It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and many other winter celebrations are upon us. Trees will soon be put up, lights strung across towns, menorahs set out, and families gathered together. This also means those presents you’ve been meaning to order are sold out. Cue screaming and kicking.
It’s easy to want to pull out all the tricks to give your grandma, your dad, or your brother’s super hot best friend, who may or may not be the actual love of your life, the perfect gift. But sometimes it is hard to do so. Time, overthinking, doubt, and in some cases laziness, lead you to get them a ratty old pair of socks.
Lucky for you, you’ve come to the right place. With the help of myself and expedited shipping (truly one of the top innovations of this era), you won’t be diagnosing yourself with a crippling case of unpreparedness this festive season. Say goodbye to the embarrassing moment when your brother asks what you got mom for Christmas and the answer is nothing. Or the urge to order everyone on your list the same t-shirt they got last year. I have the exact subsidy in mind to give for every holiday this winter: a book.
As of now, you may be doubting, and I must say I understand. I mean, who reads in this day and age? Am I right? But trust me on this one: a good book can change someone’s life in a second. A word, a sentence, or a page is all it takes to catapult someone into a different time period, world, or place that they’ve never been before. Books can inspire creativity, learning, and joy. A book is truly magic.
Plus, a little birdie told me your friends, family, or significant other (real or imaginary) keep saying they always want to read more. Might as well contribute to their long-strung goal.
But you can’t just get them any old book, no, no, no. You have the job as a friend, sibling, child, or grandchild to get them THE book that will change their lives forever. One they will talk about and recommend for years to come.
FANTASY
Starting off, calling all fantasy lovers! Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the thrilling tale of Violet Sorrengail, who has grown up knowing she wouldn’t amount to much. A quiet life, full of solitude, books, education, and little else, is what she has yearned for. She aims to stay invisible, minimally noticed among her peers at Basgiath College in the mystical land of Navarre. All Violet wants is to fade into the background of history.
Unfortunately, her mother is a well-known general, so Violet’s life could not be farther away from the one she truly wants. Violet is especially and quite suddenly rocked when she is forced to train to become one of the elite in her world, a dragon rider.
There is no shortage of all things dragon, magic, and romance in Fourth Wing. The trio of any good fantasy book, obviously. Yarros’s first book in the predicted series of five is a perfect addition to any magical fantastical story lover’s shelf or any loved one who is a beginner reader of the genre. Be sure to pair this bad boy with the new Iron Flame for the ultimate package. You won’t be sorry.
ROMANCE
This one is for my friends who live for the single dad romance troupe, want yet another book boyfriend we all wish were real, and are mildly (scratch that; incredibly) obsessed with Christmas. Annie Ellis’s Inn Love for Christmas is a cozy romance set in the frosty mountains of Sugar Creek, Vermont, where Lucy Sweet attempts to find true love following her ex-boyfriend, Erik, to his family reunion. After being left once again, Lucy is forced to fend for herself in the quaint East Coast ski town. Desperate and lost, she finds herself at the Sugar Creek Inn, and something unexpected along the way.
Torin is a single dad reminiscing over the last two years without his wife. With a four-year-old daughter and now his parents struggling inn to take care of, there’s a lot on his plate, and absolutely no chance of romance, until one fateful night, when Lucy (quite literally) falls into his arms.
There’s also lots of mistletoe, Scandinavian men, and a toe-curling kiss that changes everything. Your friends and family won’t want to return to reality after finishing this one. In fact, you might need to pick up an extra copy.
The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer is another honorable mention for the hopeless romantic (I know it’s secretly you). Rachel Rubenstien-Goldblatt has a secret she can never tell her Jewish family. She loves Christmas and writes romance novels exclusively about the holiday.
Encouraged by her publisher to write a Hanakuh romance, Rachel decides to attend the Matzah Ball to gain inspiration and hopefully find her own match. Until she comes face to face with her old nemesis, Jacob Greenberg.
Rachel can’t seem to stay too far from her old summer camp bully, but they can’t seem to get enough of each other over time. Maybe Hanukkah is what she needed after all.
THRILLER
Who doesn’t love a shady law firm story? A new John Grisham novel, The Exchange, has been released just in time for you to snag one for the mystery lover in your life. A sequel to the infamous The Firm, The Exchange continues to follow the story of lawyer Mitch McDeere and his wife, Abby. Years after narrowly escaping a death sentence at a law firm in Memphis, Mitch is a successful partner at the largest law firm in the world in New York. His life in Manhattan is like heaven compared to his early days as an attorney at the Firm in Tennessee.
Until the call. And he finds himself in danger, all over again. Dun, dun, dun!
Happy holidays and happy reading!
