Jonny Wilkinson

The Blue Zone by Andrew Gross is great Christmas reading. Gross used to collaborate with the thriller-author James Patterson, whom I've also read. That's what drew me to this. It is a fast-paced thriller about narcotics traffic and witness protection that I read on holiday in the summer. The reason I've chosen it for Christmas is because it is that rare thing: a thriller with a genuine feelgood factor.

Jonny Wilkinson has just returned to playing rugby after being injured during the England World Cup campaign

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Al Murray

I like a good showbiz biography. I don't care if it's serious analysis or a hack job, I love tales of wilderness years, empty theatres, agents saying you'll never amount to anything, etc (though ones with tragic endings have me shouting “for pity's sake, die!”). This year I'll go for Steve Martin's Born Standing Up, a melancholy book about when he was a stand-up, and an incredible insight into my profession.

The Pub Landlord's Book Of British Common Sense and Al Murray, The Pub Landlord Live at the Palladium (DVD) are available now

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Denise Lewis

As a child one of my favourite Christmas books was The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden. Ivy, an orphan finds herself outside a toyshop. She knows that the doll Holly, is meant for her. And Holly knows this is the girl she was wishing for. It's a classic about the magic of Christmas. I recently came across a new edition and couldn't resist buying it for my daughter. It's a timeless classics every little girl can fall in love with.

The Flat Tummy Book by Denise Lewis is out next month (Quercus, £12.99)

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Trinny Woodall

Christmas is very commercial so I try to find a book that gives it value. This year, I'm reading No Cake, No Jam, Marian Hughes's life story. She grew up during the Blitz in an orphanage in London, and was separated from her two sisters and brother. When she was 60, the Samaritans put her back in touch with her family. It's a book to read at Christmas because it has that sense of tough, tough times but a happy outcome. I like reading stories like that at Christmas because they make you feel grateful for what you have.

The Body Shape Bible by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine is out now (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £20). Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation is on Wednesdays at 8pm on ITV1

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Tracey Emin

I'm going to Uganda to open the Tracey Emin Library for the PEAS charity. I always take at least three books, so I will have Elegies of Love by Ovid, beautiful erotic love poetry, and Thomas Hardy: The Time-torn Man, by Claire Tomalin. I'll also get Graham Greene's Letters. Letters often say so much more about authors than their actual novels.

PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) aims to widen access to education in Africa by developing low-fee secondary schools

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James Naughtie

I need a big book at Christmas. Edmund Morris's double-volume presidential biography — The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex is a trek into the Himalayan heights, a magnificent romp as well as a poetic evocation of politics and America in an age of optimism. Now that another presidential election year is about to begin, Teddy Roosevelt should be remembered — an irresistible figure who matched the raucous energy of his era. He had hope, he could inspire, and his flaws were those of a leader who loved the game, a boy let loose on the world. James Naughtie has written The Making of Music (John Murray, £20)

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David Willetts

We try to have a family reading of T.S. Eliot's The Journey of the Magi on Christmas Eve. It is unusually astringent for a poem about Christmas as it has a sense of loss at the destruction of the old order, as well as a celebration of birth. I usually read something by Dickens too, but not necessarily A Christmas Carol. My favourite of his novels is Bleak House — I sometimes recommend it to constituents who are in danger of becoming too concerned with pursuing a grievance throught the courts.

David Willetts is Conservative MP for Havant

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