The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2026

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello all, it's that time of year again!

For anyone who has not already had the pleasure, the annual Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles read along is a real time annual MN tradition.

The Christmas Chronicles (Notes, stories and 100 essential recipes for midwinter) is a diary form book which begins on 1st November, however there are 25 pages of Introduction. That's why I start the thread now; to allow time to prepare and get ready to start together proper come 1st November after the Introduction has been done.

Regulars to the thread already have the book. For anyone new, it's a challenge to see of you can pick up a bargain. Vinted has come up trumps in the past, as has ebay. A rare and precious charity shop find is always a bonus. Don't forget, you can also listen along to Nigel's dulcet tones via Audible.

I shall post daily (where there is an entry) and we can share our thoughts and feelings on the days recipes, sentiments and indeed Dear Nigel himself. Observations of nature and annecdotes of the seasons are also welcomed along with general genial chit chat!

So a hearty welcome to old friends and new, and don't forget that reading by candle light is particularly enjoyable. Cire Trudon may be one of Nige's candles of choice, but it's rather pricey. We don't discriminate against other less expensive brands - even if they are NVN (Not Very Nigel)

Pull up a chair, light a candle, grab a cosy blanket and join in!

It would be gas if the sainted Nigel himself was amongst us...

I've been planning to get the Val McDermid book but wavering between hard copy and audio. I am wavering over The Dark is Rising, DD had to read it at school and didn't like it, but I think she just disliked anything she was made to read for school on principle. TBH I don't think I'd like it, I don't like fantasy/YA at all (struggled with Harry Potters, never had any inclination to read LOTR or CS Lewis). I have read Winter Solstice but didn't enjoy it much and it went straight to the charity shop, so I am on the lookout for more seasonal reading but really don't like it too cosy.

My library has both the Christmas Chronicles and the Val McD Winter audiobooks available through the Libby app, worth checking!

My chazzer crawl turned up zero pristine copies of CC - or indeed any at all - so I went back to eBay and found a copy for £10, which is good enough for me. (Watch it turn up everywhere now.)

My other reading in the coming weeks will be Wintering by Katherine May, which is on my shelf but as yet unread, and How to Save Christmas, by Laura King, as she’s a friend of mine and it’s her first published work, so I’m particularly looking forward to that.

I would recommend The Twelve Days of Christmas by Susan Stokes Chapman. Its sort of 12 separate stories but all within one Downton Abbey kind of setting and thry eventually all come together.

@fuckeditupbadly that sounds right up my street

Placemarking. I've been following these threads for years and although I read the Christmas Chronicles every year, I have never really followed along. My St Eval candle gets lost amongst the clutter, I have no where to place a tray of home made mince pies or anywhere to hang a winter branch covered in vintage baubles.

But we are moving house! Nearly there and I will ha e a kitchen large enough to comfortably bake and a bay window where I can read, sip a lovely drink and make my Nigel Slater/Christmas poncing dream come true!

I've also retired this year and I've had the book for 4 years right now time to read it! No excuses for me now. Count me in.

I am in too. Ordered my book today so I hope it arrives on time

I've not seen this thread before but I'm so pleased I have seen it now! I adore autumn and winter so this sounds just like my kind of thing. I've managed to order a reduced Amazon Warehouse copy too.

I like the sound of that too.

I'd like to join the thread for the first time. I have the book ready but can't read just yet as, in a true sign of the turning of the seasons, my 4 year old is having his first asthma flare up of the season. So he's sleeping in bed next to me and the lights are staying firmly off for fear of setting off a coughing fit.

Lovely autumn vibes here today. Our wonderful neighbours lined up 5 or 6 little tennis ball sized pumpkins on the fence posts between our gardens. At their invitation my children collected them to play hide and seek with and then to decorate with stickers. It sort of encapsulated the heartwarming, nature-based childhood that CC seems to paint a picture of and it made me smile on a desperately sleep deprived day.

I'm reading all the book recommendations and seeing my small Christmas budget diminish very quickly!

Thanks @NannyOggsFavouriteJug I’ve just checked and our library hasn’t got it (they have a pretty limited selection of e and audio books and you often have to wait months). But it has got Val McDermind’s My Scotland which I think I will like (I’m half Scottish, always lived in England).

Will look at some of the others too. Going to stick Nigel’s intro on in the car in the morning, I started at the weekend but only listened to the first 5 mins.