Janet Gordon is married, retired, obsessed with her Westlake Terrier, Rollo – and books are her passion. She reads multiple books a week across all genres and reviews books for Rest Less. However, in the lead-up to Christmas and Hannukah, Janet has handpicked and reviewed a selection of gifts that may appeal to your loved ones.
Note: These are hand-picked gift ideas. Items can sell out fast, and prices can change often, so you may notice some variations on the providers’ websites. Prices and availability are accurate as of the 15th of November, 2023.
PRO Revitalised Eye Kit (Peep Club £80)
It’s all go for the run-up to Christmas Hanukkah, which, this year, starts on 5th December.
My ancient Menorah – my eight-branched candelabra is a hand-me-down from my parents and one of the few rituals I do observe, especially as I now have multi-coloured candles to light. The other ritual (if cooking can be called a ritual) is that I just love cooking Jewish food and there’s an ongoing argument in our house about which side the Matzo is buttered on. Me – I always butter the bumpy side whilst my husband thinks it only sensible to butter the flat side. But when did sensible ever win?
Anyway following my husband’s recent cataract operation, I was sent this Heated Eye Wand – a revolutionary treatment for seriously dry eyes – from Peep Club. Having suffered with dry eyes for many years as part of thyroid eye disease, I was thrilled to receive this – but just to be safe, I checked with both the hospital and long-term opticians, and both my husband and I were given the go-ahead to use it.
What a seriously good present this would make – or even as a treat for yourself. The wand is the brainchild of Nicola, an award-winning optometrist; and Natasha, who had such burning eyes at the end of the day, that she thought she’d have to give up work.
Today this award-winning product is recommended by opticians all over the UK, and glossy magazines are raving over it. It’s not cheap – the Wand, with its accompanying Instant Relief Dry Eye Spray, is £80.00 and comes with a linen bag so that you can take it with you on your travels.
Both my husband and I are using it daily and, thankfully, because his operation left him with severely dry eyes, this heated wand is definitely soothing. Both of us are feeling the benefit.
There’s only one thing that I think would make it better in my opinion. I was a bit unsure about using my own eye cream with it and so bought their soothing coconut cream balm, which feels wonderfully calming on eyelids. However, I’d much prefer it if, when buying the wand, we were given a choice of either the Dry Eye Spray or the Balm. But I can’t recommend this enough. And of course with my eyes nicely soothed, I can read even more books!
Anyway, here are some more gifts, which I’d love to find in my Christmas stocking or under the Hanukkah bush!
Wolves of Winter by Dan Jones (Kindle £6.99, Amazon £9, Head of Zeus £16.99)
As former medieval re-enactors, both my husband and I are also history buffs and Wolves of Winter is such an accurate representation of six soldiers, known as the Essex Dogs, who were left bruised and bloodied after the battle of Crecy in 1347.
But a new attack begins after King Edward vows that no Englishman will leave France until Calais has fallen – so the Dogs are sent to attack its walls. As the story unfolds, the Dogs are torn apart whilst the war continues around them.
Packed with absolute accuracy, my husband (who is far more medieval than me – I prefer Tudors) adored this.
It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square by Ali McNamara (Kindle £2.99, Amazon £5.50, Sphere £8.99)
I’m a real sucker for an old-fashioned Christmas Card – you know, a coach and four reindeer cantering through a snow-covered village, with villagers standing around the bedecked Christmas tree singing carols. Not that I send many cards, but those I do always always feature that sort of image.
So how could I resist the cover featured on best-selling Cambridge author Ali McNamara? This is her 14th novel but her very first Christmas read. And, apart from the cover looking so magical, the story itself is magical.
Ellie is in despair. She’s broken up with her boyfriend and so had to move out of her house, and to cap it all, she lost her job.
Sitting on a bench gazing across the Thames, she suddenly finds herself seated next to a bowler-hatted gentleman who hands her a newspaper. They exchange a few platitudes before he disappears as quickly as he arrives, leaving behind his newspaper, open at a green-circled job advert.
Intrigued Ellie reads it and realises that the closing date for the job is that very day but that there’s no telephone number to contact them. Ellie decides just to turn up at the door. To her surprise, she’s expected.
She meets Ben who’s helping to carry a giant floor-to-ceiling Christmas Tree into the house and who, it turns out, has also turned up after the receipt of a similarly mysterious green-circled advert.
It’s the day before Christmas Eve (does that have a name?), and both Ellie and Ben are avowed Christmas haters. Mistletoe House is owned by Estelle, and she and her companion Angela have lived there forever.
That night, they all sit down to dinner and it’s as they’re cosily ensconced in front of the fire that Estelle begins to tell a story…and the magic begins.
I don’t quite know how to describe this – it’s romantic, magical, historical, and mystical – and it’s a wonderful read. Just park yourself in front of the fire, with a glass of wine and indulge in this truly heartwarming Christmas read.
