HUGE Book Christmas Gift Guide 🎄📚

Over 80 personalised gift recommendations! Phewf! Grab a cup of tea and join me. xx

--

--

MY BOOKS:

---

WHO I AM

Hello, I'm Jen Campbell. I'm an award-winning poet and bestselling author of twelve books, spanning short stories, poetry, picture books, and nonfiction.

My books for adults include The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, The Girl Aquarium, The Bookshop Book, and The Sunday Times bestselling Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops series. My picture book trilogy Franklin and Luna, and my middle-grade book The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers, are published by Thames & Hudson.

I've won both an Eric Gregory Award and the Jane Martin Poetry Prize, my books have been translated into twenty languages, and I have two new titles forthcoming in 2023 — more details on those soon.

I've worked in the publishing industry for over fifteen years, initially as a bookseller, and now as a freelance editor, content creator and disability advocate. I review books online, in print and on the radio. I run a Youtube channel where I talk about books, the history of fairy tales, and the representation of disability and disfigurement. I also offer online writing workshops and editorial services, give talks at schools, publishing companies, universities and book festivals on a variety of topics, and I run a book club for TOAST clothing.

—

Where to find me:

This video contains no sponsored content.

#ChristmasGiftGuide #HolidayGiftGuide #BookRecommendations

[nompilo]

Books Jen mentions:

1. The Archive Of Alternative Endings by Lindsey Drager
2. The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson
3. Lanny Or Grief Is A Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
4. Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
5. Princess Princess Ever After by K O’neill
6. Do You Read Me? (Gestalten)
7. British Library Crime Classics: The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
8. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola
The Evolutionary Revolution by Lily Hoang
9. Spiritus Mundi Anthology
10. Things We Do Not Tell The People We Live by Huma Qureshi
11. Grounding Lulah Ellender
12. Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
13. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
14. The Therapist by Nial Giacomelli
15. A Helping Hand by Celia Dale
Mrs March Virginia Fieto
Mrs Calvin’s by Rachel Ingalls
16. Strange Beasts Of China by Yan Ge
17. Franklin's Flying Bookshop by Jen Campbell
Story Box (Box Of Cards)
18. Hopkins Manuscript by RC Sherriff
19. Itza by Rios De La Luz
Record Of A Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami
20. Creatures Of Passage by Morowa Yejidé
21. Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro
Pew by Catherine Lacey
22. British Library Classics or Strangers On A Train by Patricia Highsmith
23. Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson
24. Julia And The Shark // Leila And The Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
25. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Houses by Nikki Wallschlaeger
26. Universal Love by Alexander Weinstein
27. The Mermaid And Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Bodies Of Light by Sarah Moss
28. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
29. Braised Pork by An Yu
30. This Green And Pleasant Land by Ayesha Malik
31. The Beginning Of The World In The Middle Of The Night by Jen Campbell
Seawomen by Chloe Timms
The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan
32. There’s No Such Thing As An East Job by Kikuko Tsumura
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
We Don’t Know What We’re Doing by Thomas Morris
33. A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
34. Calling A Wolf A Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
Not Here by Huey Minh Nguyen
35. The Crimson Petal And The White by Michel Faber
36. The Boy With Wings by Lenny Henry
37. Untold Night And Day by Bae Suah
Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford
The Dumb House by John Burnside
38. The House Opposite Or Doreen by Barbara Noble
39. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
40. What Willow Says by Lynn Buckle
In The House Upon The Dirt Between The Lake And The Woods by Matt Bell
41. Indelicacy by Amina Cain
42. The Dumb House by John Burnside
Under The Skin by Michel Faber
43. Mrs Gaskell And Me by Nell Stevens
Winter by Ali Smith
44. Harold Fry Trilogy by Rachel Joyce
My Name Is Leon by Kit De Waal
45. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
The Woman In The Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura
Indelicacy by Amina Cain
46. The Beauty Or Greensmith by Aliya Whiteley
47. She Will Soar Anthology ed. Ana Sampson
48. Outsiders Anthology ed. Alice Slater
49. The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka
50. When I Arrived At The Castle by Emily Carroll
The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers by Jen Campbell
A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan

[Marginallist]

Hi Jen! I just wanna thank you for the comfort you brings into my life for the past several months, due to continues Internet shut downs, and low speed we are facing nowadays in Iran, it's been hard for me to keep up with your content yet whenever I could watch, I would. The way you speak about books and life brings me hope in this dark dark days. Amongst all the terrible things we are facing today, beyond all the terrors, captures and deaths, your videos reminded me that there could be a better life, maybe not today but tomorrow for us, Iranian women.
Thank you ❤️

[nymeria]

I just want to thank you for making this and sharing your book recommendations. I haven’t been able to read much lately, but I always bookmark things you mention for when I’m able to read again. 💜

[marygachuche]

Jen, how do you have such good mastery and memory of all these books you've read?? Do the reviews come naturally to you? It's really wonderful 😊

[mradcaqbdb]

Delightful! I bookmarked so many of your recommendations at my library, Scribd, or Blackwell’s.

[johanna]

Amazed at how you have a recommendation for such specific requests, lol. Thanks for all the titles, some of these I might look into for my own future reading. :)

[curioushmm]

a delightful video and i actually thought of two of the recommendations you made...a single thread and harold fry and that was fun for me. i love seeing what people want and who wrote what that meets that need. thanks.

[millieb]

Such a lovely video! I watched whilst wrapping presents (which is why im late to watching as i havent had too much time this week) but besides that it was great to hear all the recommendations! Hope you and everyone reading has a great christmas and rest of the year xx

[paulwinchell]

Jen thank you for this you make my world a little brighter. You are a joy to watch talking about books. I've said this before you must have one heck of a bookseller.

[jennyallen]

Thank you very much - I think that book is perfect for my nephew so I'll definitely be adding that to his Christmas parcel :)

[curioushmm]

yes. biblio books is still going as is alibris...

[nompilo]

Thank you for this incredible guide, as always I am so amazed and impressed by you.

[adillaafiani]

Would love to buy all of them! Thank you Jen for lovely video!

[sandeesandwich]

I gave The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers to my young cousins for Halloween/birthdays. So many great recommendations in this video!

[elizabethgordon]

Adore this so much. Put like half of this list on my tbr.

[kathy]

Thank you Jen, I'm going to have to re-watch this to see the books again. I managed to write down a few, you've given some titles that might help me to find gifts for loved ones this Christmas. Wonderful video. Best wishes for the season!

[LG-lzjx]

Try, 'The Jane Austen Remedy' by Ruth Wilson. A 70 year old woman who left her husband and then completed a PhD on the modern relevance teaching Jane Austen's novels.

[meganmeaney]

I look forward to this video every year. Thank you!

[owowowowlwow]

Hello! Thank you very much for your video. Updated my reading list for 2023. If by any luck I'm not too late on this - I want to present my sister-in-law a book, that makes someone feel okay to be lost in your early 20s. Thank you very much fot your video again, and happy holiday season!

[annamboland]

Thank you for answering my question, you’ve made my husband very happy.☺️