Some sumptuous productions are hitting the shelves this Christmas, which are clearly designed to go straight to the top of aunty's festive list. More from Unmitigated England by Peter Ashley (£18.99, Adelphi), a sequel to Unmitigated England, won't fit into an average-size stocking but would look good on any coffee table.

The book is illustrated with Ashley's collection of photographs, watercolours and scrapbook items. There are enchanting colour images throughout and in my favourite chapter, 'A Good Book and a Mug of Cocoa', Ashley recalls the books from his youth. These include the Ardizzone-illustrated Puffins, Observer Books, Rupert Bear, and Just William.

Ashley has clearly taken on a role vacated by Betjeman and other preservationists as the gatekeeper to several generations' memories, and I will be buying his back catalogue.

The Pub Landlord's Book of British Common Sense by Al Murray (Hodder, £18.99) is bound to produce a chuckle over the Christmas pud. The stand-up comic has been honing the Pub Landlord, his favourite character, for so long that he is very convincing.

The landlord is portrayed as a xenophobic bore, but Mr Murray is a cunning satirist, and once you start laughing at the bartender's extremism, you automatically start to question your own beliefs.

The pub landlord plays best in any rundown theatre in the West End, but there are some hilarious passages in the book, including 'Left-Handedness is Not Normal', and 'Shakespeare and Why You Shouldn't Really Worry About Him'. My own particular favourite is a price chart in a pie and mash shop where the owner has failed to do the maths properly.

The Bumper Book of Football by Hunter Davies (Quercus, £19.99) isn't quite as bumper as the title suggests. In fact, the pages remain fairly streamlined inside the hard cover. But it is nevertheless a sizeable soccer annual, packed with great features and illustrations.

The book perhaps covers some of the same ground as a previous Davies football book, Boots, Balls and Haircuts, but the treatment is different and this book definitely has its own character, with practical advice on how to become a footballer, how to manage a collection of football memorabilia, and how to become a demon autograph-hunter. Davies's own collection of memorabilia is enviable and he has highlighted some rare items to help produce this book.

If you enjoy nostalgia, then why not show your children the revised edition of Mr Bliss by J.R.R. Tolkien (HarperCollins, £16.99)? Written and illustrated by the Oxford academic for his children, Mr Bliss is an inventive tale of eccentricity. Each page of the original 1930s manuscript is reproduced in facsimile, with Tolkien's own coloured illustrations and distinctive handwriting.

Finally, one book I would love to get for Christmas is Boys and Girls: A Ladybird Book of Childhood (Frederick Warne, £20). This takes an affectionate look at a collection that I loved when I was a kid, and now I enjoy collecting them in charity shops.