Attractively produced in the style of Schott’s Miscellanies, this should reignite interest in a landmark that we take for granted. Full of off-centre facts and lists, such as historic guesses at the architects and “worst films featuring Stonehenge” (Halloween III comes top).

DUGOUTS
by David Bauckham
New Holland, £7.99/£7.59

Like all the best gift books, the basic idea is bonkers. Bauckham has toured obscure football grounds and photographed where the coaches and substitutes stand, in his own words “den-like shacks, strange bunker-style barricades and gated, cage-like dugouts”.

BOOKS I’VE READ, BOOKS I WANT TO READ
Frances Lincoln,
£9.99/ £9.49

Why is it that whenever you’re asked to list your favourite books, your mind goes blank, and all you can think of is To Kill a Mocking Bird? Help is at hand in this attractive notebook, designed as a record of your own reading and a store of tip-offs and wish-lists.

SANTA: A LIFE
by Jeremy Seal
Picador, £7.99/£7.59

Old St Nick is not above self-promotion, so don't be surprised to see this paperback poking out of a few stockings on Christmas Day.Luckily his story is more interesting than most, and Seal traces his progress from Byzantine bishop to Coca-Cola stooge with wit and style.

SCOUTS IN BONDAGE
edited by Michael Bell
Aurum, £9.99/£9.49

A gloriously smirk-inducing collection of book jackets and excerpts from “curious works from bygone times”. From Frank Topham’s jolly copper-caper Invisible Dick to Building the Body Beautiful: The Bagot Stack Stretch-and-Swing System, there’s pleasure and instruction aplenty.

RIVER CAFÉ POCKET BOOKS
Ebury, £8.99/£8.54

There are lots of gaudy celeb cook books around, but if you fancy something with a bit more class and a bit less chatter, these are ideal. Slim, stylish and filled with clear recipes and enticing photographs, they are perfect stocking size. The series includes books on pasta and ravioli and puddings, cakes and ice creams. Yum.

HEAT: THE ANNUAL 2007
Orion, £12.99/£11.99

A little light relief for Christmas morning and a must for fans of the magazine. A bumper crop of celebrity pics, puzzles and interviews, plus style guides and, ahem, serious news features and forecasts for 2007. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure — lots of intelligent people read Heat, don’t you know.

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