The Next Chapter celebrates these guests and books on the Dec.20 show:

Tom Howell gets Shelagh to indulge in Victorian poetry, Canadian-style. From the Canadian Poetry Archive they explore Isabella Valency Crawford's "The Christmas Baby" and Susannah Moodie's first Canadian poem, "The Sleigh Bells".

Then it's off to a gathering of family and friends chez cooking icon Bonnie Stern for a talk about her latest book Friday Night Dinners.

Jonathan Torrens aka JRoc on The Trailer Park Boys sends Shelagh his favourite seasonal song - Rita MacNeil's Now The Bells Ring.

Shelagh chats with Brian Francis about his book Fruit. He's another of this year's Canada Reads authors.

Eliana Cuevas sings a seasonal song from the CBC Sounds of the Season album.

And Gerry Bowler gives Shelagh the lowdown on Santa Claus: A Biography.