The Queen Mother’s tipsy bons mots and other stocking fillers

The standard complaint of anyone doing a Christmas gift books guide is that the books aren’t up to much. I myself may have moaned to this effect in the past. But either they are getting better or my critical faculties are beginning to fail. I think it’s the former, but if I’m wrong don’t be surprised if I’m sucking on milky rusks by this time next year.

My daft picture book of the season – a vital category – is Ryan Herman’s Remarkable Football Grounds (Pavilion, £25), which is exactly what it seems to be: a collection of colour photographs of some of the most spectacular football grounds in the world. There are all the usual suspects, such as Anfield and Old Trafford, and others that resemble a crocodile, an armadillo or a chocolate box. Some of these grounds are almost impossibly hard to reach: to get to the one in Venice you’ll need to take a water taxi, while another in Switzerland is only accessible by cable car.