I’m marking Christmas Eve with cosy reflections on the season, a biography of Britons’ favourite bird (and a bonus seasonal fairy tale), and a mixed bag of essays and stories about the obligations and annoyances of the holidays.

Winter by Val McDermid (2025)

I didn’t realize that Michael Morpurgo’s Spring was the launch of a series of short nonfiction books on the seasons. McDermid writes a book a year, always starting it in early January. She evokes the Scottish winter’s “Janus-faced” character: cosy but increasingly storm-tossed. In few-page essays, she looks for nature’s clues, delves into childhood memories, and traverses the season through traditional celebrations as she has experienced them in Edinburgh and Fife: Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. The festivities are a collective way of taking the mind off of the season’s hardships, she suggests. I was amused by her mother’s recipe for soup, which she described as more of a “rummage” for whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. It was my first time reading McDermid and, while I don’t know that I will ever pick up one of her crime novels, this was pleasant. I reckon I’d read Bernardine Evaristo on summer and Kate Mosse on autumn, too. (Public library)

The Robin: A Biography – A Year in the Life of Britain’s Favourite Bird by Stephen Moss (2017)

I’ve also read Moss’s most recent bird monograph, The Starling. Both provide a thorough yet accessible introduction to a beloved species’ history, behaviour, and cultural importance. The month-by-month structure works well here: Moss’s observations in his garden and on his local patch lead into discussions of what birds are preoccupied with at certain times of year. Such a narrative approach makes the details less tedious. European robins are known for singing pretty much year-round, and because hardly any migrate – only 5%, it’s thought – they feel like constant companions. They are inquisitive garden guests, visiting feeders and hanging around to see if we monkey-pigs might dig up some juicy worms for them.

(Last month, this friendly chap at an RSPB bird reserve near Exeter wondered if we might have a snack to share.)

Although we like to think we see the same robins year after year, that’s very unlikely. One in four robins found dead has been killed by a domestic cat; most die of old age and/or starvation within a year. Robin pairs raise one or two broods per year and may attempt a third if the weather allows, but that high annual mortality rate (62%) means we’re not overrun. Compared to other notable species, then, they’re doing well. There are loads of poems and vintage illustrations and, what with robins’ associations with Christmas, this felt like a seasonally appropriate read. At Christmas 2022 I read the very similar Robin by Helen F. Wilson, but this was more engaging. (Free from C’s former colleague)

Our small collection of Christmas robin paraphernalia.

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The Robin & the Fir Tree by Jason Jameson (2020)

Based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, this lushly illustrated children’s book stars a restless tree and a faithful robin. The tree resents being stuck in one place and envies his kin who have been made into ships to sail the world. Although his friend the robin describes everything and brings souvenirs, he can’t see the funfair and the flora of other landscapes for himself. “Every season will be just the same. How I long for something different to happen!” he cries. Cue a careful-what-you-wish-for message. When men with axes come to chop down the fir tree and display him in the town square, he feels a combination of trepidation and privilege. Human carelessness turns his sacrifice to waste, and only the robin knows how to make something good out of the wreckage. The art somewhat outshines the story but this is still a lovely hardback I’d recommend to adults and older children. (Public library)

An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe (2017)

I reviewed this for Stylist magazine when it first came out and had fond memories of a witty collection I expected to dip into again and again. This time, though, Stibbe’s grumpy rants about turkey, family, choosing a tree and compiling the perfect Christmas party playlist fell flat with me. The four short stories felt particularly weak. I most recognized and enjoyed the sentiments in “Christmas Correspondence,” which is about the etiquette for round-robin letters and thank-you notes. The tongue-in-cheek glossary that closes the book is also amusing. But this has served its time in my collection and it’s off to the Little Free Library with it to, I hope, give someone else a chuckle on Christmas day. (Review copy)

My original rating (2017):

My rating now:

It’s taken me a long time to feel festive this year, but after a couple of book club gatherings and a load of brief community events for the Newbury Living Advent Calendar plus the neighbourhood carol walk, I think I’m finally ready for Christmas. (Not that I’ve wrapped anything yet.) I had a couple of unexpected bookish gifts arrive earlier in December. First, I won the 21st birthday quiz on Kim’s blog and she sent a lovely parcel of Australian books and an apt tote bag. Then, I was sent an early finished copy of Julian Barnes’s upcoming (final) novel, Departure(s). We didn’t trust Benny to be sensible around a real tree so got an artificial one free from a neighbour to festoon with non-breakable ornaments. He discovered the world’s comfiest blanket and spends a lot of time sleeping on it, which has been helpful.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I have a bunch of year-end posts in preparation. It’ll be a day off tomorrow, of course, but here’s what to expect thereafter:

Friday 26th: Reporting back on Most Anticipated Reads of 2025

Saturday 27th: Reading Superlatives

Sunday 28th: Best Backlist Reads

Monday 29th: Love Your Library

Tuesday 30th: Runners-Up

Wednesday 31st: Best Books of 2025

Thursday 1st: Final Statistics for 2025

Friday 2nd: Early Recommendations for 2026

Monday 5th: Most Anticipated Titles of 2026