chose it as their Winner in the lifestyle category in the Good Books Christmas Collection.
Drawn To Nature by Caroline Quentin
The actor shares her thoughts on the importance of nature and practical advice on bringing more of it into your life, as well as stories from her entertainment career. This gorgeous book is illustrated with Quentin's own drawings.
The Artist's Garden by Jonny Bruce
Find inspiration from the gardens of some of history's most celebrated artists.
For puzzlers
Murdoku by M Garand
This unique grid-based puzzle book blends Cluedo with Sudoku. Each puzzle is a mini crime scene and your job is to work out which suspect was closest to the victim and is therefore the killer. There are 80 cases to solve, each more complicated – and more addictive – than the last.
Murder Most Puzzling
Readers play the part of faithful sidekick to amateur sleuth Medea Thorne in order to solve 20 puzzling cases - from a body in the topiary garden, a death at a clairvoyants' convention, and the mysterious accident of the boating lake.
Murder Most Puzzling: Twenty Mysterious Cases to Solve
Murder Most Puzzling: Twenty Mysterious Cases to Solve
For fictions fans
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The wonderfully straight-talking seventysomething Sybil Van Antwerp is the heroine of this unique and charming epistolary novel which won the Women's Prize for Fiction this year. Sybil keeps the world at bay, preferring instead to communicate by letter. When her eyesight begins to go, Sybil is forced to face up to a tragedy from her past.
Land by Maggie O'Farrell
The 10th novel from the award-winning author of Hamnet is another beautiful, immersive novel that explores trauma, family legacy and Irish history. O’Farrell transports the reader to Ireland in 1865, where Tomás and his son Liam are mapping the land for the Ordnance Survey. When they make an unexpected discovery while out surveying, it changes the course of the family’s life for ever.
We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman
Osman brings back the crime fighting team of former cop Steve, his daughter-in-law Amy and bestselling author Rosie from We Solve Murders for another crazy adventure. This time, they’re hired by a wealthy entrepreneur whose life has been threatened.
Murder At The Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley
What a treat it is to have a new Miss Marple novel – her first outing in 50 years! The plot is classic Christie: an isolated hotel in the Swiss Alps, a group of people trapped together by a snowstorm and a dead body within the first few pages. It’s a risk to take on such an iconic character, but Foley has pulled it off.
Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley
May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry
This wildly original historical novel kept me glued to the page with its vivid writing and rich detail. It begins with the story of a museum curator hired to dress the rooms in a former medieval palace, before continuing through the eyes of the reluctant – and soon to be dethroned – king she conjures to life.
For non-fiction nerds
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
This compelling narrative nonfiction, summer’s biggest word-of-mouth hit, investigates the death of a 19-year-old man who fell from the balcony of a luxury Thameside high-rise and the double-life he’d been living amongst London’s super-wealthy - one his parents weren’t even aware of.
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Alone With A Book by Tessa Hadley
The best-selling author shares some of the books that have made her the person and writer she is, from childho0d favourites to the classics she returns to repeatedly. Any book lovers in your life will love this love letter to reading - full of inspiration.
Alone with a Book: On Reading, Writing and Looking by Tessa Hadley
The Third Eye: Early photographs by George Harrison
An intimate collection of more than two hundred never-before-collected photos of the Beatles at work and at play – the vast majority published for the first time.
The Third Eye: Early photographs by George Harrison
Man & Dog: A Love Story by Tony Parsons
When novelist Tony Parsons bought a cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy for his daughter, it was the start of a love affair that he chronicles in this moving memoir.
Man & Dog: A Love Story by Tony Parsons
The Book Was Better by Louise Willder
Book lovers will enjoy this romp through the history of book-to-screen adaptations, which highlights the gems to seek out as well as gently poking fun at the turkeys.
The Book Was Better: The Triumphs and Travesties of Book to Film Adaptation by Louise Willder
The Book Was Better: The Triumphs and Travesties of Book to Film Adaptation by Louise Willder
Black Coffee And Red Lipstick by Alexandra Shulman
Former Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman’s guide to living well is full of wisdom and warmth. The GH VIP reader panel chose it as their Winner in the lifestyle category in the Good Books Christmas Collection.
Black Coffee and Red Lipstick: Notes on living by Alexandra Shulman
Night Sky Almanac by Radmila Topalovic and Dominic Ford
This lovely pocket-sized gem follows the progress of the constellations through the seasons.
Night Sky Almanac 2027: A stargazer’s guide to the night sky
Night Sky Almanac 2027: A stargazer’s guide to the night sky
For Children
Gruffalo Granny by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Return to the deep dark wood with a brand new Gruffalo book - this is sure to be a huge favourite.
Gruffalo Granny by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Bunny vs Monkey: Day of the Heroes! by Jamie Smart
The latest installment in the chaotic comic series which is much-loved by kids. The woods are suffering from a zombie invasion and only Bunny and friends can sabe the day...
Bunny vs Monkey: Day of the Heroes! by Jamie Smart
Is This A Plum? by Dan and Finn Ojari
Littlies will love this rhyming story with interactive peekaboo holes. Our panel of children's book reviewers chosen this as their Winner in the 4 and under category in the Good Books Children's Collection.
The Rambler's Curse by Mikey Please
Please's previous book The Cafe At The Edge Of The Woods won Waterstones Children's Book of the Year in 2025 and this follow-up, set in the same world, is a pleasing mix of humour and unique illustration style.
Barrie Saves Christmas by Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan
Barrie Saves Christmas by Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan
Barrie Saves Christmas by Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan
The latest novel for kids from much-loved actor Stephen Mangan and his sister, talented artist Anita Mangan, is a laugh-a-minute delight about a St Bernard who ends up on a Christmas Eve adventure.
Tiny Hercules by Jon Lock and Nich Angell
Tiny Hercules, the world’s smallest hero, is the star of this hilarious graphic novel, which is particularly popular with boys. Our panel of children's book reviewers chosen this as their Winner in the 5-7 category in the Good Books Children's Collection.
Tiny Hercules by Jon Lock and Nick Angell
The Great Mouse Orchestra by Ella Risbridger and Alice Courtley
A gorgeously illustrated hardback book that follows a small mouse on his journey to find the Great Mouse Orchestra on a wintry night. The festive activities sprinkled throughout add to the Christmas magic.
The Great Mouse Orchestra by Ella Risbridger and Alice Courtley
Quill And The Last Generation by CM Lewis
There are dragons, fighting and friendship in this adventure story about a young boy who’s thrust into the role of hero. Our panel of children's book reviewers chosen this as their Winner in the 8-10 category in the Good Books Children's Collection.
Quill and the Last Generation by C. M. Lewis
Sunrise Of The Reaping by Suzanne Collins
The prequel to the best-selling Hunger Games series, which follows Haymitch's time in the deadly arena, is a good pick for 12-16 year olds.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Impossible Creatures: The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell
The sequel to the bestselling Impossible Creatures sees Christopher Forrester return to the Archipelago, a cluster of islands where creatures of myth still live. Our panel of children's book reviewers chosen this as their Winner in the 11-13 category in the Good Books Children's Collection.
Impossible Creatures: The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell
The Raven's Gift by Kiran Millwood Hargrave with Tom de Freston
A heartwarming novel, with beautiful illustrations throughout, about how an orphaned baby raven brings comfort to a young biy whose sister has died. Suitable for 10+ readers.
The Raven's Gift by Kiran Millwood Hargrave with Tom de Freston
