Books and Chocolate Pairings!

Christmas Gift Guide, Part 2

Pull Up A Chair is a weekly newsletter containing all the things I’d like to be chatting about if we could hang out together in real life. Every week, I start with three things I’ve enjoyed, and then write in more detail about something I’ve been thinking about. 

• 🍿 Falling For Christmas. I finally watched Lindsey Lohan’s return to film, in this very silly Netflix movie that I’ll never forget. Apparently amnesia is extremely Christmassy - who knew?

• 📸 Famous People Reading. The lovely Becca Freeman has created this fun Instagram account, sharing snaps of famous people papped with books in hand, and trying to find out which fictional worlds our favourite stars are diving into in their free time.

• 🎀 Starchasers hair bows. Starchasers, a small business based in Aberdeen, is one of my favourite Etsy shops. There’s a huge range of Pride flag bows and hair ties, hair bows with rockets on, and, my current obsession, gorgeous velvet hair bows. You can even choose what type of attachment you want on your bows - hair ties, clips, barrettes, and other options are available.

  

For the second part of this year’s gift guide, as ever, I’m following Ruth Crilly’s “books and chocolate” format. It’s a really nice way to put together a present that feels personal, and by starting out with this formula the potential for ‘choice overwhelm’ is much smaller than if you’re staring at the entire Internet wondering what to buy your Uncle Bob for Christmas. (And if you do want to go beyond this formula, check out last week’s Guide To Little Treats - and this feels like a good time to mention that if you’re getting stuck at the paywall and just can’t afford a paid subscription, drop me a note and I’ll give you free access for a bit)

🚢 The ultimate ‘dad book’:

I should explain that this category isn’t limited to men, or even parents for that matter - I’m neither and I love a dad book, but it is a very definite ‘category.’ That being said, this year’s is The Wager by David Grant (Bookshop.org | Amazon - ad - affiliate links). By the same author as Killers Of The Flower Moon, this book about ‘shipwreck, mutiny, and murder’ is very definitely having a moment. 

To go with it, lean into the maritime theme with a sea salt bar. James Cadbury’s (yes, that ‘Cadbury’) Love Cocoa brand has a dark chocolate bar with Maldon sea salt, or there’s a Green & Blacks milk chocolate option with Anglesey sea salt.