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2020 Best Books to Gift this Holiday Season

The holidays are upon us and I know many of us get a lot of joy from giving gifts to those we love! Well lucky for you, a book can be the perfect gift. Maybe you personally loved it and want to share the love. Maybe you know they would love to unwind and escape reality with a good book. See below for some book recommendations for everyone on your list this holiday season. I've tried to include mostly books published in 2020, but a few older releases snuck in there too!

 

For the Hopeless Romantic


Dubbed many people's book of the year, gift The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab to the hopeless romantic in your life. Addie is destined to live forever but forgotten by everyone she meets. That is until one day...


In Rebecca Serle's In Five Years, Dannie goes to bed the night after accepting her boyfriend's marriage proposal, only to wake up five years later next to a very different man. An unforgettable love story brimming with joy and heartbreak.


For the Conversation Starter


Give the gift of discussion and conversation with these relevant books. For fans of social commentaries, try Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid or The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Both are eye-opening novels that examine the experience of being Black in America today.


For a feminist touch, gift The Boys' Club by Erica Katz or Know My Name by Chanel Miller. The Boys' Club, already optioned for Netflix, examines sex, power and money in corporate America. Know My Name is the powerful memoir from America's Emily Doe in the Stanford sexual assault case.

For the Entrepreneur


How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs by Guy Raz, based on the highly acclaimed NPR podcast, is the companion book filled with stories and tips for anyone who has dreamt of building their own business. Mike and I listen to this podcast a lot, so I bought the book for his birthday earlier this month!

If your entrepreneur isn't a reader, then maybe send a few of these older releases their way too: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, the 2018 book about the Theranos scandal that shook the medical industry, and The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers, a narrative non-fiction about a young Yemeni American bellhop who dreamt of bringing Yemeni coffee to San Francisco. The hardcover makes a gorgeous gift if they're the type of person who loves coffee table books or displaying trinkets on their shelves!


For your Mom who only reads Nicholas Sparks


If you're my age, then maybe you grew up seeing your mom read Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult books. Are they still stuck in that trend? Well, you can gift her the newest Jodi Picoult book, The Book of Two Ways, about a woman backtracking to the life she left behind after a near-death experience.


Perhaps she'd like All We Ever Wanted or The Lies that Bind by Emily Giffin, two books about the never-ending search for true meaning in life and questioning who you really are. I also think just about any book from Reese Witherspoon's Book Club would be excellent for anyone in your life, but specifically those mom's that seem to have all the wisdom in the world.


For the Book Worm


For a book worm who loves classics and mysteries, try Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson, a thriller that references some of the genre's most unsolvable book murders! Think Strangers on a Train or Agatha Christie novels.


For fans of timeless stories and literary fiction, try A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne, which follows a narrator over 2,000 years.


For a book worm who likes to be immersed in a book, try The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, a puzzling novel set in a magical underground library. The hardcover makes a gorgeous gift as well!


For the Inspiration Seeker


Untamed by Glennon Doyle provides a dramatic memoir on living your life and untaming yourself from the way you were raised. Another book that has a gorgeous looking cover - great for gifts.


Therapist Catherine Gildiner recalls five tales of her most heroic and memorable patients in her narrative, Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery. All patients in the book were specifically chosen for their inspiring endings.


For your Teenage Niece who is always on her phone


Gift the teenager in your life the double trouble series of American Royals (#1) and Majesty (#2) by Katharine McGee. Set the scene: What if America had a royal family? It's 2019 and Princess Beatrice of America just turned 21, and is preparing for her life as future Queen. But we can't forget about her younger sister, Samantha, and of course, boys. This book series is just two books and are fun and dramatic as any teenager's life would be. Warning: don't read the summary of Majesty unless you want to spoil yourself for American Royals!


For the History Buff


Travel back to year 1634 in The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton. The world's greatest detective is aboard an East India trade ship en route to Amsterdam in order to be executed for a crime he may or may not have committed.


For the Russian history buff, gift A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles if they haven't already read it! Set against 1922, a count is sentenced to house arrest in a grand hotel across from the Kremlin.


World War II is one of the most common historical fiction topics, but this history buff probably hasn't read The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross. It's about a remote Jewish town in Poland that gets spared from the Holocaust that comes crashing into the 21st century.


For your Gossip Girl Obsessed Friend

For fans of glitz and glam and lives they've never lived, try Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar (the author of the Gossip Girl series), a grown up, juicy version of the books and show we know and love.


How about Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan (the author of the Crazy Rich Asians series)? A complicated love story set on the gorgeous isle of Capri and dazzling New York City.


For the Friend who claims they don't read

We all have that one friend who says they don't like reading or don't have time for to read. Change that by gifting one of these quick and charming page turners.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is an entertaining story about idiots: failed bank robbers and the worst hostages ever.


For anyone who grew up going to the mall to hang out in, give the gift of nostalgia when you gift The Mall by Megan McCafferty, a coming-of-age story set entirely in a mall in 1991.


The Guest List by Lucy Foley is a classic, big-fancy-wedding, ensemble-cast, whodunnit. Gift this to a fan of Big Little Lies.


Know someone who could totally use a cozy Christmas read and loves Hallmark Christmas movies? In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren is the perfect holiday rom-com to gift this year!

 

Still at a loss? Gift a subscription to Book of the Month!


Book of the Month is a monthly subscription that lets the subscriber choose one new, shiny, hardcover book every month to get shipped straight to their doorstep. This is a great option for the readers in your life if you aren't sure what kinds of books they like! Check out this post for a guide to Book of the Month!


If you'd like to try Book of the Month, you can get your first month for $5 with my discount code, and I'd get a discount off of my next box too!

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