The Glasgow Book Club

Our December meeting followed a similar pattern to our November session with two books that created quite a bit of criticism and comment but, more importantly, plenty of excellent discussion. Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me scored 35 while American Dirt scored 57. The full 2025 scoreboard will be published in our discussions section very shortly.

Btw – a huge thanks to all of you for helping make the book club so much fun throughout the year. It’s your fantastic book nominations, great attendance and wonderful contributions to all the book discussions make this book club work.

For January we have one festive themed book to help us through Christmas and an award-winning memoir that was released as a film in 2025.

Please note, with thanks, we appreciate attendees making a contribution of £1.50 at the meeting to help cover meetup charges.

Happy Reading.

The Dead of Winter: The Demons, Witches and Ghosts of Christmas by Sarah Clegg (nominated by Jenn)

As winter comes and the hours of darkness overtake the light, we seek out warmth, good food, and good company. But beneath the jollity and bright enchantment of the festive season, there lurks a darker mood—one that has found expression over the centuries in a host of strange and unsettling traditions and lore.

Here, Sarah Clegg takes us on a journey through midwinter to explore the lesser-known Christmas traditions, from English mummers plays and Austrian Krampus runs, to modern pagan rituals at Stonehenge and the night in Finland when a young girl is crowned with candles as St Lucy—a martyred Christian girl who also appears as a witch leading a procession of the dead.

At wassails and hoodenings and winter gatherings, attended by ghastly, grinning horses, snatching monsters and mysterious visitors, we discover how these traditions originated and how they changed through the centuries, and we ask ourselves: if we can't keep the darkness entirely at bay, might it be fun to let a little in?

The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (nominated by Rebecca)

At the age of thirty, Amy Liptrot finds herself washed up back home on Orkney. Standing unstable on the island, she tries to come to terms with the addiction that has swallowed the last decade of her life.

As she spends her mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, her days tracking Orkney's wildlife, and her nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy discovers how the wild can restore life and renew hope.

Other books nominated were:

Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia by Chris Stewart
The Story of the Christmas No. 1: Mistletoe and Vinyl by Marc Burrows
The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda
Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom
Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
Fair Play by Louise Hegarty
The Good Liar by Denise Mina