Books are a great Christmas present because they not only show that you have thought about the person you are giving them to but they also offer a chance for the reader to disappear into a world of their own…oh and they are super easy to wrap!
In an effort to help you out with your Christmas shopping we have clicked around the internet and found some of the most popular books being gifted this festive season.
How to be Famous by Caitlin Moran
Johanna Morrigan lives in London in 1995, at the epicentre of Britpop. She might only be nineteen, but she’s wise enough to know that everyone around her is handling fame very, very badly. Her unrequited love, John Kite, has scored an unexpected Number One album, then exploded into a Booze And Drugs Hell™ – as rockstars do. And her new best friend – the maverick feminist Suzanne Banks, of The Branks – has amazing hair, but writer’s block and a rampant pill problem. So Johanna’s decided she should become a Fame Doctor. Using her new monthly column for The Face to write about every ridiculous, surreal, amazing aspect of a million people knowing your name. But when her two-night-stand with edgy comedian Jerry Sharp goes wrong, people start to know her name for all the wrong reasons. ‘He’s a vampire. He destroys bright young girls. Also, he’s a total dick’ Suzanne warned her. But by that point, Johanna’s already had sex with him. Bad sex. Now she’s one of the girls he’s trying to destroy. He needs to be stopped. But how can one woman stop a bad, famous, powerful man?
The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
Ohh this one is going to be a hot ‘gift voucher’ book for sure…mainly because it doesn’t come out until January and secondly because it is from the super popular Minimalist Josh Becker. In this new book, Josh shows you how to methodically turn your home into a place of peace, contentment, and purposeful living. He both offers practical guidelines for simplifying our lifestyle at home and addresses underlying issues that contribute to over-accumulation in the first place. The purpose is not just to create a more inviting living space. It’s also to turn our life’s HQ, our home, into a launching pad for a more fulfilling and productive life in the world.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald by J K Rowling
At the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured in New York with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escapes custody and sets about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists Newt, his former Hogwarts student, who agrees to help once again, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world. This second original screenplay from J.K. Rowling, illustrated with stunning line art from MinaLima, expands on earlier events that helped shaped the wizarding world, with some surprising nods to the Harry Potter stories that will delight fans of both the books and films.
P is for Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar
From wacky words to peculiar pronunciations, get kids excited about language with this unconventional alphabet book from Raj Haldar (aka Lushlife) Turning the traditional idea of an alphabet book on its head, P is for Pterodactyl is perfect for anyone who has ever been stumped by silent letters or confused by absurd homophones. This whimsical, unique book takes silent letter entries like “K is for Knight” a step further with “The noble knight’s knife nicked the knave’s knee.” Lively illustrations provide context clues, and alliterative words help readers navigate text like “a bright white gnat is gnawing on my gnocchi” with ease. Everyone from early learners to grown-up grammarians will love this wacky book where “A is for Aisle” but “Y is definitely not for Why.”
The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glower
The new book from the bestselling author of Flesh Wounds. A funny and frank look at the way Australia used to be and just how far we have come. ‘It was a simpler time’. We had more fun back then’. ‘Everyone could afford a house’. There’s plenty of nostalgia right now for the Australia of the past, but what was it really like? In The Land Before Avocado, Richard Glover takes a journey to an almost unrecognisable Australia. It’s a vivid portrait of a quite peculiar land: a place that is scary and weird, dangerous and incomprehensible, and, now and then, surprisingly appealing. It’s the Australia of his childhood. The Australia of the late ’60s and early ‘70s. Let’s break the news now: they didn’t have avocado. It’s a place of funny clothing and food that was appalling, but amusingly so. It’s also the land of staggeringly awful attitudes – often enshrined in law – towards anybody who didn’t fit in. The Land Before Avocado will make you laugh and cry, be angry and inspired. And leave you wondering how bizarre things were, not so long ago. Most of all it will make you realise how far we’ve come – and how much further we can go.
Feel Free by Zadie Smith
The one and only Zadie Smith, prize-winning, bestselling author of Swing Time and White Teeth, is back with a second unmissable collection of essays. No subject is too fringe or too mainstream for the unstoppable Zadie Smith. From social media to the environment, from Jay-Z to Karl Ove Knausgaard, she has boundless curiosity and the boundless wit to match. In Feel Free, pop culture, high culture, social change and political debate all get the Zadie Smith treatment, dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of the utterly contemporary, and considered with a deep humanity and compassion. This electrifying new collection showcases its author as a true literary powerhouse, demonstrating once again her credentials as an essential voice of her generation.
Milkman by Anna Burns
Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2018: Milkman is extraordinary. In this unnamed city, to be interesting is dangerous. Middle sister, our protagonist, is busy attempting to keep her mother from discovering her maybe-boyfriend and to keep everyone in the dark about her encounter with Milkman. But when first brother-in-law sniffs out her struggle, and rumours start to swell, middle sister becomes ‘interesting’. The last thing she ever wanted to be. To be interesting is to be noticed and to be noticed is dangerous. Milkman is a tale of gossip and hearsay, silence and deliberate deafness. It is the story of inaction with enormous consequences.
Enjoy!