The Telegraph's Books of the Year for Christmas

Franzen’s Freedom and Larkin’s Letters, Tony Blair’s inner ‘animal’ and 100 objects that told the history of the world – in this special issue we survey the literary highlights of 2010. 

But first, leading names select their personal favourites… and the presents they’ll be giving this Christmas.

Hilary Mantel

Annabel Lyon won prizes in her native Canada for her note-perfect historical novel The Golden Mean (Atlantic, £14.99), but here it has not had the attention it deserves. It tells the story of Aristotle and the young Alexander; her interpretation of their relationship and their world is luminous and deeply intelligent. Richard Cohen’s Chasing the Sun: the Epic Story of the Star that Gives Us Life (Simon & Schuster, £30) is a warming book for short winter days, blending myth with history and science, and guaranteed to please and fascinate almost any reader.

Orlando Figes

David Nicholls’s One Day (Hodder, £7.99) is hugely enjoyable, and Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists (Quercus, £16.99), though really a collection of short stories, is memorably good for a debut. But my book of the year is Sarah Bakewell’s How To Live: a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (Chatto, £16.99), a jewel of a book and a perfect introduction to the great Renaissance writer, whose “essais” are a constant inspiration, source of entertainment and practical philosophy for life.

Full piece at The Telegraph.

As you can see Bookman Beattie loves lists ! Another follows this.