Exhibition waits patiently for your attention at M Shed BOOKS ...for Christmas; part one

EMILY & DAN ROSS STORYSMITH BOOKS

Clearly we umped the gun a bit in our column a couple of months ago, when we celebrated the heartening feeling of ha ing our customers back in the bookshop; but here we are. or us, this second lockdown seems to be in essence ery similar to the fi rst, but as a small business, there is one signifi cant diff erence this time around now that alloween has passed, it is ery defi nitely hristmas in retail land. ormally we d be scrabbling around the shop trying to get our window display ready, but this year we re preparing for a return to local deli eries and selling online, while the shop starts to resemble a tiny warehouse. one of this has dented the national need for books, howe er, and as usual we e been scouring the shel es for the ery best of the season. THE BEST OF ME, by David Sedaris It s unusual for a writer to be gi en the greatest hits treatment, but for a id edaris the literary world always makes an e ception. If you e ne er read any edaris before, this is the perfect

“There are vignettes about everything from obscure taxidermy to French dentistry” Embrace the small things

Four brilliantly eclectic suggestions for books to give at Christmas. Kindly order them from these guys, and not some tax-dodging retail giant . . .

place to start: greatest hits in this instance means a non-stop fl urry of his most painfully hilarious stories, all cribbed from his uncon entional life choices and nose for the absurd. ignettes about e erything from obscure ta idermy to rench dentistry show his rare gift for fi nding the humour in almost anything, and in his later writings you can feel a nagging warmth begin to creep in, almost against his will.

GENDER SWAPPED FAIRY TALES, by Karrie Fransman & Jonathan Plackett his beautifully presented anthology of fairy tales has all the hallmarks of a classic hristmas gift, but with one crucial diff erence all the traditional gender roles in these perennial fa ourites ha e been fl ipped. ar from being a gimmick, this is an astonishingly re ealing and enriching tweak, one that breathes new life into familiar narrati es. here s no re isionism, no retro-fi tted righteousness, ust one simple change that turns old fa ourites into Handsome and the Beast, or Jaqueline and the Beanstalk.

POOR, by Caleb Femi frank and lyrical e ocation of tower block life might not sound like classic festi e fare, but poet aleb emi s stunning new collection pro es the work doesn t stop ust because it s hristmas. ith arresting use of photography and i id descriptions of the eckham estates he roamed in his youth, Poor is full of confronting but deeply human poems borne out of youthful frustrations and the hope for something better. If you thought A Christmas Carol had a smart angle on social commentary, aleb emi will blow your mind.

THE LOST SPELLS, by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris hen ac arlane and orris collaborated for the stunningly successful and beautifully illustrated paean to forgotten language, The Lost Words, it was only a matter of time before a follow-up would arri e and this is it. The Lost Spells is ust as cle er and attracti e a package albeit handily pocket-si ed spells to be read aloud, each one accompanied with sumptuous illustrations. ustom-made for winter e enings, or taking with you on dusky rambles. ockdown does, of course, lend itself to time spent inside reading a book, so in the grand scheme of things being booksellers makes us relati ely fortunate. ut it doesn t change the fact that this festi e season is going to be weird, possibly in ways we can t e en foresee at the moment. ur method for coping with this uncertainty is to embrace the small things. he sli ers of normality you can s uee e into your day, the enforced indulgence of uiet, the long and darkened e enings with book in hand. emember this crucial fact as you prepare for this most unusual of yuletides books last longer than pandemics.

Storysmith is now open at 49 North Street; www.storysmithbooks.com