Eric Bignell, the Editor of Natural Stone Specialist magazine, thought he would share with you his reading list for the Christmas holidays. The books were all published in the past year and are available on Amazon and through book shops. Stone Masonry (ISBN-13: 9781490960753, 160pp, £29.99, published by CreateSpace) is a compilation of the reflections of stonemason Ron O'Connor, who was born in 1938. He spent most of his life in the industry and many still in it will sympathise with much of what he has to say.

The three books in the middle of the picture on the right were compiled in association with Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley, a lettercutter who was first a student and then the wife of lettercutter David Kindersley. Eric much admires her work and her philosophy, which he says cannot be separated. Remembered Lives (ISBN-13: 9781107664487) was produced in association with David Meara, Cutting Through the Colleges (ISBN-13: 9781107003668) in association with Thomas Sherwood, and Cutting into the Workshop (ISBN-13: 9781107614680) in association with Lottie Hoare and Thomas Sherwood. They are part of series of books, all £12, published by Cambridge University Press.

The Agony and the Ecstasy - My Life as a Stonemason (ISBN: 9781483641416, price £9.99, also available as an ebook, ISBN 9781483641423, for £8.04) is John Hopkins's account of his life. He was born in Bristol in 1927 of Irish immigrants who had left Ireland to escape the potato famine. He is now retired and lives in South Africa. During his career as a stonemason in the UK he even saw a ghost come out of a wall while he was working at Gloucester Cathdral.