I love this time of year when we can draw the curtains, light the fire and hunker down with a good book.
We're spoilt for choice this year with some fantastic novels, memoirs and children's books to choose from. So it was even more difficult to select just a few recommendations for Lesley Dolphin as we met on the BBC Radio Suffolk Afternoon Programme this month to consider gifts for Christmas.
Of course I got carried away in my descriptions, so I didn't mention as many books as I intended. But I've listed them here and you can click and follow the links to my reviews, if you'd like to know more! And listen again to our chat here.
Don't forget too to sign up too my weekly e-newsletter here which gives latest news about author visits and books I'm reading. And browse my website for other reviews and recommendations.
And if it's not too early - Happy Christmas!
Personal stories
Homesick: Why I Live in a Shed by Catriona Davies
My Penguin Year by Lindsay McCrae
Lady in Waiting by Lady Anne Glenconner
Humour
Invisible Jumpers by Joseph Ford
Local interest
Life on the Deben
Inspirational
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the The Horse by Charlie Macksey
Children's books
Kind by Alison Green (for under 5 years, and adult!)
Potkin and Stubbs and The Haunting of Peligan City by Sophie Green (for readers aged 9+)
The Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher (for readers aged 9+)
Novels
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
Grandmothers by Salley Vickers
Stanley and Elsie and Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson
Cooking
Quick Roasting Tin Simple One Dish Dinners