The frantic festive season can leave us all feeling a little fraught, the best remedy is of course a book, and what could be better than a book designed solely to make you and your loved ones laugh until it hurts.
We all know the January ‘New Year, New You’ influx is on its way, why not gift your way into that smug glow by being one step ahead and sending your loved ones on a healthy new path with delicious recipes to kick start their year, or even to make festive feasting a little lighter.
Give yourself the gift of a delicious new year by picking up one of these tasty titles and giving to your most culinary friend, not only will they thank you, your taste buds will too.
Christmas is the best time to beautify your bookshelf, or those of someone close to you. As connoisseurs of all things bookish, we’ve pulled together our selection of truly beautiful books to delight when unwrapped.
Plane tickets are expensive. Let your loved one take a trip to Morocco, Mongolia or the Mediterranean from the comfort of their armchair, or inspire their next getaway, by giving them one of these truly adventurous travel books.
With a story as dramatic and tragic as the Gothic novels she wrote, Charlotte Brontë’s life was not only fascinating, it was inspiring. The main force driving her family, Charlotte encouraged her sisters as poets and novelists, stepped in to support the family after her brother’s death, travelled Europe, and using her own experiences, crafted trailblazing female characters. In this extract from Charlotte Brontë: A Life, you can catch a glimpse of the unique life that inspired her stories.
Lucy Mangan discovers the Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups, and muses on what topics she would create for the series.
The festive season can get truly hectic, what with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Panic Saturday and all those dubiously named days. Instead, why not treat yourself or someone else to a brilliantly calm Christmas, we have sourced a selection of books that cover mindfulness, compassion, and getting creative.
It would be criminal for you to miss out on these essential crime, suspense and thriller titles, especially when they make such wonderful gifts. Whatever your loved ones favourite kind of mystery, we’ve got one that’ll have them staying up late to finish it.
Bright Earth examines the vast spectrum of colours we live with, from the illustrious history of monarchic purple to the 17th century attempts to make and define pink. In this extract, author Philip Ball uncovers the history and chemistry behind the infamously patented International Klein Blue.
Penguin Blog 