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Your 2014 Book-Giving Guide

Your 2014 Book-Giving Guide

Books make the perfect Christmas gift. They generally are reasonably priced, and once read they can be kept for re-reading or shared with others. And of course, you can find a book fitting for just about everyone on your Christmas list. Here are some recommendations of new books to give this holiday season since you probably have some of these sorts of people to shop for this Christmas.

For the young child who might be struggling to adjust to school:


My Teacher is a Monster (“No, I Am Not”) by Peter Brown (author of the equally delightful The Curious Garden and other picture books)

For the child that you wish would turn off their electronic device for few minutes and go outside and enjoy the wonders of nature:


Terrapin and Other Poems by Wendell Berry

For the teenager on your list, who prefers things a little on the dark side:


Neil Gaiman’s retelling of Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti

For the teenager or other graphic novel lover, who might find history more palatable in that form than in a textbook:


Boxers and Saints (Box Set) by Gene Luen Yang

For the indie-music loving hipster:


Wolf in White Van: A novel by John Darnielle (front man for The Mountain Goats)

Two books for the cosmopolitan, city-lover on your list:

A Love Letter to the City by Stephen Powers

Our House in the City: New Urban Homes and Architecture

For that person who has a deep passion for seeing God’s justice come on earth as it is in heaven:


The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires The End of Violence by Gary Haugen

For that person with a deep passion for life and all God’s glorious gifts in it:


Teach Us to Want: Longing, Ambition and the Life of Faith by Jen Pollock Michel

For that insightful person who is skeptical that the USA is a “Christian Nation”:


Our Great Big American God: A Short History of Our Ever-Growing Deity by Matthew Paul Turner

For your pastor:


Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus by John Pattison and C. Christopher Smith

A slightly subversive gift for your boss:


Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace by Nikil Saval

For the literary lover of top-notch fiction:


Lila: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson

For that literary person who has already read and adored Marilynne Robinson’s Lila:


Some Luck: A Novel by Jane Smiley

For your dad, or anyone who loves the work of John Grisham, here’s a real-life legal thriller, with an important social message:


Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

For your mom or grandma, might I suggest the Oprah-approved:


The Invention of Wings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd

For your grandpa, who just can’t understand why young folks these days move so fast and can’t pay attention:


Speed Limits: Where Time Went and Why We Have So Little Left by Mark C. Taylor

And finally, for your family, perhaps an early Christmas gift to read aloud throughout the Advent season:


Light Upon Light: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by Sarah Arthur.

Merry Christmas to you and to all the weird and wonderful folks on your holiday list!

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