Welcome to the Bookends Festive Q&A! To kick off our annual author Christmas Q&A, we asked, where do you think is the best place to curl up with a book in the winter?

Lizzie O’Hagan, author of What Are Friends For?

I don’t think there is anywhere better to snuggle up with a book than at my family home in Derbyshire. Though the setting is lovely – cosy house, open fire, mum-made baking (I swear they have some kind of special ingredient?!) – there is something about home that gives me permission to unwind. Miles away from busy London, I can leave everything behind and fully invest in my current read. I know this season might be a little different for many (do I really need to say why?) so a close second to being at home is curling up in any coffee shop or pub offering the following ingredients: one log fire, a sprinkling of acoustic festive tunes, a generous portion of squishy sofas and a (really) hearty splash of mulled wine. Hej on Bermondsey Square do a flat white and mini-mince pie combo that I take full advantage of.

Graham Norton, author of Home Stretch

I think winter reading has to include the glow of a fire, be it real, gas or a simple two bar electric.

Jo Bolouri, author of All I Want for Christmas

I love reading in front of the fire with a blanket like a big, cosy cliché.  I have one of those fake electrical fires where the bulbs break for no reason, but it still makes me stupidly happy. Failing that, I love reading in bed, although since we got a kitten, my reading time tends to be shortened by the anxiety of moving half an inch and losing a foot.