Mavala “I’m Smitten” Gift Set (Franklins, £32)
After years of biting my nails, I’ve finally managed to stop – and so I was thrilled to receive this Mavala “I’m Smitten” Gift Set.
Mavala is a name that needs no introduction in the nail care world, and this gorgeous little pouch contains Base Coat, Colorfix Topcoat, Oil Seal Dryer, a bright red nail polish, along with nail polish remover and a super smelling free hand cream – all best selling products to leave your nails looking Christmas ready.
I thought I’d try my hand (pun intended) at an Instagram photo. And honestly, I’m thrilled with how my nails have responded to this treatment.
Craft Your Year with Sara Davies: The Crafting Bible (Kindle £7.99, Amazon £18.05, Bantam £20)
If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Blue Peter buff but have run out of ideas to keep the grandchildren happy whilst on school holidays, then Craft Your Year with Sara Davies could be the answer.
There are over 70 step-by-step projects ranging from what to do with your saved-up toilet roll centres to making a Father’s Day Shaker Card and Painted Rock Photo Holders.
To be honest, there’s no way I would have earned a Blue Peter badge as I’m too clumsy, but even I could manage the toilet roll bird feeders. Though, I’m not too sure my cat Amber will approve of more birds invading her garden!
Terrible Maps: Hilarious Maps for a Ridiculous World by Michael Howe (Kindle £6.99, Amazon, £12.99, HarperCollins £14.99)
As a child, I used to spend hours sitting in the giant cupboard under our staircase, leafing through the Encyclopaedia Britannica. It sat proudly in the hall in its own bookcase along with volumes of The Companion Book Club (bring back memories anyone?).
Terrible Maps is perfect for anyone with a curious mind, as it’s a book of weird maps, detailing all kinds of peculiar facts. For instance, there’s a wonderful couple of pages with all kinds of fanciful place names – does anyone live in Bottom Flash or Great Snoring? I could imagine this as an ideal gift for a quiz enthusiast, compelled to collect strange facts.
Unruly: A History of England’s Kings and Queens by David Mitchell (Kindle £10.99, Amazon £12.50, Michael Joseph £25.00)
I’m sure we all know David Mitchell, comedian, actor writer and team leader on panel shows, including my favourite, Would I Lie to You?
And his lovely wife Victoria Coren Mitchell has just had another baby (random fact: Victoria’s uncle Phil was a London cab driver who used to write for me at Taxi Magazine).
David Mitchell is a complete history buff but this is a history book like no other. Packed with interesting and lurid anecdotes, and I can just hear him chortling away to himself while writing this.
What a Christmas gift this would be for history lovers.
Once a Monster by Robert Dinsdale (Kindle £9.99, Amazon £15.99, Macmillan £18.99)
When I was working in London, my husband and I would often get to work around 6.30 am and then go for a lovely cooked breakfast in an Italian café around the back alleys on the Thames. I often used to walk down those slippy steps onto the Thames foreshore in the hope that I’d become a mudlark and pick up some forgotten treasure (but, no, I didn’t).
And so in London in 1861, we meet 10-year-old Nell, who’s part of a crew of mudlarks who frequent the Thames by the Ratcliffe Highway. Burying in the mud, Nell discovers the barely alive seven-foot-tall Minotaur, and she and her fellow mudlarks eventually manage to rescue him.
Based on the story of the Greek Legend of the Minotaur, this wonderful novel is based on the premise that the Minotaur wasn’t killed. Nell, who was orphaned at the age of four, gradually tames the blood lust natural to the Minotaur and he becomes her protector. My husband fell in love with this story and has raved nonstop about this lyrical tale.
The Man of Her Dreams by Sarra Manning (Kindle £4.99, Amazon £18.40, Hodder & Stoughton £20)
I simply love how Sarra Manning writes. Her previous novel London, with Love was a romantic tale based around two lovers and the London Underground. And her latest is the story of Esme and her fantasy lovers.
Now eight years a divorcee after marrying very much in haste, Esme has sworn off men – apart from those recurring fantasy lovers. But Esme has always very much lived in her mind after being born as an afterthought to an argumentative pair of parents, who farmed her out to her older sister Allegra as soon as they were able.
Formerly an editor on a trendy magazine, Esme now owns her own PR and copywriting company where her wonderful imagination is, of course, a great asset.
Forced out on a hen night by a group of woo-woo type friends, optimistic Esme, who had spent the morning at the dentist with a particularly troublesome wisdom tooth, is knocked to the ground by an aggressive cyclist and ends up with a blood-soaked cut at the back of her head.
What follows next is a week or two of sheer delight as Esme meets the man of her dreams, attends a wedding, and argues with the world. But it’s how the author describes all of Esme’s adventures – her descriptions of all that happens to Esme are just wonderfully readable. I just loved this novel.
For further book and literature discussions, you might be interested in joining the thriving book club or short story club over on Rest Less Events.
Are you planning to buy any of these gifts for people? Or perhaps you’re planning to treat yourself? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.