{"id":12989,"date":"2025-12-12T14:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leedsjp.org.uk\/?p=12989"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T08:46:00","slug":"12-dec-christmas-reads-and-ideal-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c4652100.myzen.co.uk\/jp2026\/2025\/12\/12\/12-dec-christmas-reads-and-ideal-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Dec – Christmas reads (and ideal gifts)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\nHere are some of the Members of the Commission recommended books for Christmas. Read them yourself or give as a thoughtful gift.\u00a0<\/strong>

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\n\u2018One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This\u2019 by Omar El Akkad

Recommended by Carol Burns<\/em>

\nThis book is about what has been happening in Gaza \u2013 see this review

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2025\/feb\/23\/one-day-everyone-will-always-have-been-against-this-by-omar-el-akkad-review-gaza-and-the-sound-of-silence<\/a>

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This<\/em>\u00a0is an urgent and necessary reckoning about what it means to live in the West today. As an immigrant, Omar El Akkad believed the West offered freedom and justice for all. Over the past twenty years he reported on the various Wars on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more. He won awards for his journalism and his fiction. But now, watching the unmitigated slaughter in Gaza, he comes to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie.

This powerful book is a chronicle of Omar’s painful realisation, a moral grappling with what it means – as a citizen, as a father – to carve out some sense of possibility during these devastating times. This is a book for those that have tired of moral emptiness. This is a book for everyone who wants something better.

\n\"One\n\n‘Horizons’ by James Poskett

Recommended by Sara Forrest<\/em>

\nJames Poskett has written a global history of science in a readable way that will appeal to those interested in either history or science. He takes big themes from history, such as exploration, empire building, capitalism, Cold War and links what was happening around the world to how scientific theories \u00a0developed. He demonstrates how the wisdom of the indigenous people in new worlds influenced scientific discovery. The ingenuity of Pacific navigators is astonishing.

In this major retelling of the history of science from 1450 to the present day, James Poskett explodes the myth that science began in Europe.

The blinkered Western gaze focusing on individual ‘genius’ – Copernicus, Newton, Darwin, Einstein – was only one part of the story. The reality was an utterly global, non-linear pattern of cross-fertilization, competition, cooperation and outright conflict. Each rupture in history carved fresh channels for global exchange.

Here, for the first time, Poskett celebrates how scientists from Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific were integral to this very human story. We meet Graman Kwasi, the African botanist who discovered a new cure for malaria; Hantaro Nagaoka, the Japanese scientist who first described the structure of the atom; and Zhao Zhongyao, the Chinese physicist who discovered antimatter.

\n\"9780241986264-jacket-large\"\n\n‘Hope: The Autobiography’\u00a0by Pope Francis

Recommended by Carol Burns<\/em>

\nTHE GLOBAL BESTSELLER

The ground-breaking, intimate and inspiring memoir from Pope Francis.

Books of the Year 2025:<\/strong>\u00a0The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, New Statesman

‘Remarkable’<\/em>\u00a0Guardian

‘Elegant and joyful’<\/em>\u00a0Financial Times

Pope Francis originally intended this exceptional memoir to appear only after his death, but the needs of our times and the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope moved him to make this precious legacy available sooner. Now, the book stands as his testament; the spiritual, faith-filled, as well as moral, social, and civic legacy that he envisioned and left for the benefit of all the men and women of the world.

HOPE is the first autobiography in history ever to be published by a Pope. Written over six years, this complete autobiography starts in the early years of the twentieth century, with Pope Francis\u2019s Italian roots and his ancestors\u2019 courageous migration to Latin America, continuing through his childhood, the enthusiasms and preoccupations of his youth, his vocation, adult life, and the whole of his papacy up to the present day.

In recounting his memories with intimate narrative force (not forgetting his own personal passions), Pope Francis deals unsparingly with some of the crucial moments of his papacy and writes candidly, fearlessly and prophetically about some of the most important and controversial questions of our present times: war and peace (including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East), migration, environmental crisis, social policy, the position of women, sexuality, technological developments, the future of the Church and of religion in general.

HOPE includes a wealth of revelations, anecdotes and illuminating thoughts. It is a thrilling and very human memoir, moving and sometimes funny, which represents the \u2018story of a life\u2019 and, at the same time, a touching moral and spiritual testament that will fascinate readers throughout the world and will be Pope Francis\u2019s legacy of hope for future generations.

\n\"HOPE:\n\n‘Drawn to Imperfection’ by David Painting

Recommended by Sara Forrest<\/em>

\nThis beautifully illustrated book takes stories from the Bible and reframes them in a way that shows us imperfect people like us experience God\u2019s love and compassion. I read it at one sitting and can see myself re-reading it again and again.

Through imaginative storytelling and evocative artworks,\u00a0Drawn to Imperfection\u00a0offers an engaging and accessible invitation into the story of the Bible.

Bringing 21 biblical characters to life, each story reveals the gritty humanity of people who lived long ago, yet their struggles and triumphs are strikingly familiar to our own.

As we uncover who God was to these individuals, we are invited to see Him anew in the complexities of our everyday lives. This book is not just about understanding the Bible better; it\u2019s about encountering the heart of God in a more intimate and honest way.

