books as gifts | Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books I Hope Santa Brings.

Well… I don’t celebrate Christmas, so I don’t expect any visits from Santa. But, I did give some wonderful books as gifts in 2020, so I thought I’d highlight a few of my favorites as an alternative to this week’s topic.

1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: MinaLima Edition: This gorgeous book is perfect for Potter fans! MinaLima is the graphic design house that provides so many of the graphics for the HP films. This book includes full-color illustrations, plus fold-outs and little extras, as well as the full orignal text. (I gave it as a gift, but liked it so much that I bought one for myself too!)

2) Tales of Beedle the Bard illustrated by Chris Riddell: Another treat for HP fans! Chris Riddell is such a talented artist (I have his editions of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and How To Stop Time by Matt Haig). It’s a large-sized book with amazing illustrations, and was a big hit with the person I gave it to.

3) March trilogy by John Lewis: I gave this set to a graphic novel fan who also happens to be fascinated with US history. She loved it.

4) WordCloud editions of classics: I’ve given a few of these over the years, as well as buying a couple for myself. They’re such a fun and cheerful way to share classic fiction.

5) A few picks for Outlander fans — assuming they own all the books in the series already, can’t go wrong with any of these:

6) For a native San Franciscan now living far from home:

7) Birthday gifts for a friend who tends to be my bookish soulmate:

8: Gifts for an Octavia Butler fan:

Not quite 10 separate items… but when all else fails, can’t go wrong with a bookish giftcard!

What books do you love to give? Any particular books you hope to receive? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post as part of the Top Ten Tuesday blog hop, about the top 10 books I’d like to receive as gifts this holiday season (or any holiday season, or ever, really). I bemoaned the fact that no one in my family or circle of friends buys me books, for reasons too sad to get into again (but you can read my post here, if you’d like).

But really, it wasn’t entirely fair for me to make this statement, as my wonderful and amazing daughter is the exception to the rule. A brief moment of mommy bragginess: My daughter, age 22, is smart, funny, caring, and a reader; she’s the light of my life, and everything a mother could want in a daughter. We make each other laugh; we share the same taste in books, movies, TV shows… you name it.

And so, darling daughter — currently spending a year in Alaska as an Americorps volunteer — sent the family a package in time for Hanukkah, which we opened tonight after latkes were eaten, candles were lit, songs were sung. And in that package was a book for me! And guess what? It was:

A book that I didn’t already own
A book that I hadn’t already read
A book that I hadn’t even known existed
A BOOK THAT I LOVE!

Success! My girl is amazing. She got me… drumroll, please… the brand-new graphic novel of A Wrinkle In Time! A Wrinkle In Time is only one of my very favorite children’s books, and now THERE’S A GRAPHIC NOVEL! (Please excuse my excessive use of caps lock — I’m a tad overexcited at the moment).

You know when someone gives you a present, and you open it up and it’s not really something you’re all that into, but you smile and say “wow!” and “oh my god” and other inane things intended to show happiness with something you could really do without? This was not one of those times. Darling daughter picked out the perfect something — something that I’ll enjoy, something I’m excited to receive, and most important to me, something that shows that she really knows me.

I can’t wait to read my new book. I love my daughter. Basically, I’m a happy camper.

See? The way to a booklover’s heart is through her bookshelves. ‘Tis the season to give and receive good books. And, oh yeah, one more time: I love my daughter.