Christmas books

The stilton is reduced to crumbs, the final mince pie has been devoured and only the cob nuts are left in the bowl. These are all signals that it is time for my third annual review of Christmas books and this year there was an interesting collection under our family tree.

Biographies included In Two Minds: A biography of Jonathan Miller by Kate Bassett (theatre critic on the Independent on Sunday) - has there ever been anybody who has excelled in quite so many different fields?  Serious non-fiction included Robert Peston's very well reviewed book How do we fix this mess? which I shall read (even though it was not given to me). My personal highlight is a huge book on modern art by the goofy looking, entertaining and highly articulate Will Gompertz, What are you looking at? 150 years of modern art in the blink of an eye. Gompertz is described as the world's first art history stand-up comedian so I'm definitely looking forward to getting stuck into this,  seduced by the "tube map" of modern art inside the front cover.

Another intriguing gift is One on One: 101 True Encounters by the former Times and Sunday Times journalist and satirist Craig Brown. It describes, in Brown-like terms, a "daisy-chain" of encounters leading one historical figure to another starting and ending with Hitler via Rasputin, Frank Sinatra, Noel Coward, The Queen, Edward Heath, George Galloway, Roald Dahl and many others. It was, apparently, chosen as book of the year by half of the literary establishment and is next on my list to read. I expect it to be both funny and informative - it feels as though it will read like a Christmas game of consequences but with satire, history and greater wit.

Finally, a gift designed for book group members and a masterful choice. A translation from the French and written by Pierre Bayard, a Parisian professor of literature and psychoanalyst , it is about reading and talking about books and is delightfully titled How to talk about books you haven't read. To quote from the cover, 'Bayard argues that not having read a book need not be an impediment to an interesting conversation about it.......it is a book for book lovers everywhere to enjoy, ponder and argue about - and perhaps even read". I'm inclined to think it would be a good choice for our next book group read.