Lifestyle
Book Club: 10 books that make great gifts
With the festive season fast approaching, Allison Tait has your gift-giving sorted with book suggestions for every type of reader.
By Allison Tait
There are two main reasons that books make great gifts.
1. There is a book to suit for everyone
2. They’re easy to wrap
Of course, choosing just the right book from the millions of titles out there is never easy. So Citro has done the hard yards for you, creating a list of recently published book gifts for every adult reader in your life. Whether you need a gift for a Christmas lunch with the girls or something to give that uncle you only see once a year, we’ve put together some safe choices – and even some alternatives for the voracious readers.
The safe bet
Gravity Let Me Go by Trent Dalton
Dalton’s first novel Boy Swallows Universe recently took out the number one spot on Radio National’s Top100 Books so if you’re looking for a safe bet this festive season, his fourth novel Gravity Let Me Go is it.
This is the story of Noah Cork, who has just published a true-crime book about a cold-blooded killer, but feels his life is falling apart around him. The author’s accessible, engaging style, honed through years working on newspapers, and the name recognition factor means you’re bound to get an ‘oh, I’ve heard of this one’ at the very least!
For crime lovers
Last One Out by Jane Harper
A new Jane Harper novel is always cause for celebration among fans of crime novels. Five years ago, Ro Crowley waited for her son to come home to celebrate his 21st birthday. But Sam never arrived and the only clue to his final movements are his footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses. One set in. One set out. Now Ro has returned to the dying town of Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam’s disappearance – and is looking for answers.
Think your crime fan might already have this one? Try Garry Disher’s Paul Hirsch series – book 5 Mischance Creek was recently published, but it’s worth beginning with book one Bitter Wash Road.
For literature lovers
‘Super-Frog Saves Tokyo’ by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami is an award-winning Japanese novelist, short story writer and translator, who has been described as a ‘master storyteller ‘. Now his classic short story Super-Frog Saves Tokyo has been released in a collectible, hard-back, lavishly illustrated edition, perfect for gift giving!
For music lovers
‘Average At Best: Pub Choir’ by Astrid Jorgensen
This funny and deeply honest memoir captures all of the joy and inspiration that Astrid Jorgensen has brought to the world through Pub Choir, which began out of a desire to get complete strangers to sing together with embarrassment – and became a global phenomenon. From almost becoming a nun to rubbing shoulders with celebrities, this is an account of, as Astrid puts it, embracing mediocrity and seeing where it takes you. For anyone who sings in the shower (and isn’t that all of us?).
For cooks
‘Kitchen Keepers’ by Katrina Meynink
This is the perfect gift for that friend who has a library of glossy cookbooks on their shelves collecting dust because, really, who has time for dinner parties anymore? Meynik, author of four cookbooks and a regular Good Food columnist (SMH/The Age), has put together a collection of recipes that are not time- or cost-prohibitive. She calls them ‘real life recipes to make on repeat’: clear, uncomplicated food that tastes great and calls out to made again and again. You could even pull them out for a dinner party if you wanted to!
For fantasy lovers
‘A Forbidden Alchemy’ by Stacey McEwan
‘Romantasy’ is all the rage and Stacey McEwan hits all the high notes in A Forbidden Alchemy, the first book in her new Artisan series. Nina and Patrick are our fated pair, who stumble upon a world-changing secret and catapulted into a violent class war, finding each other amidst love, loss and devastating betrayals.
Australian BookTok star McEwan told Good Reading Magazine that the dystopian world of Belavere Trench was sparked by ‘any number of recent world events’, but has created her own gritty, rebellious world full of magic and plot twists.
For history lovers
‘The Secret Year of Zara Holt’ by Kimberley Freeman
Taking as her inspiration the life of Zara Dickins, probably best known for her second marriage to Harold Holt, prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his disappearance in 1967, Kimberley Freeman has imagined a fictional tale that unfolds between 1927 and 1968. Zara first met ‘Harry’ as teenagers and their attraction endures through Zara’s first marriage to English soldier James Fell – they were amicably divorced in 1946 and she and Holt were married the same year.
More than a love story, however, The Secret Year of Zara Holt also explores the challenges faced by Zara and her best friend Betty as they established their own fashion business, and how Zara steps out of Holts’ shadow. Knowing how it ends doesn’t spoil this well-researched and well-written journey.
For thrillseekers
‘The Forsaken’ by Matt Rogers
If pace, action and thrills are the order of the day, this first book in a new series delivers in spades. For ten years, Logan Booth served as a contract killer for the CIA – he just never knew it. In the twilight of his career, he discovers that, rather than being a rogue hitman for a band of vigilantes, he has, in fact, been furthering government interests – and he’s devastated by the revelation. But when his oldest friend is brutally and inexplicably murdered, he gets angry instead.
For ‘light read’ lovers
‘The Funeral Crashers’ by Joanna Nell
Australian author Joanna Nell has carved out a space for herself as the author of clever, heartwarming stories about older people rediscovering the joy of living. And her latest novel is no exception. Described as ‘a story of four or more funerals – and at least one wedding’, The Funeral Crashers is about retired academic Martin Pottinger, who is trying to manage his elderly mother, and recently bereaved Grace Cavendish, who spends her days at All Souls Church, trying to give funeral recipients a hearty send off. When Martin and Grace meet at an All Souls service, they unwittingly set off a chain of events with far-reaching consequences. Life affirming and uplifting.
For true crime lovers
‘The First Murderer I Ever Met’ by Mark Dapin
Citro contributor Mark Dapin is an acclaimed journalist, author, screenwriter and historian, who has been dabbling in murders – both fictional and as a reporter – for many years. Or, as he describes it, ‘hanging out with crooks, and both types of cop for more than thirty years’. As he reveals in this entertaining book, he was still in school when he met his first murderer – a boy called Ian.
When newspapers later reported the murder that Ian committed, they reported that ‘it shocked even those who knew him best’, but Dapin was not shocked, because he knew Ian in real life. While criminals are often sensationalised in the press and mythologised in their own stories, Dapin digs deep to search for the real characters and events. If you know someone who might have wondered how many of Chopper Read’s stories were actually true, or what it’s like to be at home with Gary Jubelin, this is the book for them.
Allison Tait is a bestselling author, dedicated reader and co-founder of the Your Own Next Read and Your Kids Next Read Facebook groups. Find her on Instagram.
All book images sourced from Amazon, used with permission. Citro may receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using the links in this article.
Feature image: Citro
Tell us in the comments: What’s the best book you’ve ever given or received as a gift?
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