Christmas Gift Guide: Books For All

A collection of seventeen wonderful short stories showing that two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks is as talented a writer as he is an actor. All featuring a typewriter, because why not. Buy here.

Let's face it, Christmas can be wonderful, but we can all be driven slightly mad – from compulsive gift-shopping to competitive turkey-cooking, via risky re-gifting. The author of Love, Nina, the bestselling account of a nanny's immersion in literary London, now delves into the cherished traditions and practices of this time of year – and hilariously looks at everything that can go wrong. Buy here.

The first collection of poetry from Jackie Kay as Scots Makar charts a personal history over borders. Looking to her own life, as well as her father's and grandfather's she looks to apparent divisions and connections, particularly in our post-Brexit times. Buy here.

A story of summer loves and the end of innocence, this exciting debut novel is set in the 1950s in the west coast of America and you won't be able to stop reading about 9-year-old Willa, her up-and-down love story with her mother's new boyfriend's son, and her attempts to forge her own independence in a world that mistrusts women. Reminiscent of Emma Cline's The Girls and unputdownable. Buy here.

South and West consists of two extended excerpts from Joan Dideon 70s notebooks. The searing irony of Dideon's work is exemplified in 'California Notes', whilst 'Notes on the South' gives a snapshot of the Southern states that reads as eerily contemporary. After the recent documentary charting her life, her work is enjoying a public re-reading. Make sure your escapist parent is in on the conversation. Buy here.

The public backlash over this collection's cover art aside, the first volume of Plath's letters has been much celebrated after much anticipation. A keen letter writer who kept in touch with her mother overseas, Plath's short life has been shrouded in mystery. This collection shows the genesis of much of her writing, complete with copious footnotes and gives an unbridled insight into the literary genius' mind. Buy here.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is one of those amazing women storytellers that are sadly not as celebrated as their male counterparts. She was not only a masterful writer, as these magical short stories prove, but also the only person on the planet to have ever won a Booker prize and an Oscar (of which she won two). She writes of gravitating between worlds – in her case, those of Manhattan, India, her native Germany and her Jewish heritage. Buy here.

A Dickensian romp with a modernist twist 4321 looks at the road less travelled, and what might happen if we followed each path. Buy here.

The 'poet laureate of medicine' Oliver Sacks' posthumous essay collection is said to be one of many. The River of Consciousness brings together ten essays of topics such as Parkinson's disease, near-death experiences and Freud's work on the neuroanatomy of fish. Buy here.

A surprising and quirky republished book. The Secret Life of Cows looks at the moral superiority of the individual cow which she sees as altruistic and empathetic beasts. And yes, there's an ode to a cow called Amelia in there. Buy here.

If you thought a book on cows was kooky then how about one all about brollies? That's right, the humble umbrella gets a serious exploration in this thoughtful inspection of the 'portable roof'. Buy here.

There is a special joy in reading a novel about a place while visiting that country; similarly, it is glorious to sit by the warmth of a fire, with a cup tea, reading Ali Smith's glorious meditations on winter and all its characters. This book is part of the quartet of novels she started last year with Autumn, in which she merges the seasons with art, love, humour, and with illuminating stories set in the post-truth era we're living in. Buy here.

The awaited sixth novel of an absolute master of contemporary British fiction is finally here, this time focusing on the friendship of a group of students who, in the 1940s, experience sexual and social awakenings in relatively sheltered Oxford while London suffers the Blitz. Buy here.

Pamuk's memoir explores the children of Ataturk's western-aiming reforms and Istanbul's palimpsestuous nature. Buy here.

This cross-disciplinary book is a celebration of modern life. Buy here.

An internationally acclaimed debut novel about war, family, love and belonging – and a talking cat. Buy here.

Whether you read Kobek's I Hate the Internet parody of 2013 San Francisco or not, this prequel of sorts is a fun and intense coming of age story about friendship in the late 80s and early 90s in New York – the city of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, of the AIDS crisis, gentrification and capitalistic excesses. Buy here.

An acclaimed debut collection of short stories that travel from Nigeria to the US, focussing on the lives of women and girls, these 12 short stories range from magical realism to fable. A childless woman makes her baby from hair and father and daughter realise her womanhood together. Buy here.

The author of the acclaimed A Visit from the Goon Squad is finally back, seven years later, with a historical novel. Set in Brooklyn during the Depression and the Second World War, the story follows the coming of age of a young woman who becomes the first Navy female diver, repairing war ships under water by day while making underworld connections in nightclubs by night. Like its predecessor, this novel articulates with lucidity those moments when human lives intertwine. Buy here.

The book of the summer is as gruelling as it is beautifully written, moving and addictive. Buy here.