I read this book so long ago but have only just gotten around to writing about it!
I loved reading the essays from several well known individuals - all writing about their christmas experiences, most were heartwarming and some were beautiful but on the other side, some were also sad, incredibly sad - these celebrities are missing a trick if they're not already writing!
These stories make you seriously consider what christmas means to you and helps put a lot in perspective.

This is such a lovely festive read from the Hollywood power couple Greg Wise and Emma Thompson. I loved picking this book up and reading a small section at time and was so excited to read more each time. So wonderful and lovely!

A great read for Christmas. Lots of wonderful stories from celebrities, charity workers and people who have been helped by Shelter.

This is an eclectic range of essays detailing Christmas memories from a diverse group of people who give their respective accounts of being refugees/homeless/struggling with mental health issues or dealing with broken families, among other, fluffier, pieces.

Some stories are more light-hearted than others and definitely balance well against the darker stories in the collection. Although, it's the darker stories that, inevitably, hit harder than the others.

It's so easy to be aware of the people who struggle at Christmas, for whatever reason, and to make your charity donation or give a gift, but I do think reading these accounts are worthwhile as you very rarely actually hear from those people directly. They're often spoken for by those helping them and so, if nothing else, I think it's worth reading this short collection of stories to listen to their voices directly.

And the fun celebrity stories are there to lift your spirits, give you that dose of Christmas nostalgia that everyone (regardless of their age appears to have) and make sure you experience the full range of emotions that Christmas so often brings.

It’s a very strange feeling these days to open a book and not even have an inkling of what you’re getting. Such was my feeling upon opening Last Christmas, a collection of personal essays on Christmas curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson.

I had thought that, since the book tied in somewhat to the excellent Christmas film which I watched and liked, it would be more about the film. It does not at all tie in with the film, but it is definitely worth sticking with.

The personal essays in this book tell of Christmasses past and have been written by some famous names, but there are also several pieces which have been submitted by people who have been homeless and have benefitted from the work of Crisis, from refugees who have found a home in this country and I would argue that these are the pieces that resonate most.

All of the pieces though are personal and will strike a chord with many people, whether your experience of Christmas is happy, stressful or that it’s best to be ignored. Not all of these stories are happy, cherished childhood memories – and the book is the better for it.

Whatever your personal experience of Christmas, you’ll find something in this book to identify with and the care with which it has been out together is clear.

Although it’s not the movie companion piece that I expected (which I would still like to read by the way…) I’m pleased I read it – I saved it especially for this time of year!

Last Christmas is published by Quercus.

Dame Emma Thompson DBE and Greg Wise need no introduction, and I don’t really need to link you to their work, but please do consider buying this book, as all proceeds go towards Crisis and The Refugee Council. Their work is important all year round, but especially so at this time of year…

I was disappointed in my kindle copy of this book. Although at the beginning of the book the contributors were mentioned, the short stories/chapters themselves were not attributed to the person that wrote them. This made the stories difficult to fully understand in context, and frankly some stories were a bit dull and I skimmed them.

Some of the chapters were amusing, some sad, some religious, some traditional, so a nice mix but I was hoping and expecting a bit more from this book as it had received good reviews.

Reading this in Kay isn’t as weird as you’d think. The stories still go down a test and to be honest I’d read anything Emma Thompson wrote. This is such a wonderful collection with lots of heart and love.

This is a gorgeous, festive book! It's a perfect treat for a cold day and a great tie in to the film of the same name.

Oh my, I absolutely loved this book and actually gave away 4 copies myself as Christmas presents! Would recommend time and time again!

An eclectic mix of writings from a range of modern voices, based around the festive period. Perfect for curling up by the fire and cracking open a box of chocolates.


Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Lovely little collection of short stories. If you enjoyed the film you will love this. I read this on the train home for Christmas and it really put me in the mood for the festivities.

A real mixed bag of stories from people all around the world and their views on Christmas. I also have this book in hardback and it’s clear there who wrote each story. The Netgalley version didn’t say, so as you’re reading them, you have no clue who wrote it. Emilia Clarke’s story really stood out for me, before knowing it was hers.

The essays surrounding Christmas in this book are so inspirational and diverse. You really get a feel for the different emotions people feel at this time of the year, those being both negative and positive. Amazing idea to put this book together and executed wonderfully!

