Snug Bobble Hats and Moose Maple Butter: Shop the Digital Editor’s Christmas Gift Guide

Over the years I’ve developed a very simple but effective Christmas gifting strategy: I carefully select and nicely wrap three surprising (print) books that I think the recipient will love. One that will make it into quite a few of those bundles this year is Matt Blakstad’s cyber-thriller Lucky Ghost. It’s themes of political corruption, virtual reality and the integrity of the press are super-timely – but it’s also a romping good page-turner, perfect for wintery evenings.

I also love giving subscriptions, as they spread the gifting joy through the year. A quarterly copy of The Good Journal, a new crowdfunded literary journal which showcases the best new work from writers and artists of colour, is my 2018 must. Continuing the literary theme, this Alice-in-Wonderland Moleskine planner is lovely enough to persuade anyone to ditch the Google Calendar.

For a different sort of cerebral pleasure, I love this Scottish-made Kilda bobble hat from Jigsaw, a brand that has consistently got it right this year. The coffee-lovers in my life might be lucky enough to get a Le Creuset stoneware cafetiere – I’ve been obsessed ever since I first saw them at Soho Farmhouse. As for those New Year parties, I’ll be treating beauty-minded friends of all genders to Starskin’s 7-second instant-facial pads. They make big claims… and those claims are justified.

Finally, this year’s failsafe stocking filler is a tub of Moose Maple Butter. Trust me, this stuff is so much more than the sum of its (three) ingredients. Christmas day breakfast will never be the same.