I’m taking a break from the usual schedule today as there’s one week to go before Christmas and I thought it was time to recommend some books for your last minute gift buying. And as Him Indoors has been grousing at me this week that he couldn’t get any of the books I wanted in store when he went in to Waterstones, I’ve tried to keep it simple and easy for you and stick to stuff that should be easily available.
I’m going to start with Murdle, because I can think of several people in my life who would like it. It’s a book of murder mystery puzzles – there’s a hundred in it and there’s also a second book of even more Murdles with a hundred more. If you have a puzzler in your life – and it turns out I’m turning into one (daily routine now includes a sudoku, a mini crossword, a bigger crossword and NYT’s Connections puzzle, plus their history quiz once a week) then this would be a good stocking filler for you. I’ve seen it in every bookshop I’ve been into this year.
If you’re buying for an occasional reader, who likes their TV, I know it sounds basic, but I’m going to suggest the books and authors who have been turned into the big adaptations this year. So depending on what you know they’ve watched, it could be one of Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s other books if they’ve seen Daisy Jones and the Six, because she has enough that you have options beyond the one that’s been adapted or Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry because that’s her only one so far. There’s also the fifth volume of Heartstopper which has just come out, and would be perfect for people who have been watching that on Netflix. Alice Oseman also has some tie-in titles as well as other novels if you know that you have someone you’re buying for who is into Heartstopper.
R F Kuang’s Yellowface has been the buzzy book of the autumn season – I’ve read it and I didn’t love it, but I know people who have and it’s definitely one that’s going to generate discussion and turn up at bookgroups, so if you have someone who is in a book club, that wouldn’t be a bad bet. The risk of course is that they’ve read it already, which also applies to Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow which is in paperback now – but Zevin also has other books that you get buy if you think your person has read that one. Kuang’s other books are epic historical fantasy type novels, so if you have someone who liked Yellowface but doesn’t do fantasy then you might want to try something like the new Emma Kline, The Guest. I read Kline’s The Girls and enjoyed it, but I haven’t read this (yet) because just the description makes me stressed and anxious, but has had good reviews and gets on the people who read this enjoyed that lists for Yellowface (and vice versa).
On the non-fiction front, there’s lots of memoirs out this year from celebs of various eras – so you could do the Britney Spears for people who were teenagers when she burst onto the scene, there’s another Miriam Margoyles for people who enjoy her on chat shows, there’s Patrick Stewart for the Star Trek/X-Men fans, Billy Connely for the comedy fans and 900 pages of Barbra Streisand’s long awaited memoir for those film and musical watchers that can face something that heavy – and it doesn’t have an index so you can’t even skip to the bits you’re most interested in!
There is also a crop of books written by podcasters and personalities of various kinds – so if you know what your giftee is into on that front there are plenty of options – from Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO book, through Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Tools for a Life and cookbooks galore.
Hopefully there are enough ideas here for you – if not, just go to a bookshop and have a little wander – you might be amazed what you find!
Have a great Sunday – and good luck with the final pre-Christmas stretch!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 