With beautifully crafted portraits and thoughtful retellings,\u00a0Drawn to Imperfection\u00a0will:

  • Offer a fresh perspective on the Bible\u2019s big story.<\/li>
  • Inspire a deeper, more authentic relationship with God.<\/li>
  • Encourage you to live with greater freedom and deeper connection.<\/li> <\/ul> Pick up Drawn to Imperfection\u00a0today, and embark on a journey through ancient stories that speak timeless wisdom into modern life.

    \n\"6123WUH3E7L._SY522_\"\n\n\u2018The finest Hotel in Kabul\u2019 by Lyse Doucet

    Recommended by Carol Burns<\/em>

    \nA must-(and enjoyable)read if you want to find out about the history of Afghanistan over the last 50 years.

    When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan\u2019s first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world.

    More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. History lives within its scarred windows and walls.

    Lyse Doucet, the BBC\u2019s Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan.

    It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel\u2019s 1970s glory days \u2013 an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the \u2018Paris of Asia\u2019. It is the story of Abida, who became the first female chef to cook in the Inter-Con\u2019s famous kitchen after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And it is the lives of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-something staff who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy \u2013 only to witness the Taliban roaring back in 2021.

    The result is a remarkably vivid history of how Afghans have survived a half century of destruction and disruption. It is the story of a hotel but also the story of a people.

    \n\"The\n\n‘Growing Brave’ by Donna Ashworth

    Recommended by Sara Forrest<\/em>

    \nDonna Ashworth has a large, loyal on-line following but as I didn\u2019t use social media I discovered her through her poetry on Radio 4. \u00a0I bought Wild Hope<\/em> and regularly dip into it when I feel a little lost in the messiness of life. \u00a0Bereaved friends had been given copies by their friends and \u00a0found it helpful so I have given a couple of copies away too.\u00a0 Growing Brave<\/em> is similarly reassuring when reassurance is what you need. \u00a0I haven\u2019t seen her new book Joy Chose You<\/em> but I suspect that that will appear on my bookshelf soon.

    In this powerful new collection of wisdom and poetry, Donna Ashworth helps us to find strength and courage on the days we feel lost, to pick ourselves up when times are hard, to soothe fear and\u00a0self-doubt\u00a0when we are in their grip, and to let in more life and love as we brave our challenges.

    Every day we are bombarded by thoughts, feelings and information that make us feel anxious and afraid. We worry we don’t measure up, we are scared of failure and we find it hard to be ourselves. We also feel powerless watching the world getting messier. Fear is a limiting factor for many of us and if we don’t challenge it we can find ourselves keeping out more of the good stuff in life than the bad.

    With poems such as ‘One Day You’ll See’, ‘Growing in Moonlight’, ‘The Comparing’ and ‘Always There’, bestselling author Donna Ashworth helps us to see that whatever we are facing, no matter how small or afraid we feel, we make the biggest difference in this world and to our own happiness when we are brave enough to show up as ourselves.

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    \n\"61QiAhjFbhL._SY522_\"\n\n‘Domination’ by Alice Roberts

    Recommended by Sara Forrest<\/em>

    \nI haven\u2019t yet read Alice Roberts new book about the spread of Christianity as I anticipate that it will be a Christmas present. \u00a0I enjoyed The Celts which she wrote to accompany a TV Series. In that she explains how the archaeological record suggests the spread of Celtic culture up the Atlantic Coast and separately across mainland Europe predominantly through trade and migration to support trade rather than invasion. \u00a0Her style is easy to understand and accessible. This is the story of the fall of an Empire \u2013 and the rise of another.<\/strong>

    Who spread Christianity, how, and why? In her quest to find the answer,\u00a0Professor Alice Roberts takes us on a gripping investigative journey. From a secluded valley in south Wales to the shores of Brittany; from the heart of the Roman Empire in a time of political turmoil to the ancient city of Corinth in the footsteps of the apostle Paul; from Alexandria in the fourth century to Constantinople.

    As the Roman Empire crumbled in Western Europe, a shadow of power remained, almost perfectly mapping onto its disappearing territories. And then, it continued to spread. Unearthing the archaeological clues and challenging long-established histories, Professor Roberts tells a remarkable story about the relationship between the Roman Empire and Christianity.

    Lifting the veil on secrets that have been hidden in plain sight, this story is nothing short of astonishing.

    Domination\u00a0is a page-turning exploration of power and its survival.

    \n\"91kadYdp2iL._SY522_\"\n\n‘Ted the Shed’ by Mandy Sutter

    Recommended by Sara Forrest<\/em>

    \nMy husband chose this on a recent visit to our local Bookshop (Trumans Books, Farsley). \u00a0It\u2019s written by Mandy Sutter (another writer on social media writer) and is a fond biography of the last year\u2019s of her dad\u2019s life when she needed his help with her new allotment. \u00a0

    When Mandy\u2019s Dad finally makes it to the top of the allotment waiting list aged 87, he is offered an unpromising jungle of a plot. He tells his daughter that she has always dreamed of having an allotment and a gardening relationship begins, full of resentment, disappointment and potatoes that grow large enough to appear on Google Earth.

    John picked it up and started reading while he drank his coffee and he decided it was worth buying (a change from science fiction or crime). It\u2019s a celebration of the life of someone who was well-loved. Her wry observations reduce the sentimentality. I \u00a0enjoyed it too and suspect that many people who enjoy growing things would enjoy an afternoon\u2019s escape into its pages.

    \u00a0

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