(Hodder & Stoughton)

Having previously joked about doling out sexual favours in return for positive reviews at the Fringe and playing a rubbish stalker in Flight of the Conchords, Kristen Schaal’s foray into literature with a book about doing the do was never going to be a humdrum affair. Written with her bloke and Daily Show writer Rich Blomquist, The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex is a lavishly produced bedside tome of comic-erotica with nine chapters featuring titles such as ‘The Dark Side of Sex’, ‘Cupid’s Toolbox’ and ‘The Gay Chapter’.

The pair had initially planned to write the book anonymously as Schaal hadn’t wanted readers to imagine her getting up to the sordid things detailed within, but market forces ultimately determined that decision and there they are, brazenly posturing on the cover. Probably not one to have unwrapped at a family Christmas unless you have a family that is open to seeing an animated tiger dressed as a high-heeled nurse or reading about ‘The Cock Ring of Quetzalcoatl’.