So, how’s your Christmas shopping coming?”
If you’re like me, you cringe when some energetic, well-organized friend asks you that. I don’t even have my list made out yet—let alone having the buying done. But one thing is sure, there will be lots of books on that list when I do get it completed.
Books are an easy-to-buy, surefire pleaser for all the readers on your list. So, that should be an easy choice, right?
Wrong. Choosing the right gift for a booklover can be one of the trickiest challenges of the season.
Advice
As Oliver Darkshire warns in his delightful book Once Upon a Tome: “Purchasing a book for someone isn’t like running to the shop and picking up a box of decorative soaps, or a bottle of wine. You can’t just take a stab in the dark and hope for the best. In the best-case scenario, a well-chosen book shows just how intimately you know a person, their interests, their politics…their very sense of self. In the worst case, it can show that you barely have any interest in who they are.”
That’s excellent advice. It’s always such fun to think about each person and concentrate on their activities and interests and try to match up a book title that will be just right for them.
Something New
Of course, one concern in choosing a gift for an avid reader is finding a book they haven’t already read. Fortunately, I have a new title out this month, so I have a ready offering I know my friends won’t have read yet. Going There, Tales from the Riviera and Beyond even offers a special full-color, hardback gift edition for the special someone who loves to travel, likes mystery stories, and perhaps just happens to be a Francophile.
In the summer of 2021 amidst a world-wide pandemic, my daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and I managed to slip through a narrow window of calm for a remarkable journey to France and Switzerland. And much to my surprise and delight, I discovered that characters from several of my novel series tagged along and had adventures of their own.
Going There, Tales from the Riviera and Beyond, is an account of a memorable travel experience in the real world and the fictional which will sweep you to places physical and imaginary, and like all good books, will expand your universe.
History Buffs
For those who love history I also have a special collection of Christmas short stories based on scenes from my various historical series: A Lighted Lamp, Scenes of Christmas Through Time.
In all times and in all places, it has been universal to humankind to mark the darkest days of the year with a festival striving for the coming of the light. In our own culture, many of us call our midwinter festival Christmas—that great season that celebrates not merely light, but the coming of the Light of the World.
Covering almost a thousand years of history, these scenes take the reader to: Saxon Scotland, Medieval England, Post-Regency England, Pioneer America, Depression Era America, 1970s America, and a contemporary monastery in England. Customs have changed, struggles have varied, but one constant has remained—the season has never failed to bring hope and joy.
Shared Experience
A great way to personalize your gift is to choose a title that refers to an experience you have shared with the gift’s recipient. My daughter-in-law who planned our trip to the Riviera and introduced me to the Villa Ephrussi, will be receiving The Hare with Amber Eyes a memoir by Edmund de Waal, a descendant of the Ephrussi family.
Personal Characteristics
For our son who is a perfect gentleman I bought A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
Profession
For our son who is a pastor and grandson who is preparing for seminary perhaps books on Christian service? I haven’t found the right title yet.
Hobbies
For granddaughter Felicity there are a multitude of beautiful books on flower arranging to follow up on the florist camp she attended and loved.
For the many cooks in our family I have already given The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson, so maybe something on baking this year?
So, for the booklovers on your list, start by thinking carefully about that person: What do they love? What’s going on in their life? What are their goals? What are their favorite memories? Hobbies? Problems? Can you find a book that will help them recall something you have done together? If you know their favorite author or genre try to find something similar, but that they haven’t read. And always appropriate—give them a book you love.
As one online writer said, “Books don’t make you fat, they don’t wilt, one-size-fits-all, and they are a lot more interesting than socks.” A carefully chosen book is like giving your friend a friend—now that’s a perfect gift!
