It’s time. For the sixth year running I bring you my ultimate, easy, budget-adaptable Christmas gift. The one that feels thoughtful and personal yet takes seconds to buy and is easy to wrap and cheap to post. Yes, dear readers, it’s the most popular post of the season: my Christmas Books ‘n Chocolates!
Do you want to look like the most stylish and considered gift-giver, one that really has their life together, yet expend virtually no energy? Then this is the post for you. A carefully curated selection of the finest books, matched artistically and with great flair to the daintiest, prettiest bars of chocolate. Or the most cool and graphic slabs. All wrapped up in plain brown paper, tied with striped string, the final package never fails to delight.
The point of this book-and-choc pairing is that the recipient feels as though they’re being given something a little bit luxurious. So we’re talking high end books and top quality chocolates but that’s not all: both the book cover and the chocolate wrapping must be aesthetically pleasing and also matched together in a way that makes people think, “wow, this person has style”. Those people are not to know that you ordered everything on the internet, wearing fleece polar bear pyjamas and a flammable dressing gown.
Before I present you with this year’s spectacular book-and-choc pairings, I should say that there’s an entire back catalogue of these annual posts. And so if you’d like to look at dozens and dozens more examples then click the links at the bottom of this page.
Right, without further ado: the Ultimate 2024 Books and Chocolates Round-Up!
[AD-info: this post contains affiliate links, marked *.]
Buy Charbonnel & Walker Sea Salt Truffles*
I’m going to talk more about All Fours by Miranda July next week. The story is totally mad. I get the feeling it could be one of those Marmite sort of books, because it is so far-fetched and unhinged, but if you submit (ooh err) and allow yourself to have a good sense of humour about it all then it’s an absolute riot. I found myself laughing just out of pure glee at how batshit crazy it was, in places. And, on a more serious note, it tackles some big midlife issues head-on and completely unapologetically. Not one to give to Auntie Maud while she’s having her hip replacement, perhaps, or anyone you don’t know reasonably well, because it’s pretty…intimate…in places, but this could be one of the best reads to gift a girlfriend that you’ll find this year. Or the worst. Whatever, it’ll be a conversation starter…
Buy Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors*
Four sisters’ stories, one book. But there’s a sad absence throughout that binds the separate tales together. Poignant and touching but not too hair-clawingly miserable, it’s a good winter holiday read. Especially if you’re breaking into a bar of the old Ocelot Sea Salt at the same time. Be still my chocolate-loving heart.
(Ocelot’s very graphic packaging is perfect for my books and chocs pairings. You almost can’t go wrong, they look good with everything!)
Buy Long Island by Colm Toibin*
I wrote about Colm Toibin’s Long Island here, but to save you having to open a new window, in short I called it “delicious” and said this about it:
“I admire anyone who can take lives that are just like anyone else’s lives – seemingly pedestrian, with nothing that shocking or surprising going on – and make the lack of anything particularly notable into the thing that is interesting. Not just interesting: precious. Every little life and every part of that life made so precious, so worth dissecting and giving thought to… it really makes you stop and appreciate how densely-packed each of us is with all of our memories and emotions and links to other people.”
What a gorgeously slow-paced, delectable little treasure-chest of a book. Hard recommend.
Buy James by Percival Everett*
Oooph. I hate the phrase “hard recommend” but I’m trying to be more down with the kids and so I’ll use it again: Percival Everett’s James is completely outstanding. If you read The Trees and were blown away by that then adopt the brace position because you’re about to start another masterpiece that you won’t be able to put down.
Never have I wanted a character to survive so badly – and not just survive, I was willing Jim (an escaped slave who is set on buying his wife and child’s freedom) to rewrite history. Powerful, beyond sad and with the capacity to make you feel desperate, nauseating levels of rage.
By the way, you may notice (if you’ve seen previous books-n-chocs posts) that I’ve slipped a new chocolate bar in here. I wanted to find a simple, graphic bar that didn’t cost an absolute fortune and by God I’ve done it. Waitrose No1 range – loads of different versions. Approx two quid, depending on when you stock up…
My other bargainous brand of choice, as you know, is Tony’s Chocolonely. I love the big, bold graphics on these chunky slabs of choc. Loads of colours, great value, I can’t imagine a time when they won’t be included.
Intermezzo, another fine read for a slow-burn, wintery kind of week. My first Sally Rooney book and I will most definitely be going back for more – I love these detailed examinations of people’s character and inner turbulence.
Buy Pana Organic Peanut Caramel
Teen angst and dark goings-on, Rabbits by Hugo Rifkind makes you want to hire a battered mini and relive your youth. Sort of.
The only book in the book pile that I’ve started but won’t finish before this post goes live. Shame on me! I was doing so well. Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan won this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction which is how it caught my eye, it’s beautifully written so far and with brilliant attention to historical detail. I have a feeling I’m in for a very emotional ride…
Buy I Who Have Never Known Men*
What a book! I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman isn’t a new release but has had something of a resurgence this year and I’m so pleased that it has. It’s excellent. Utterly mysterious but also bleak and barren. I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s a fantastic pick. Proper conversation starter!
It doesn’t have to always be about fiction when it comes to the Books ‘n Chocs gift. I do rather like sending out cookbooks, too, especially if I can pair them with a relevant spice or condiment or accessory. Quite partial – and stay with me here – to pairing a cookbook with a nice tea towel. It packs flat, still, is lightweight and just feels appropriate and fun. I like M&S cotton ones which come in a pack of four (£8 here*) and add a grand total of two pounds to the gift price if you split the pack down.
I couldn’t resist adding in this Cherry Bomb chocolate bar, though – I recently discovered the online shop Delli for niche and interesting storecupboard buys and condiments and so on. Went to town a bit on the old confectionery..
Buy How Not to be a Supermodel here*
Buy Fatso Sweet Tart chocolate here
Indulge me, momentarily, if you will. Because I have waited many, many years to enjoy this moment: my very own book featured in my very own “books n chocs” post. What an absolute thrill! I ask you for your attention only briefly, because I am coming back at you with a whole post about How Not to be a Supermodel next week, when the hardback becomes widely available in the States, which is a HUGE thing to be happening.
I also have some alternative chocolate pairings and a load to say about how much you’ll enjoy reading this book if you haven’t done so already. It would be my “pick of the year” if that was allowable, which obviously it isn’t because I’d look like a right old berk if I chose my own book, but you get the gist. I love it and I think that you will love it. It has been making people laugh out loud at very inappropriate times and that is the best possible review I could wish for.
If you have read the book then you’ll appreciate the choice of chocolate brand…
I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s offering – remember to check out the link below for previous editions and loads more ideas!