There are a number of anglers in my family. My dad, my husband and my father-in-law are all keen anglers which has its up and downsides. The gutting of fish being one of the latter. But on the plus side, buying birthday presents for any one of them is actually quite easy as I can fall back on the other two men for angling-themed inspiration.  Even better when you find the perfect gift and then can use it for three occasions in total (Dad’s birthday, husband’s birthday, father-in-law’s Christmas present – oops, cat out of the bag!).

A recent example of this was Blood Knots by Luke Jennings which was on the Samuel Johnson prize shortlist (losing out to Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy when the winner was announced last week. )Two recipients have so far flown through this memoir of fishing and growing up and thoroughly recommend it. I’m now considering asking The Book Depository for a commission…

Lesley-Anne Crooks, Sales & Digital Manager