Nostalgic Musings....
A delightful Christmastime read. Nostalgic festive musings from a collection of famous faces celebrating and considering all things seasonal and festive - past, present and future. Ideal to dip into as the mood takes.

A perfect Christmas read.
A collection of essays from a wide range of famous faces. The selection of writers is varied allowing for a diverse range of essays with different tones and takes on Christmas. I found it lovely reading about what Christmas meant to each of the contributors and each found different ways to make me feel festive.
It’s so easy to dip in and out of these stories making it the perfect book to squeeze into the busy festive period.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy – it really put me in the Christmas spirit

Merry Christmas to one and all!

The premise of this one sounded like real Cheese on Toast but it unexpectedly won me over. Emma Thompson and Greg Wise were approached by Quercus to publish a book as a companion piece to their recent film Last Christmas, with the intention of raising money for Crisis. The book captures the huge variety in how we experience Christmas with fifty personal essays, mostly from celebrities who are presumably personal friends of Thompson and Wise themselves. Last Christmas is a collection of musings on Christmases past and on what we might hope for our festivities in the future. While this could have descended into a complete luvvie-fest, the two of them have managed to gather up a reasonable mix of voices so this is avoided. Just about. 

If I'm honest, thinking about the 'true meaning of Christmas' is not really my thing. In fact if the subject ever comes up on the festive scheduling, I tend to turn off. Like most people, I grew up adoring Christmas and have slowly gone off it over time. Something about the crass commercialisation and generation of waste makes it hard to see the 'magic'. It's not that I dislike it, it's just that putting so much pressure on a single day does rather guarantee disappointment. However, reading the reminiscences of past Christmases prompted some reflections of my own.

Christmas for me used to mean piling into a plane to Northern Ireland, usually on my actual birthday (three days before the Big Day). The plane would usually be delayed and we would potter round the very small airport and if I was lucky, I would get a new Ladybird book. The flight would be too short for me to take my tray table down so I didn't get to play with whatever my birthday present was. But then - thank goodness - we would arrive! Getting to see my grandparents was always a massive festive highlight and in the very early years, their Labrador was another huge draw. They also had an actual chimney as opposed to the gas fire that we had at home and I was always more sanguine about Father Christmas being able to squeeze down there. I remember setting up Santa's snack in a state of high excitement and then sneaking down in the morning before anyone else in the house had woken up. Memories blur but the year of my Sylvanian windmill was a real stand-out occasion. As was the time I got up so early that I had to read my new Asterix book in the dark, then I went back to bed, slept, got up and still nobody else was awake. My point is that although it has been over twenty years since I had a Northern Irish Noel, it is still what springs to mind when I think of  Christmas.


Best image I could find online of the advent calendar I grew up with - it's much more beautiful in real life
Love it or loathe it, Christmas is important to us all. Where the other people's experiences in Last Christmas had points of convergence with my own, it really resonated. One man mentioned how he had never really taken to chocolate advent calendars but always preferred the ones with the pictures. A chocolate advent calendar looks steadily tattier and tattier as December goes on while a picture one becomes only more glorious. There was one that we used to get out every year that featured a Victorian street scene - I really hope that I can track it down again one day. This year I was given a wonderful Harry Potter Lego advent calendar which has been terrific fun because again, it has been lovely to construct something in the build up to Christmas. A very dear friend also made us an advent calendar and I am so excited about making this a family tradition in the future; it is beautiful in a way that a chocolate advent calendar never is. Basically, I've enjoyed the three or four chocolate calendars that I have had over the course of my life but I've never felt the loss without one. There are no surprises with chocolate.

Funnily enough, my all-time favourite advent tradition used to be reading A Christmas Carol across December. My mother and I read it each year from when I was eight. She dropped out about seven years later when she remarried but I have kept it going give or take. It's odd because Dickens' view of Christmas embodies a lot of what I hate most about the season - the idea of being nice to people for only one month of the year, putting a lot of pressure on a single day itself, the glorification of Charles Dickens etc., etc. Still, I love so many other things about it - the humour, the quirks of the characters and that core message of get off your arse and have some sodding humanity. Reading the stories in Last Christmas from Crisis volunteers and also those who had used the service only served to underline the point that A Christmas Carol still has a lot to teach us. On Christmas morning, Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted in praise of the birth of our Saviour Lord. This is the same Jacob Rees-Mogg who finds the increasing use of food banks 'uplifting'. Hmm.


