- Hope Gibbs
Last-minute Holiday Gift Ideas for the Booklover in Your Life
Can you believe that 2022 is almost over? I’m still trying to figure out where it went. I blinked, and it was gone. This year has been quite a journey for me. I watched three children graduate—two from high school and one from college. I’ve lived through a major home renovation that’s kept me covered in dust, and I became an empty nester in August. I’m amazed by how much food I used to buy. My grocery shopping habits have certainly gone through a major adjustment.
But this blog isn’t about me or my year in review. This is to give you some great last-minute holiday gift ideas for the book lover in your life.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a terrible procrastinator when it comes to holiday shopping. I always wait until the week before Christmas to start. So this weekend, I decided to get busy because I needed some book-themed gifts. Lucky for me, I hit the jackpot with these items that can be found on both Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
So, let’s start with the great stocking stuffers I grabbed!
My first big find on my last-minute shopping spree is from Novel Teas. Though I’m not a huge drinker of this particular beverage, on occasion, there’s nothing better than a big mug of it with a twist of lemon. And a whole lot of honey. This gift contains twenty-five tea bags with famous literary quotes attached to them. Like this one: "She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain."
Quick. Can you name which writer came up with this line? Comment below. I love a little trivia.
My second stocking stuffer is for the reader who doesn’t want to damage their beloved books by dog-earing the corners. This little bookmark, "I Just Want to Read My Books and Ignore All of My Adult Problems," was just under three dollars. I stumbled across it at Barnes and Noble. It’s useful and witty.
Next are two ideal stocking stuffers for coffee lovers. I don’t know about you, but I cannot function without my beloved morning brew. Or maybe it's my mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Sometimes it's my nighttime send-off. Okay, you get the picture. Coffee keeps me functioning throughout the day. Plus, it keeps my husband alive.
The first mug is from The Unemployed Philosophers Guild. It's covered with the best opening lines in literature. "Call me Ishmael." "It was a pleasure to burn." I found this gem on Amazon. Again, comment below if you know the answers.
The second is from Barnes & Noble. It features famous female authors and their books, such as Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and my all-time favorite, The Age of Innocence. Your book lover can enjoy their hot beverages while admiring these great works of literature. This mug is also quite lovely!
Finally, if you’re looking for a great way to start a conversation with your friends or family, look no further than this acrylic box—Tabletopics.com’s Book Club addition. It’s full of cards with questions that make discussing your favorite novel easy and fun. Here are some examples. "If this book were made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?" Or, "Would you change anything in the story if you were the author?"
Now that our stockings are stuffed, it’s onto the main attraction—the presents under the tree! What are the best gifts to give the bibliophile in your life? Well, books, of course.
This year, in my spare time when I wasn’t editing my first novel, writing my second, mapping out my third, creating a blog, and juggling a home, I read and reviewed almost sixty of them! With that said, I have three that I highly recommend for the season. (Click the links to expand!)
THE MATZAH BALL by Jean Meltzer
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a single woman living in New York City. She has an incredible apartment and a wildly successful writing career. However, no one knows about it because she’s the popular Christmas romance novelist, Margot Cross, with over twenty books and several movies under her belt. Her world revolves around the season. So much so, she even has a room in her apartment dedicated to it, complete with trees, Santa figurines, and a train. No one, outside her publisher, agent, and her best friend, Mickey, knows her little secret because she is the daughter of Rabbi Goldblatt. When her publisher asks her to switch gears and write a Hanukkah-inspired romance, Rachel objects. It’s Christmas that she loves, not Hanukkah. But she has no choice because Rachel suffers from a chronic disease. If she doesn’t change her writing ways, she could lose her apartment, and worse, her independence. She realizes that in order to get into the Hanukkah spirit, she needs to get into the Matzah Ball, which is the hottest ticket in NYC. The only problem is that the person who’s created this fabulous party is none other than Jacob Greenberg, her summer camp arch-enemy and the boy who broke her heart years ago.
I absolutely fell in love with this story. THE MATZAH BALL isn’t just my favorite holiday book of the season, but it’s in my top ten for my 2022 reads!
WINTER STREET by Elin Hilderbrand
If you’ve followed my blog this past year, you know I adore Elin Hilderbrand. She is my writing idol. I’ve read all of her novels set in Nantucket and "The Paradise Trilogy" (which I adore). I even went to Nantucket in September to have the Elin Hilderbrand experience. But I have a confession to make... I hadn’t read her "Winter Street" series. I thought Christmas-themed books weren’t for me. But this month, I’ve decided to only read holiday-inspired books, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but they are so much fun! Why was I so stubborn? WINTER STREET certainly packs a punch for a small book.
An Affair A compromised Santa Messy family dynamics Step-families Imperfect children Wall Street fraud Numerous love triangles A famous news anchor Holiday cheer Christmas in Nantucket If you love Elin like I do, this should be at the top of your list.
CHRISTMAS IN PEACHTREE BLUFF by Kristy Woodson Harvey
The Murphy women—Ansley, Caroline, Sloane, and Emerson—are back together, celebrating Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. Ansley is happily married, Caroline is facing a divorce and a rebellious daughter, Sloane is managing her growing family, and Emerson is contemplating a big life change. As always with this series, there are plenty of secrets, second chances at love, and complicated family dynamics. But there are also a few new twists, a pirate backstory, and a hurricane named Pearl! CHRISTMAS IN PEACHTREE BLUFF is the fourth book in the Murphy Family series, but it can stand alone. However, I strongly recommend reading them in order. As with the others (SLIGHTLY SOUTH OF SIMPLE, THE SECRET TO SOUTHERN CHARM, and THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF PARADISE), each chapter alternates between POVs, but instead of focusing on Ansley and one daughter, this time all four women and Ansley’s granddaughter tell the story. This makes for a deeper connection. Vivi’s teenage voice is a new and interesting bonus.
From my home to yours, Happy Holidays, y'all!
Until next time…