Nigel Slater's The Christmas Chronicles

[Dillidilly]

I bought this wonderful book for my daughter as part of her Christmas present last year. Then I treated myself to a copy in the spring!
It's a fantastic book, full of stories, photography, poetry and 100 recipes for the Christmas season. As a hardback book with gold foil detailing it would even look gorgeous laid out as part of your Christmas decorations.

Each chapter roughly follows the days leading up to Christmas, and we've decided to read and share our thoughts about each chapter in the run up to Christmas, starting from late November if I remember correctly.

I thought it would be a lovely thing to share with someone you love. Currently £18.29 on Amazon.

I like the sound of that, @Geamhradh - count me in!

That sounds wonderful. I'm in.

I live in Brighton, Sussex; and usually go to watch the Burning The Clocks parade. Of course, it wasn't on last year for obvious reasons. samesky.co.uk/events/burning-the-clocks/

This thread is so lovely . I'm definitely more of an autumn/ winter person so this is right up my street.

I will definitely buy the Christmas Chronicles in time for November, so I can indulge in a bit of winter loveliness.

The only Christmas cookbook I have at the moment is Nigella's Christmas Kitchen - which I love. I also love her Christmas Kitchen series. It will be good to add to my Christmas collection. Yay!

I love this thread! Am now on the lookout for this book (aiming to pay less than the current Amazon price but will probably give in!). I currently have 2 other Christmas cookbooks, a Nigella and a Delia one....I love them!

Hold your nerve! Price fluctuatd from about a tenner + post to twenty odd quid when I started looking, but I ordered it for about £6.50 all in I think & arrived earlier this week- less than a fortnight since starting to look I'd guess. It'll be high for a while but fluctuates a lot!

My Kitchen Diaries 1&2 arrived from World of Books yesterday- £3 each and like new.
They are wonderful and while waiting for the CC dates to start I'm going to work my way through these

@Geamhradh

My Kitchen Diaries 1&2 arrived from World of Books yesterday- £3 each and like new. They are wonderful and while waiting for the CC dates to start I'm going to work my way through these

Ooh, I'll have to look there-I didn't want to pay Amazon prices for them!

They're fab for big wodgy hardbacks. I'm in Italy and even postage is only £2 X book. I think it might be free in the UK.
The Kitchen Diaries both looked brand new. as did Jamie Spain, Italy, Greece, Nigella Forever Summer, James Martin Winter and Delia Summer Collection which all arrived today My postman hates me.

@FoolShapeHeart

Hold your nerve! Price fluctuatd from about a tenner + post to twenty odd quid when I started looking, but I ordered it for about £6.50 all in I think & arrived earlier this week- less than a fortnight since starting to look I'd guess. It'll be high for a while but fluctuates a lot!

🤞I'm determined to find a bargain 😂

@Geamhradh

They're fab for big wodgy hardbacks. I'm in Italy and even postage is only £2 X book. I think it might be free in the UK. The Kitchen Diaries both looked brand new. as did Jamie Spain, Italy, Greece, Nigella Forever Summer, James Martin Winter and Delia Summer Collection which all arrived today My postman hates me.

I've just ordered the first 2 Kitchen Diaries and Toast for £10.35!

Yay! I'm an enabler!

Managed to pick a second hand copy on world of books.com for £12 in very good condition!

This is such a lovely thread. I was gifted a copy of Christmas Chronicles for my birthday (Oct) last year but for various reasons never looked at it. Am truly looking forward to reading it this year after reading all your lovely comments.

Own up, who's placed the first bid on the copy on eBay?!

I received this as a gift from my wonderful brother in law and I absolutely love it. Thanks to this thread, I have just downloaded the associated podcast (and another Christmas one!) to listen to when the weather gets colder.

I always feel like such an oddball willing autumn and winter to arrive when it’s still summer, but looks like I’ve found my people!

Such a beautiful book, I love it! I make DH go and fetch my box of Christmas books from the loft in October and start dipping into it just after Halloween. I try to read along with the days, it's really comforting. My birthday is in late November and the entry for that day is really lovely with gorgeous photographs

Yay, managed to order myself a copy for just over £8 delivered. I couldn't wait any longer to see if the price would come down further! I had spotted the ebay one and was watching it but once it reached £5.50 plus postage I decided to give up on that one (I'm guessing it will go up again before the end!). I am now going to be excited every time I see the postie until it arrives (apparently by the end of the week).

I'm itching to read this! ITCHING!

@lachy me too, but I promised my daughter I'd wait until November! Luckily it's packed away at the mo because of decorating, otherwise I might have weakened after starting this thread lol

Mine arrived today, a 2nd hand one from Amazon.

But I’m not going to look at it until November! Or not until after the clocks go back, anyway.

Mine arrived today. I've had a flick through it, but trying my best not to read it until November 😂

I love that this thread has gained such traction. As I said up thread, I collect Christmas books and the nostalgia and comfort is the draw.

If people would like other recommendations for simply wonderful books you can add to your annual read pile, try Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas In Wales" which is beautifully written nostalgia and "The Father Christmas Letters" by Tolkien which is a collection of letters written and illustrated by Tolkien to his children between 1920 and 1943.

I also adore Shirley Hughes' children's books for their illustrations. Lucy and Tom's Christmas, The Snow Lady, Angel Mae and The Christmas Eve Ghost are firm favourites. Oh Emma Thompson's updated Beatrix Potter is lovely too.

Aaaah hurry up autumn.

@ShowOfHands - I love A Child's Christmas in Wales too The Faber Book of Christmas is a lovely recent collection. I also like having a giggle over Saki's Christmas With Dull People.

In a similar vein to A Child's Christmas in Wales is Laurie Lee's "Village Christmas", which is wonderful.

I love Nigel's writing, so am definitely getting the CC book after reading all this praise for it.