(c)  Vecteezy
Like any book, Last Christmas has its stand-out moments. I was particularly caught by Victoria Coren Mitchell's reference to how when a Christmas goes wrong, there's nothing you can do. You can't 'go again'. You 'just have to wait a year and hope it's different'. Like most people, I've had a few iffy 25th of Decembers. There was a reason the Northern Irish Christmases stopped - the season of life turned and it was time to change with it. A now sadly passed elderly relative and I once joked together grimly that she and I had developed our own tradition of single-mindedly watching television to try our best to ignore family tension. Around five years ago, I recognised that the season had changed once more. 2016 was a revelation - I remember it so fondly. I woke up with my partner and our first words of the day were to whisper Merry Christmas to each other. The meal passed off without a hitch and without tears. I knitted and played with my colouring books and in the afternoon, we all got back into our pyjamas and watched Harry Potter films back to back.

Our festive season has changed again with the arrival of the Astronaut in 2018. Reading Last Christmas made me think about what I want Christmas to be for him. His first Christmas passed without him noticing thing. This year was different. He did not understand, he was out of routine and he found a lot of it over-whelming. There was also just so much stuff. It was magical to see him playing with his cousins but then he also clung to me and cried if I left the room. I loved how one of the Last Christmas authors described his wish that his daughter experience 'the dancing lunacy of Christmas joy, the comfort, the giddiness'. I want that for my child too. But I will definitely be reflecting more carefully in the future about how to help him get through a week that can be over-stimulating even for adults.

A good Christmas leaves you feeling loved, recharged and full of excitement for the coming year. It's so easy to be cynical about the optimism of a day when we are all supposed to gather together and show kindness to our fellow man, but it's such a beautiful idea. Last Christmas reflected that the seasonal festivities can offer a light even for people experiencing the darkest of times, no matter your creed or belief. This year, I have been feeling incredibly grateful for my own good fortune in my beautiful family and wonderful friends. I feel very lucky to be so surrounded by love. When I think though about my best Christmases, they all have one thing in common. Connection. Spending time with those you love. When I look to the future, I think that my best way forward for Christmases are to keep it small. Minimal fuss. If you have a choice between making it yourself or using a packet, use the packet. If you have comfy pants, wear them. If there's a vintage film on television, watch it. And if you have a baby in your life - don't be afraid to just throw the day out the window and do whatever you need to do.

I don't think I'll be rushing out to watch Last Christmas the film in a particular hurry. I've discovered the rather literal way in which they've interpreted Wham's lyrics and it doesn't sound like something I'd enjoy. But Last Christmas the book was a definite hit for me. In sharing stories from people who could come through terrible adversity and still feel grateful for Christmas, I felt that I could have a more rounded appreciation for what the season offers. It also reminded me that for all that the book captured the experiences of a diverse range of people, in the words of Jo Cox, we do all have more in common than that which divides us - not a bad thing to remember for over Christmas. Basically - Crisis does some extremely important work and buying this book would help them out a bit. It's well worth a look. We may be a little too late for Christmas stocking-fillers this year, but do buy it in for the next time it rolls around.

Well I managed to fit in an actual Christmas titled book over the festive period and this one was great. Stories shared by famous names and others from different places. Not all are sweet and happy, but those that aren’t will make you glad you’re safe and warm this Xmas.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

In my opinion it was the perfect book for reading over Christmas. Filled with short essays, each a few pages long it was so easy to pick up and read a couple every time I had a spare 10 minutes!

It is a collection of essays based around Christmas memories and hopes for the future. Some written by well known names such as Meryl Streep, Stephen Fry and Olivia Coleman, some written by homeless people, refugees and Crisis volunteers. I found them all absolutely fascinating.

It was so interesting to hear about the hard work that goes into volunteering with Crisis during Christmas time, how these people take so much of their own time and dedicate it to making someone's else's Christmas so much better. The refugees stories about having to celebrate Christmas in a completely different way, sometimes on their own without any family members at all, were heartbreaking.

But this book isn't all doom and gloom. It's really heartwarming and uplifting and the overwhelming message is that it doesn't matter what's under the tree it matters who's around it which I 100% agree with!

A wonderfully eclectic collection of Christmas tales, observations and reminiscences curated by Emma Thompson and Greg Wise. All proceeds go to charity too! "Last Christmas" is the perfect read for the festive season.

I loved this book. Just as much as i loved the film and i loved the film ALOT. Such a gorgeous storyline and so befitting of Christmastime.