What to read over the Christmas period? This list of recommendations by Spectator editorial staff may help you decide. Not all the books are newly-published. But they’re generally books that we’ve read – and enjoyed – recently.

I'll kick things off with my selections...

The last time we did one of these lists - back in the summer - I recommended John O'Hara's BUtterfield 8. Now, for Christmas, another O'Hara novel: his 1934 debut, Appointment in Samarra. As it happens, the story actually takes place over the festive season; but things are very far from cheery. As soon as Julian English throws a drink in the face of local big-wig Harry Reilly, there's a powerful inevitablity about this American tragedy. The joy comes from O'Hara's trenchant but ultimately humane commentary. This is essential literature.

The novel as a bludgeon. That's what Charles Jackson gives us with his 1944 work The Lost Weekend. An account of one weekend in the life of Don Birnham, an alcoholic, it's searing stuff; a collage of scotch bottles, cold sweats, falls, vomit and blood. It would be almost unbearable, were it not for Jackson's irresistable prose. The 1945 film adaptation is one of the best entries in Billy Wilder's filmography.

Something much more light-hearted than either of the above, and an ideal Christmas present: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson. The comic-strip adventures of the precocious 6-year-old and his tiger are the perfect restorative at the end of a winter's day.

Matthew d'Ancona

My book of the year is one I have yet to read: The Ingmar Bergman Archive, a door -stopping 590 pages of the master’s works, and a snip at £84 from Amazon. Essential for any fan of the great director, and almost certainly definitive.

In fiction, there was nothing in 2008 to beat Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil, a stunningly written exploration of Afghanistan and its sufferings, lyrical in style, mythic in scope and yet chillingly topical (yet again) in the light of the Islamist attacks in Mumbai.

In history, Becoming Queen by Kate Williams showcased an outstanding talent from whom we can expect much more. For web-heads, Charles Leadbeater’s We-think was terrific, as was Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody. And for ageing punk rockers everywhere, The Clash (by the band) provided the last word on Strummer et al; lavishly illustrated, compendious in detail, and punk-pink in design. Who could ask for more?

Liz Anderson

For anyone interested in how the mind words, Sebastian Faulks's Human Traces is a fascinating read. The novel, set in the 19th and 20th centuries, traces the lives of two boys, one French and one English, who, though from widely differing backgrounds, become friends as they both try to discover the mysteries of the mind. Faulks, apparently, spent much time doing his meticulous research in the library at the Wellcome Foundation, where, incidentally, there is an exhibition entitled War and Medicine (until 15 February, 2009), which details the personal experiences of medical professionals and artists faced with the dilemmas of war.

David Blackburn

A Good Man in Africa, by William Boyd. This hilariously funny, structurally innovative book features a description of the worst Christmas imaginable.

Fire in the blood, by Irene Nemirovsky. Passionate love affairs are the vehicle for a damning critique of interwar social mores in rural France.

Reformation, by Diarmaid MacCulloch. The greatest historical work since Macaulay's History of England, MacCulloch's hugely accessible book blends thrilling analysis with irresistible wit.

James Forsyth

One of the many great things about Christmas is that you can get a good few days of reading in; making it an ideal time to start a series. If you haven’t already read them, I’d thoroughly recommend Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin novels. I’m not normally keen on things set at sea but these are so good in so many other respects that one can forgive the odd bit of naval jargon.

Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes’s classic children’s novel, is a firm favourite of mine. I re-read it the other week in Boston, where it is set at the start of the American war of independence, and enjoyed it as much as ever. John Otis’s speech at the end of the book is one of the most stirring statements of the animating principles of the revolution that you’ll ever read.

The more sinister side of politics is explored in Mario Vargas Llosa’s Feast of the Goat which deals with the end of Trujillo regime in Dominica. It is not, though, for those whose stomachs are easily turned.

Mandy Pollard

Brooklyn Follies is Paul Auster's tale of Nathan Glass, a 59-year-old, retired divorcee who has come to Brooklyn to find "a silent end to my sand and ridiculous life". Sounds grim, but it's actually the perfect novel to lift the spirits. Through a series of chance meetings and revived relationships, Nathan finds a new lease of life. Auster's writing is sharp and witty, and the characters are instantly likeable.

Hugo Williams

Lichtenberg & The Little Flower Girl, by Gert Hofmann. The internal life of a randy, hunchback academic in 18th Century Gottingen. A comic, German Lolita: the funniest book I've ever read.

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