There’s nothing more rewarding than finding the perfect gift — to make a friend or relative happy, that’s the ultimate reward. But, and we all have to admit it, there are people who are difficult to buy gifts for. Happily, luckily, a book is always a perfect gift. The key is figuring out which book.
For years I have given A Hole is to Dig to little kids, and the Edward Eager mysteries to middle schoolers. (Smart kids collaborating to come up with solutions to problems, and when some magic is included, that’s even better.) Glorious coffee-table books with pictures of the Beatles or gardens or wine, always great. Pogo. Cookbooks! Cannot go wrong with cookbooks. For people who cook, at least. (Or should.) But how to give the gift of fiction?
The best book you have read — or at least a favorite — that is always welcome. If on a Winters Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. And Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale. And Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim. Think of the books you love — those are always perfect gifts.
But if you want to present someone the present of a good brand new book? That may be harder. Here are some possible solutions.
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Midnight-Ride.jpg
Does someone love true crime, Boston history and wildly thought-provoking possibilities? Ben Mezrich’s upcoming The Midnight Ride combines a true-life heist at the Gardner Museum with the history of Boston everyone thinks they know. It’s fun and fast-paced and a real treat to read. Combine this with a William Martin book and a Dan Brown book and the recipient will be thrilled.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/A-Line-to-Kill.jpeg
Does your recipient like crossword puzzles? Word games? Are they the commander in the battle of wits at your holiday table? Give them A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz and they’ll be immersed for the rest of the holiday season. (Read BookTrib’s review.) Tuck in a Richard Osman (The Thursday Murder Club) and a Sulari Gentill (After She Wrote Him, or pre-order The Woman in the Library) for a package deal.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Wild-Women-and-the-Blues.jpeg
Do they love music? Offer them the jazz-filled world of Tall Poppy Denny S. Bryce’s Wild Women and the Blues, a stirring and impeccably-researched novel of Jazz Age Chicago. Preorder The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, a riveting page-turner about missing (and priceless) violin. Add Todd Purdom’s Something Wonderful. (Okay, that’s nonfiction. But terrific.)
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hello-Transcriber-362×550.jpeg
Does your recipient think they can always figure things out? Do they think they always stay one step ahead in the story? Ha. Give them Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrisey. (Read the BookTrib review.) Then add No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield, or Do I Know You? by Sarah Strohmeyer. Then, don’t expect any help with the holiday chores — they’ll be reading.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Apollo-Murders-354×550.jpeg
Are their eyes on the skies? The Apollo Murders, by former astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Chris Hadfield will rock their world. Add Project Hail Mary by The Martian author Andy Weir. (Read the BookTrib review.) And for more excitement, Rogue Asset by W.E.B. Griffin, Brian Andrews and Jeffery Wilson.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Last-Rose-of-Shanghai-366×550.jpeg
World travelers? Curious about compelling stories of people and places they never knew? Tall Poppy Writer Weina Dei Randel’s The Last Rose of Shanghai, set in during WWII, features a wealthy Chinese nightclub owner and a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi Germany — and reveals a little-known piece of history. (Read the BookTrib review.)
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Social-Graces-366×550.jpeg
Are they eager to return to — or at least hear about — the Gilded Age? (Maybe in preparation for the new TV series?) They’ll adore Renée Rosen’s The Social Graces, the story of Mrs. Astor and Alva Vanderbilt vying for control of New York society during that time: Money, ambition and very bad behavior. Add Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, too.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/One-Step-Too-Far-364×550.jpeg
And, of course, for the faint of heart, there are always gift cards! But you can make them personal by marking them for Lisa Gardner’s One Step Too Far, or Alafair Burke’s Find Me, or Kellye Garrett’s Like A Sister or The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
Here’s the bonus. Books are by far the easiest present to wrap! So get out your shiniest silver paper, or repurpose the comics from the newspaper or cut up and decorate a brown paper bag. Your recipient will know there’s book inside — and that is always a treasure.
