I decided to put my money where my values were this year and bought a lot of my family and friends books from my local Indie Bookstore, Literati. Their shipping prices have fluctuated but have stayed low and it was cheaper than a lot of the other Indie bookstores I looked at. I thought I’d share this quick guide to what I got people so you could get some ideas and see what books might be good for someone on your list!
Father In Law: This guy’s a big reader, so he gets two books! He’s a big John Grisham fan and Literati had signed copies of A Time for Mercy so that was an easy pick! I also thought he’d like Moby-Duck by Donovan Hohn which I read and loved earlier this year. My FIL likes fast-paced fiction and nonfiction with a focus on history and biography.
Mother In Law: It’s hard to buy books for my MIL because anything with strong reviews is quickly picked up and finished. I was recommended to get her The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine. This is a newer release so I’m hoping she hasn’t found time for it yet. I warned the bookseller that anything at Target with a Book Club sticker on it, she’d read. Let’s hope this is right!
Nephew (6)- My sister-in-law just flipped through the two InvestiGator books by John Patrick Green that I got for my nephew and is so excited because they look like a blast. He’s very high energy so I’m hoping he can sit still long enough to read these two!
Niece (9)- My middle niece is super creative and my husband and I are encouraging her love for graphic novels right now. We got her Stargazing by Jen Wang and this one is also sister-in-law approved. We’re on a role!
Niece (11)- This one was easy. She wanted Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald by J.K. Rowling. A girl after my own heart. Though, and I could do a separate post about this, this movie was a huge disappointment to me.
Sister-in-law: My brother’s wife always gets us books for Christmas so I figured that I’d repay the favor. We talked a lot about mystery books and I remembered reading Derek B. Miller’s Norwegian by Night a few years ago and enjoying the sequel earlier this year. It’s a bit more literary than most murder thrillers, but I thought she might enjoy the change of pace.
Brother in-law’s fiancee: I’m not sure what the right term is for this person, but I say she’s about the be another ‘married-in’ to my husband’s family. I asked my BIL what she might like, and he said she’d enjoyed Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feminist essay. I was happy to find she’d recently released another feminist work, Dear Ijeawela. That was an easy pick!
Husband’s Friend: My husband plays D&D with a friend whose birthday is around Christmas and we always get a gift for. This friend is gay and I thought he’d love V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic and its sequels. I adored this series and I couldn’t help but think of it as my husband told me about his latest D&D adventures.
I’m glad I’ve got all these books ordered or on-hand for everyone. I hope I’ve done something to help keep my Indy Bookstore in business through COVID. I want them there when I’m able to browse in person again.
Until next time, write on.
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Taking On a World of Words 