Books are my love language, sharing, discussing, gifting, I love to surround myself with books and to surround other people with books. But, honestly? Books aren’t always so easy to buy for others. What resonates with you might be a flop for them. And then people feel awkward when you pass along a beloved story and they don’t connect with it. For that reason, I’ve (mostly) stopped giving away novels as gifts unless I’m pretty certain of the recipient’s taste. On the other hand, books can make for a great “neutral” present. For a friend or coworker or cousin or white elephant. You can extend a certain amount of thoughtfulness, without too much risk on either side.

And so I present to you a list of books to give this holiday season, in no particular order…

End of the year lists are the best, I love keeping a record of the best things about a season, and my year-end book lists are my favorite to compile. On average, my goal is to read about 1 book a week, or roughly 50 - 55 books a year. I hit that goal in 2017, but it was a little uneven.

Mid-way through the year I became a little disappointed with what I’d been reading. It’s true that I had a small slump in the spring where I didn’t read much or read things that I didn’t love, but I kicked it up a notch and now that I look back on the whole of 2017, I can see that I read some truly phenomenal things. The types of books that when you’re finished with them, you think to yourself, “I want to read more stuff like THAT.” Not in content, but in caliber. 

Here are 10 of the best: