I am a book person. I love them. I love to read them, reread them, and see my bookshelves lined with them. I love to receive them and give them as gifts. So I thought I’d share my book wish list and the books I am giving as gifts this year. When I make my book wish list for Christmas, I focus on titles that are newer, more obscure, or more expensive—ones I am not likely to find in my usual haunts (thrift stores and secondhand shops) or purchase for myself. Once my list is complete, I drop not-so-subtle hints to my husband that he should check the Amazon cart if he needs any ideas for me for Christmas.
Hardcover books with beautiful photographs or illustrations feature heavily in my lists. Nonfiction categories include things like fashion history, archaeology/ancient history, gardening, decorating, creativity, fairy tales, writing inspiration and healthy lifestyle encouragement. I seldom purchase brand-new fiction at full price unless I’ve read it before and am sure that I will reread it again, so beloved authors generally top the list. I keep lists of titles I don’t currently have by authors I know I like so that I can be ready when scouring secondhand shops. It makes it easy to add a few of these titles to the fiction section of my booklist too.
My Holiday Book Wish List 2021
*This post contains affiliate links meaning that I may receive a commission if you purchase them using the links provided at no additional cost to you.
Mrs. Lorimer’s Quiet Summer
by Molly Clavering
Table Two
by Marjorie Wilenski
Death in Kashmir
by M.M. Kaye
Book Gift Guide - Books I'm Giving This Year
My love of books (and receiving them as gifts) spills into my gift-giving as well. These books are reflections of the personal interests and reading tastes of the special people in my life and don’t necessarily reflect a wide variety of reading genres or tastes. Interests range from birdwatching and baking to things like “goblin core” aesthetic (hence the mushrooms and spooky tales), classics, and a little light YA fairy tale retelling. For book gift ideas for the kids in your life check out my post about Children’s Classic Books. Most of the books on this list are already wrapped and under the tree, so I better make sure the recipients don’t read this post before Christmas!
Classic Book Gifts
Goblin Core Book Gifts
Nordic Tales
Illustrated by Ulla Thynell
Gothic Tales
by Elizabeth Gaskell
Mushroom Botanical Art
by Toshimitsu Fukiharu
Nonfiction Interests
YA Romance & Fairytale Retelling Stories
Fairy Tale Romance Series
by Melanie Dickerson
The Fairy Tale Romance Series has 11 total books and I’ve included the links here. They can be read as stand alone, but the stories do connect to each other. Because I’m giving the last book in the series, I thought it might be nice to share the full series. Here they are in order The Healer’s Apprentice (Sleeping Beauty retelling), The Merchant’s Daughter (Beauty & the Beast retelling), The Fairest Beauty (Snow White retelling), The Captive Maiden (Cinderella retelling), The Princess Spy (Princess & the Frog retelling), The Golden Braid (Rapunzel retelling), The Silent Songbird (Little Mermaid retelling), The Orphan’s Wish (Aladdin retelling), The Warrior Maiden (Mulan retelling), The Piper’s Pursuit (Pied Piper retelling, & The Peasant’s Dream (reverse Cinderella retelling)
There’s nothing quite like the thrill of cracking a book I’ve been looking forward to reading. Readers and book lovers know what I’m talking about–it’s pure magic. So to have a pile of books stacked up and ready is sheer luxury. I love giving that pleasure to others as much as I enjoy it myself, which is why giving books as gifts is so fun. May your reading adventures be filled with joy!
