Gift Ideas for Readers

Wondering what to put on your Christmas list?  Check out some possibilities below!

Let’s start with the monthly posts from Epic Reads and the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog of the most anticipated books hitting shelves in the next month.  Not all of these will actually be out before the big day, but if you aren’t aware, books do sometime actually show up in stores before their supposed publication date.  The Epic Reads list reveals that a few series will reach their conclusion this month.   These include James Frey’s Endgame series, Ally Carter’s Embassy Row books, and the Zodiac series from Romina Russell.  Of the other books, the one the jumps out at me the most is Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill, a fantasy story of the daughter of a bounty hunter who sets out to find her father’s killer.  Barnes & Noble lists many of the same books, but their list does have a few unique selections, such as Erica Chapman’s story of a suicidal girl, Teach Me to Forget, and the second book in the Lock & Mori series by Heather Petty.  This series focuses on a teen Sherlock Holmes and… not Watson, but Moriarty. 

The B&N Teen Blog also presented a list of their top YA books for the year.  The list includes some obvious picks, such as the conclusions of The Raven Boys and the Six of Crows series.  But there are also quite a few lesser known picks, including Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung, which has joined the list of books I’d like to take a look at but which has failed to show up at a nearby store or library.  The blog also recently offered a selection of top books picked out by actual teenagers, as opposed to typical critics.  This list includes yet another book I’m interested in but haven’t had a chance to get my hands on, When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore.  The list also includes the latest book in the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab, also known as Victoria Schwab.  I was a bit disappointed by Schwab’s much-praised This Savage Song, finding the characters difficult to connect with, but then I really enjoyed The Archived and its sequel The Unbound, so this series has definitely made its way onto my TBR.

Penguin Teen doesn’t provide these monthly lists, but the site did offer up fifteen YA suggestions for the Game of Thrones fan.  A number of well-known authors get mentioned her, such as Marie Lu and Kristen Cashore.  Lesser known options on the list include steampunk The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer and Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher, the story of a magic mirror, and three people who have three very different reasons for seeking it.

Finally, Buzzfeed presented a list of the best 19 YA books for the year.  Once again there are some fairly obvious picks, such as the latest from Cassandra Claire, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo.  Other picks include the school shooting tale this is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp, and Girls Like Me by Lola Stuil, the story of a bullied girl who both longs for and fears meeting her online friend in person.