Holiday World

Holidays on Ice collects six of David Sedaris' most profound Christmas stories into one volume. This drinking-man's companion can be enjoyed by the warmth of a fire, the glow of a brilliantly decorated tree, or even in the backseat of a police car. Here is the timeless "SantaLand Diaries", which immortalised the struggle of department store elves the world over. Here is "Dinah, the Christmas Whore", in which the Sedaris family opens its heart to an unexpected, almost Mary Magdalene-like visitor. Plus five additional holiday-themed stories to make you ho ho ho.

Hotel Portofino has been open for only a few weeks, but already the problems are mounting for its owner Bella Ainsworth. Her high-class guests are demanding and hard to please. And she’s being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, who threatens to drag her into the red-hot cauldron of Mussolini’s Italy. To make matters worse, her marriage is in trouble, and her children are still struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Great War.

Ever since he can remember, Dom Joly has been fascinated by travel to odd places. In part this stems from a childhood spent in war-torn Lebanon, where instead of swapping marbles in the schoolyard, he had a shrapnel collection - the schoolboy currency of Beirut. Dom's upbringing was interspersed with terrifying days and nights spent hunkered in the family basement under Syrian rocket attack or coming across a pile of severed heads from a sectarian execution in the pine forests near his home.

When Laurel West discovers her estranged sister Abby has checked herself into rehab and wants her to take care of her 14-year-old son, she doesn’t hesitate to step in. Abby was there for Laurel a long time ago, and she longs to be able to offer the same. However, as a single woman who still dreams of the fairy tale, Laurel isn’t prepared for teenaged Zac’s sullen moods or silent rage. When he’s expelled from school, she decides to take drastic measures and temporarily relocate them to her great aunt’s cottage on the windswept hills of the Orkney islands north of Scotland?

The latest groundbreaking tome from Tim Ferriss, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek. For the last two years, I've interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview.

Autumn 1941, and as female conscription looms, three women arrive at the Bell Works Factory in Hucknall to work on the Spitfire production line. Lily soon realises her real dream is to pilot the planes; Edna longs to be reunited with her evacuee daughter, but soon discovers she has a much bigger problem; and Jeannie fears the worst after weeks of no news from her fiancé. Despite all the heartache, with a bit of festive cheer and 'can do' attitude, The Engine Girls will pull together and do all they can to ensure Britain's safe for the New Year.

Alice, Kate and Naomi want to keep the magic of Christmas alive in their village of Churchwood but a thief in the area and a new family that shuns the local community are only the first of the problems they face.

Christmas time is fast approaching at Mary Vale and newcomer Libby is ready to start a fresh chapter working alongside the Wartime Midwives. When she discovers that the local primary school is struggling, Libby rallies the midwives to band together and work with the local community. With the help of midwife Ada and teacher Margaret, Libby has a plan to save Christmas. But not everyone likes what Libby is doing, and local landlord Thorpe is hiding something.

Cassy's a backpacking student travelling around New Zealand - until the day she accepts a lift in a van full of smiling strangers; her life is changed forever. She's soon entangled in Gethsemane, a community led by Justin Calvin, a visionary leader with a violent past. As Cassy falls under Gethsemane's spell, a new identity is built for her. But when her father's illness reunites her with her family, she's forced to confront the hidden darkness of her world.

September 1941. Mary arrives in war-torn London nursing a broken heart and a painful secret. When she is offered her dream post as an assistant in the fabric department at Liberty store, she knows this is the fresh start she needs. Amid the store’s vibrant prints and sumptuous interiors, Mary finds a new family who can help her to heal. But not everyone will give Mary such a warm welcome, and the trauma of her past will soon catch up with her. As Mary and the Liberty Girls endure the heartache and uncertainty of war, it will take a steady heart to keep the magic of Christmas alive.

