What presents are you looking forward to giving or receiving this year? That’s the question LDV posed to a group of Lib Dem bloggers. All this week we’re revealing what they told us, with link-throughs to Amazon for your shopping convenience (and ‘cos the referral fees help support LibDemVoice: so get clicking and ordering). In part one, our first trio of bloggers – Nick Thornsby, Linda Jack and Duncan Stott – give us the low-down on their Xmas faves…

Nick Thornsby

1) Arguably by Christopher Hitchens
Everything written by Hitchens (or Hitch as he’s known to his friends) is a joy to read: no lazy prose, tired cliches or meaningless utterances. It’s Hitch’s masterful command of the English language that not only makes him one of the best writers of his generation but gives him an almost unique ability to argue, debate and persuade. I just can’t wait to read what he’s going to convince me of next.

2) Boston Legal DVD box set
I recently treated myself to this as an early Christmas present. One of the wittiest, sharpest and most off-the-wall American TV shows of recent times – and remarkably under-appreciated in the UK. It’s time to rectify that.

3) Truefitt and Hill shaving set
Slightly random and a pure indulgence — but why not…?

Linda Jack

The Political Brain by Drew Westen
Number 1 on my list (with a hat-tip to Jo Hayes who told me about it), this is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in effective campaigning. It has reinforced my belief that the issues the party thinks we should whisper are the things we must SHOUT!!!!!

Duncan Stott

Barcode scanner
The first thing to cross my mind was this… At the CONNECT demo session I went to at Lib Dem conference, we were shown how data entry from canvassing sheets could be done using a barcode scanner. You can get them from Amazon for around £30. Just what every activist wants under their Christmas tree, I expect 😀