Holloway

For me, one if life's great pleasures is the giving and receiving of books. While you might normally be the best judge of what you want to read, often someone else's view can open up a whole new avenue. I love to receive books from the Garden Poet and The Mother and I also try and make sure that I share these in return.

Having said that, the 3 books I bought the GP for Christmas were not really avant-garde selections. They were all about travel and poetry which is definitely his bag and the most obviously suitable for his canon was Holloway.

So, the reasons why the was a no-brainer addition to the GP's canon are:

• One of the writers is the wonderful Robert Macfarlane 
• It's inspired by Roger Deakin, another approved writer
• It's a beautiful book - hard-back, illustrated and no longer than it needs to be
• It fuses history, poetic prose and personal experience

Which brings me back to my original point. A great joy in life is the giving and receiving of books. The most ideal course of events is giving someone a book they really love which you later have an opportunity to read. So share your books and your recommendations because you never know the joy this could bring.