After her fiancé dies in the sinking of the Royal Oak, Mary finds herself stationed in Orkney, still battling her grief. With Iris and Sally by her side, she is gradually overcoming her loss and is surprised to be helped by the irascible Joe. Joe is a signalman aboard the Kelpie and his cheeky Morse code messages to Mary while she's on shift bring her cheer and exasperation in equal measure. With Christmas round the corner, Mary is opening herself back up to the festive spirit—and to love.

It’s 1941 and Christmas is approaching in St. Ives. Shy Lily wishes she could hide from the war. But when her friend Eva writes asking if she’ll join her in St. Ives, Lily can’t refuse. There are officers to nurse back to health and a Christmas party to plan. Eva came to St. Ives to be near Max, the stranger who almost gave his life protecting her from an air-raid. But the wounded pilot keeps pushing her away. Rose can’t help envying Eva, who turns too many heads. But when she suspects the orphanage next door is mistreating its charges, Eva is the only one who can help her.

July 1941. As the war grinds on, Lady Joanna Harcourt knows that her time at Goodwill House is drawing to close. A new chapter awaits, one that she never expected to happen to her – she is going to be a wife and mother again! Excited with their new arrival and with her beloved Flying Officer John Sergeant back in her life, Joanna hopes that even though war clouds gather, love will prevail, and the future will look brighter than ever for the Harcourt family. John has just one last mission to complete, before they can be together.

After discovering her mother’s secret life, Cara doesn’t have much faith in marriage. So when the love of her life, Simeon, proposes, she struggles to say "I do." She adores him, but why risk the perfect relationship by signing on a dotted line that could ruin everything? If her parents’ marriage taught her anything, it was that a gold ring doesn’t equal happiness, and she has no desire to follow in their dysfunctional footsteps.

Fiction to coincide with a three-part historical Emmerdale spin-off show airing on ITV this autumn. The show is billed as a captivating 8 p.m. series in which cast members mark 100 years since the end of the Great War by uncovering the hidden stories of their WW1 counterparts, embarking on an immersive journey to experience a Yorkshire village at war and creating a special Armistice celebration.

Liverpool, 1940. There comes a moment in every child’s life when they must learn to stand on their own two feet. For 15-year-old Ellie Lancton, that time has come all too soon. The death of her mother and the increase in air raids leaves Ellie alone and in grave danger. It’s not long before she is forced to leave her beloved Liverpool behind and cross the Mersey to seek refuge in the countryside. But as the war takes comforts away, so too does it bring new opportunities: for work, new friendships and perhaps a little love....

Constantinople, 1921. Each day Nur gazes across the waters of the Bosphorus to her childhood home, a grand white house, nestled on the opposite bank. Memories float on the breeze - the fragrance of the fig trees, the saffron sunsets of languid summer evenings. But now those days are dead. The house has been transformed into an army hospital, it is a prize of war in the hands of the British. And as Nur weaves through the streets carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, Constantinople swarms with Allied soldiers - a reminder of how far she and her city have fallen.

Holidays in Hell follows P. J. O’Rourke on a global fun-finding mission to the most desperate places on the planet, from the bombed-out streets of Beirut to the stultifying blandness of Heritage USA. P.J.’s unforgettable adventures abroad include storming student protesters’ barricades in South Korea, interviewing Communist insurrectionists in the Philippines, and going undercover in Arab garb at Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock Mosque. Packed with P.J.’s classic riffs on everything from Polish nightlife under communism to Third World driving tips....

Winston the mouse is on a Very Important Mission. On Christmas Eve, he finds a letter that has gotten lost on its way to Father Christmas - so, with no time to lose, he sets out to deliver it himself in time for Christmas Day! He has a lot of Very Exciting Adventures on his Very Important Mission and makes some wonderful friends along the way.

London, 1941. The Blitz. When a Royal Navy memo arrives at head office, requesting female recruits to sign up as motorcycle dispatch riders, delivering highly classified orders across the country, three women jump at the chance to sign up for the most dangerous jobs in London.