The Second Annual Holiday Gifts from Bookish Bloggers & Writers Post

Last year around this time I was curious to know what some favorite blogging & writing colleagues were recommending as gifts this season... so I asked them! and got the most marvelous answers. It was so much fun, we're back for another round. Here are this year's fabulous and unique suggestions for the book lovers on your shopping list:

I spoke (gushed, really) extensively about Archipelago by Monique Roffey (Simon & Schuster, 2012)  in my full review, earlier this year, but here’s the postcard-brief version: this novel will tell you more than you knew about islands, even if you’ve inhabited one (or several) your entire life. Roffey’s tale is an anti-Homeric epic, proof that the best stories can be told about perfectly imperfect folk. It’s a journey of one overweight, grieving, psoriasis-beset man, his precocious daughter and their family dog, as they escape the aftermath of some catastrophically bad weather. Lush with images of the Caribbean island chain, and clusters of other islands besides, the book is required reading in terms of contemporary Caribbean fiction. However, it marks more than just an islander’s pulse: this is a heart-wrenching, tempest-tossed encounter, by a novelist of talent and brave discernment. It deserves to be read as part of any holiday adventure, near the ocean or far from the shore, wherever there are new odysseys worth unearthing. Archipelago would best be suited to an unrepentant adventurer; a sailor-at-heart; the most gung-ho, life-hungry member of your familial clan; a feisty boss whose weekend shenanigans render her uninsurable; anyone wanting to be nearer to sea, sand and a ship on which to savour them. Its companion books could include Karen Russell’s Swamplandia! and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.

Shivanee N. Ramlochan is a Trinidadian book reviewer, literary blogger and arts reporter who works in several places but began at Novel Niche, where she remains, surrounded by books, coffee and imaginary cats. You can befriend and interact with Novelniche on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.

My number-one, can't-miss nonfiction gift of 2012 is The Hare With Amber Eyes: The Illustrated Edition, by Edmund de Waal (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012). This book has been a best-selling sensation for over a year now, and this gorgeous, lavishly illustrated hardbound edition should be in every gift pile this holiday season! The book is a great read about the history of a famous Jewish family, from the late nineteenth century through the present and the mountains of photographs, documents and other ephemera included in this version make it a real treat.

Marie is a librarian by training and a bookseller by trade. She blogs at The Boston Bibliophile, and you can also find her on twitter.

After being a best seller in almost 30 countries, the powers that be decided that it might be a good idea to translate The 100-Year-Old Who Climbed Out Through the Win­dow and Dis­ap­peared by Jonas Jonas­son into English (Hyperion, 2012). This wonderful story follows Allan Karlsson, an eternal optimist, who disappeared from his 100th birthday party in an old folks' home. We follow Alan through his adventures and flashbacks of his life where he accidentally rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous. A smart and funny book, reminiscent of Zelig and Forrest Gump.

Zohar is a father, husband, book blogger, software engineer & wood worker who is known the world over as a man of many interests and to his lovely wife as “an idiot.” You can find him on his blog and on twitter.

For: the romantic in your life, the one who wishes fairy tales came true, anyone who enjoys the bittersweet romance of chance encounters, people who get giddy about non-traditional book design I recommend... Theodora Goss' The Thorn and the Blossom (Quirk Books, 2012). The magic of this book is immediately evoked by the book's design: accordion-style, the book 'opens' in two ways, and the reader follows one viewpoint, then flips the book to follow the other. As I noted in my review, this design forces you to hold the book carefully, almost cradling it, which (for me) enhanced the sort of magical-artifact-found-in-my-grandmother's-attic experience. I suppose others will find it gimmick-y, but I was immediately charmed. The story, thankfully, matches the imaginative design; it has a kind of A.S. Byatt magic to it -- two academics, a medieval myth, a kiss, a misunderstanding, yearning and denial -- and I'm still caught up in the thread of the main characters, some ten months after reading this.

Audra blogs as Unabridged Chick and can also be found on twitter. Audra is a 30-something married lesbian with a thing for literary fiction and historical novels. But she's also having a pretty torrid affair with gritty noir and some paranormal/supernatural fiction. She loves interesting heroines, gorgeous prose, place as character, and the occasional werewolf.

The Lilac House (St. Martin's Griffin 2012) is a beautifully told story of regret, redemption, and revival. Meera, a comfortable housewife, has to rethink her life when her husband walks out on her and her two teenaged children. Professor J.A. Krishnamurthy (aka Jak) a cyclone studies expert has recently come back from Florida to Bangalore to take care of his catatonic 19-year old daughter, who was the victim of a tragic accident. Meera, the spurned wife, struggles to find her identity while taking care of her rather eccentric family. Jak is plagued by his daughter’s condition and is determined to find out what really happened. Meera and Jak’s lives intertwine and we find out more about them as their stories are told in alternating chapters – Meera’s story has a mythological tone while Jak’s is told in cyclonic parallels. The Lilac House tackles a lot of themes and much of it is below the surface. The wonderful thing about this story is that each reader can take away a whole different experience from it. I loved every bit of the story from the mythological tones, to the chapters on cyclones, description of life in booming Bangalore and the small seaside town and all the well-drawn, realistic characters that people it.

Pujitha Krishnan blogs at Stargazerpuj’s Book Blog; you can find her on twitter at @PujKrishnan.

My sister recently moved to Detroit. In addition to learning the true meaning of the word “cold,” she also learned what being a Michiganer means. There’s an actual hunting season! The newspaper isn’t delivered daily! There are deer in the backyard! But as a Floridian, I have my own set of distinctly Miamian idiosyncrasies that I feel top her north-eastern ones. So in order to solve our pleasant one-upmanship bickering, I will be giving her Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Knopf, 2011). I love this book not only for the fantastical story of a family owned alligator park in northern Florida and the young protagonist who is desperate to save it, but because it is so FLORIDA. The lush everglades, the theme-park world in Orlando, the palm trees and mangroves - this is the ultimate answer to my sister. Reading this book is like taking your own airboat ride through my home state. Detroit might have its peculiarities, but nothing tops Florida. And as this book proves as well, our local writers rock. Checkmate, sister! 

Adina Ciment is an English teacher by day, mother of five by night, soon-to-be famous author in between. She writes for Tailslate and has contributed to The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog. You can find Adina on her blog Writing Elves and on twitter.

Christmas comes but once a year – thank God for small favors! If you are looking for a book to give to one of the readers in your family or circle of friends, I strongly recommend All Creatures Great and Small, written in 1972 by James Herriot. Herriot is the fictional veterinarian created by James Alfred Wight and based on his own experiences as a young country vet working in the dales of Yorkshire during the years leading up to World War II. The books provide a welcome respite for those of us in need of a break from the fast pace of today’s electronic, internet-based lifestyle. They will also appeal to teenagers and anyone who loves animals. Creatures is the first in a series of three, so if you give the first book for Christmas, you’ll be covered for a birthday and one other event later in the year (providing you with more time to rest on the couch and read a good book). It’s a nice series to have, and one that I’ve re-read numerous times since I received it for Christmas over 30 years ago. 

Lisa Riley Emig is a part-time writer, three time NaNoWriMo winner, and regular contributor to the literary website LitStack. You can find her on facebook, twitter and her blog.

What bookish gifts are you giving (or hoping to receive) this holiday season? Share in the comments below, and happy reading!

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