At Mostly Books I was introduced to Alison Barrow of Transworld Publishing, a division of Penguin with a lot of new exciting books. She is seen here with Nicki Thornton, the co-owner of Mostly Books, who won this year’s Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition, and will soon have the book published.

In the window of Abingdon’s other independent bookshop, the Bookstore, the polar bears are back on show. I am still dreaming of a White Christmas despite the tabloids saying “White Christmas hopes dashed as Britain braces to be hit by three storms.”

Most of our Christmas shopping is now done. Shopping in Abingdon is easier, and on a more human scale. The crowds and queues in Oxford can make my head spin.