Get Christmas all booked up with these page-turners

 Perfect page-turners for animal lovers

Teach My Cat To Do That (Panmacmillan)

A brilliant little read for the feline fan who wants their kitty to be a little trickster, so to speak!

The book comes with foreword by Alexander Armstrong (If a chicken can dance, a cat can do anything,' he says) and includes step by step guides to skilful little acts – teach your puddy-tat how to beg, heel, down and even ring the bell for dinner!

The book includes cat personality tests, cat rules and easy, medium and complex tricks.

> Canine fans won't be left behind either, as a pooch version is also available.

 

 

Feel festive, reading festive...

Christmas A Biography (Picador)

Bestselling author Judith Flanders casts a sharp and revealing eye on the myths, legends and history of the season, from the origins of the holiday in the Roman Empire to the emergence of Christmas trees in central Europe.

There are plenty of interesting festive facts here too – swot up in advance and impress during dinner this December 25, with facts like these...

> The first Christmas wrapping paper, printed with a design of holly leaves, dates back to 1908; Sellotape to 1932.

> Mistletoe has played a part in British Christmases since the seventeenth century, but the tradition of kissing underneath it appeared only in the early nineteenth.

> The first decorated indoor tree known on was in Strasbourg, in 1605

> The tradition of seeing in the New Year outdoors, began in Scotland, outside the Tron Kirk in Edinburgh. It only spread to London in the 1920s, when crowds gathered outside St Paul's.

 

 

The diary for the realist!

Perpetual Disappointments Diary (Panmacmillan)

'A downbeat journal for pessimists, cynics and losers everywhere!

Comes with a weekly demotivational proverb ('Crappe diem', 'If ignorance is bliss, why are you so sad?') and you can save time with templates for Apology Notes and Passive-Aggressive Notes.

And this diary is not specific to one year, as they are all basically the same...

We love this compact little stocking filler, and your recipient will too - it'll raise a smile and never disappoint you. After all, life does that!

 

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