Christmas Gift Guide 2024

Christmas gift guide 2024

Posted by Becca Parkinson - Wednesday, 6 Nov 2024

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Struggling with your Christmas shopping? We’re here to help!

Here’s our Christmas gift guide, with non-fiction books suitable for many different personalities. We’re here to help you choose the best gift based on the interests of the special people in your life.

Who is it for? The cricket fans – love cheering on their favourite team, and filling you in on scores, key players and stats. Loves a sports biography, podcast or match day trip out. Also may be interested in civil rights activism, and using sport as a vehicle to create a more equal world.

Why? This £9.99 paperback is an ideal stocking filler for any sports fan and cricket lover. Also very timely following the 2022 report which concluded that “there is a deep-seated issue of racism in cricket.”

Pistols in St Paul's

Who is it for? Someone with a curious mind, who likes to dip into a bit of everything and will be the one who is known for always telling you fascinating fun facts. They have varying interests, from popular science, to classical music, and architecture.

Why? A ground-breaking account of the group of scientists and architects who pioneered architectural acoustics in twentieth-century Britain, on a scientific quest spanning half a century. This richly illustrated, gorgeous hardback edition is a stunning gift.

Who is it for? The person who loves going to gigs and hearing live music, might enjoy wearing bit of black eyeliner and dark clothes, thrives as the dark, cold winter evenings draw in. Loves an all-encompassing history and going on a journey through time.

Why? This is the first comprehensive history of goth music and culture. John Robb explores the origins and legacy of this enduring scene, covering the style, the music and the clubs that spawned goth culture, alongside political and social conditions.

Family Romance

Who is it for? The person who loves a walk around a gallery at on a rainy weekend, might have a Tate membership or National Art Pass. Wants to be transported to turn-of-the-century London, and look through the eyes of an eminent Edwardian family and the series of portraits painted of them.

Why? A glittering account of John Singer Sargent’s relationship with the Wertheimer family, and their extraordinary lives; a tale that encompasses intrigue, tragedy and resounding success.

She played and sang

Who is it for? Any Austen fan – they’ve absorbed every morsel of Austen content from the BBC Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth to Autumn de Wilde’s Emma, they’ve read most of Austen’s books, Austen is their comfort blanket and they’re looking to take another deep dive into Austen’s world, through the music in her life and literature.

Why? A treasure trove of evidence of Austen’s musical inclinations has recently emerged. Delving into these books, letters and other familial records, She played and sang unveils a previously unknown facet of Austen’s world and uncovers the music closely associated with Austen, as well as her musical connections with family and friends, revealing the intricate ties between her fiction and the melodies she performed.

Who is it for? For r kid, the City or United fan, listens to Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays. Grew up in Manchester, moved here as a student or later in life, and have watched the city change and grow around them.

Why? The story of modern Manchester by those who didn’t fit the typecast: the musicians of colour, the football fans alienated by rampant commercialism, frustrated public figures, optimistic developers and ambitious artists. Through a mixture of memoir and interviews with well-known Mancunians, Scott portrays the city at the turn of the century in a way never seen before.

Island Book of Records

Who is it for? Someone who is a collector, they love vinyl and a deep dive in a record shop. They might read music magazines like Mojo and Uncut, they always know the deep cut tracks and always have an album recommendation for any taste.

Why? This highly collectable series covers the pivotal years of the iconic Island Records label. Featuring material from recent interviews and from media interviews of the time, and including a comprehensive discography of 45s. Lavishly illustrated with gig adverts (very many at venues that no longer exist), concert tickets, flyers, international LP variants, labels, LP and 45 adverts and other ephemera collector’s dream.

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