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Dec
10
The Book Lady's (almost) Definitive Holiday Book Talk Gift Suggestion List
2008 at 9am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
I mentioned yesterday that I was going to give a book talk to some local high school teachers and librarians who wanted to hear about gift suggestions for the holidays, and I asked you, my dear readers, to help me out with some suggestions. Unfortunately, only a few of the comments were in in time for me to add things to the list, but all of them have great ideas, so see the comments on this post if you’re still looking for some gift ideas or just want to hear about new books.
I’ve read several of the kids & YA titles, all of the literary fiction and memoir titles, and about half of the nonfiction/history ones. It’s a pretty busy morning, so rather than linking to my reviews or a bookselling website, I’ll trust you all know how to use the internets if you want to learn more about any of these titles. You can also check out my book reviews page for links to the titles I have reviewed.
Children–Picture Books
Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow (comes with a CD of the song and a few other folk songs; gorgeous illustrations!)
Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow
A Very Marley Christmas by John Grogan
Children–Young Readers
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
The 39 Clues series (Books 1 and 2 of 10 are currently available)
The Way Things Work and The Way We Work by David Macaulay (perfect for the curious kid!)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke
Book of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau
Teens/Young Adults
Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer (duh!)
House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (great for Twilight fans)
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Adults–Literary Fiction
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
Love Walked In and Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
Adults–Memoir/Biography
The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan
Trespassers Will Be Baptized by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelous
Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett
Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg
Adults–Nonfiction, History, etc.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt
American Lion by John Meacham
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
Dewey by Vicki Myron
Phraseology by Barbara Ann Kipfer
This list represents some of my favorite new books of the year. They are the ones I’ve recommended to customers, clients, friends, and family, and about which many wonderful things have been said. I usually only have 20-30 minutes to give the talk, so I cannot, of course, include every book I’ve enjoyed this year. Feel free to leave comments adding your favorite suggestions to the list. I have another talk scheduled next week, and I always want to know about what you’re reading and enjoying that I might be able to share with my clients here.
Thanks!
Related posts:
The adoration of jenna fox was a great book for YA/scifi
literary fiction:
cold rock river by jl miles
mrs. lieutenant by phyllis zimbler miller
testimony by anita shreve
the house on tradd street by karen white
black flies by shannon hale
the host by stephenie meyer
the lost diary of don juan by doug abrams
nonfiction:
a soldier’s promise by daniel hendrix
fixing hell by larry james
For picture books I love Olivia and anything by Mo Williems.