My BIL will be receiving the new autobiography of former 49ers quarterback Steve Young. My 18 y.o. son will be receiving Road to Valor about an Italian cyclist during WWII. Rogue Heroes sounds like another one my son would like. My 15 year old daughter will be receiving I Am Malala. My 12 year old son will receive the Joy Hakim Series on the Story of Science. I think there is a Dumas novel under the tree for hubby. It is hard to find good English translations of some of Dumas' lesser known works.

I picked up The Godfather Notebook for my son ~thought he'd get a kick out of it ..

I picked up EveryDayCook by Alton Brown for DH. He really likes Alton's recipes and I like to encourage his cooking!

My son is getting an old leather-bound Team of Rivals. He has mentioned he'd like to read it since it keeps coming up lately. His girlfriend loves decorating. I bought her the new Domino and Steven Gambrel.

Trevor Noah "Born a Crime" for my South African step-dad

Drew Magerty, "Someone Could get Hurt" for my brother with 2 kids under 3 years old.

Adam Mansbach, "Go the F**k to Sleep" for my other brother with a 2 year old.

Mariam Gates "Goodnight Yoga" for my 3 year old niece.

Gandhi: An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments With Truth, for my 12 year old DS - he asked for this.

Rory, I read Trevor Noah's book and loved it. It will be enjoyed!

Cattyles, I saw Trevor Noah on one of Chelsey Handler's episodes and also in an interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. He seems wise beyond his years.

Most of my recipients are gardener/birder types, so a few are getting Lab Girl because I just loved it so much, I think they will, too. A few others will be getting, "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" - well, I love it, too, and think everyone should read it!

So glad to see this thread! I have been thinking of starting one myself as I still need a few ideas.
(asterisks on the ones I have read and loved)

• Spill, Simmer, Falter, Wither by Sara Baume for my dog loving, Ireland loving bff (and I just started this one myself)

• Lab Girl* by Hope Jahren for the same bff and my nephew's fiancé

• True Faith and Allegiance by Tom Clancy -- I always get my BIL the latest Tom Clancy

• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight for my other BIL

• Blue Orchard* by Jackson Taylor for my mother

• The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee - from my niece's wish list

• Where'd you go Bernadette by Marie Semple - also from my niece's wish list

• A Gentleman in Moscow* by Amor Towles for my ex

Giving my close friend and book club buddy A Gentleman in Moscow after inhaling, I mean eagerly reading it, over the weekend. Incredibly lovely book! And at almost 500 pages it's a nice solid one that takes awhile to finish which is another bonus. I never wanted to leave the Metropole, right funkyart?! ;)

I gave my daughter, deep in the throes of her quarter life crisis, the book Designing Your Life, in hopes it will give her some good tools to use right now.

My MIL with dementia is getting a large type spiral bound New York Times crossword puzzle book; in one of those mysteries of life although she literally cannot retain a thought or memory longer than 30 seconds she continues to tear up a crossword puzzle.

For our book club gift exchange I am wrapping up this with this, hopefully it will be something fun for the ladies LOL.

I'm giving my 14-year-old nephew "March", the graphical novel trilogy by Congressman John Lewis.

For my college daughter

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

So glad to know that you all are book givers, too. I want to read A Gentleman in Moscow. I hope I can talk my book club into it, although they often shy away from anything over 350 pages. Keep the ideas coming!

My DH is buried in the Alexander Hamilton (by Chernow) book these days.

He also loved Hillbilly Elegy.

Others that I'm giving as gifts:

Lilac Girls

Lab Girl

The Sun Is Also A Star

Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death and Redemption in an American Prison (I think I have the title right?)

The Genius of Birds (for DH, who's a bird nerd)

The "Food Lover's Companion". We received our 2001 edition copy as a Christmas gift a number of years ago from our Foodie friends couple and love it. We keep it out in our kitchen and enjoy pulling it out all the time, as we chat during meals. It's referred to as "The comprehensive definitions of nearly 6,000 food, drink, and culinary terms". Anyhoo, we've raised/nurtured two foodie kids who are now adults, and this Christmas we're gifting DD and DS& Wife each with an updated copy. They will love them, I know already.

Sue.. thanks so much for naming The Genius of Birds! It is perfect for one of my recipients!

I picked up a bunch of collections at Costco-Mark Twain, Shakespear, Poe, Grimms Fairy Tales, a collection of classical horror stories (my DD2 loves those!) and another for my SIL that completely slips my mind-I think it was about feudal Japan or something. Each book was chosen for the recipient in mind. I never know what current books to get them because they all buy so many!

This was mentioned on another thread. I picked up a copy for my mother. The nice little extra is that I'll get a chance to read it next year when we visit.

I would like a recommendation for a very FUN encouraging book for a beginner reader (almost but not yet reading) and a great very beginners chapter book for her older sister (grade 2-3 level).

Robo, I can't really recall the very beginning readers, but for chapter books, try Amelia Bedelia or Ramona the Brave. The grade level can be found on the back of the books, or if shopping online, it should be listed in the description. A chapter book series all of my kids enjoyed was the Magic Tree House series. Some books are higher level than others but they do not need to be read in order. Here is a list you can look at: Magic Tree House Chapter Books

Robo, for the 2nd-3rd grader, The Boxcar Children is a classic series and Hank the Cowdog is another fun series. For a beginner reader, I would say I too am stumped. Are you looking for a book that somebody else would read to her or something for her to start soon on her own? If it is one to be read to her, Stand Back Said the Elephant, I Am Going to Sneeze is a hoot.

Thanks 4kids! I will check them out :)

tishtosh we had a good reading experience the other day where I provided structure and she sounded our some words using phonics and the illustrations and then read back the sentence with the words she provided. So I'm thinking like a collaborative reader of some sort.

robo

for beginners: Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems are great "read with me" books. The beginner reader can be one of them and an adult or more experienced reader can be the other. I had two learning to read at the same time and one would be Elephant (Gerald) one would be Piggie, and little brother would be the snake, squirrel, bird -- whatever extra character -- his brothers would tell him what to say and when.

[ETA my kids' favorite E&P books are: We are in a Book, Can I Play Too?, and I Broke My Trunk]

for grade 2-3 level: Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald (and companion series about Judy's brother James "Stink" Moody).

I just thought of a great series for beginning readers. I'm not sure I would describe it as fun, but I used this series with great success with a couple of my kids. They enjoyed using them b/c they were quite successful reading using these little books. There are many sets and go in order according to difficulty. BOB Books

For my husband Rick Steves "England" and his "London" travel books. It's a not too subtle hint.

For beginning readers, can't go wrong with "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" and also Richard Scary's books.

Robo, as a good reference for you, you might like to have Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook. It is a great reference for all age levels.

For collaborative reading, of course most Dr. Seuss is great. Sneetches and The Butter Battle were favorites around here.

As mentioned above, Stand Back Said the Elephant, I Am Going to Sneeze is fun and it has a lot of words that follow different spelling rules, so as you are reading you can explain the rule and reinforce the reading skills. Many of the words and scenarios repeat themselves so when you come it again, you can reinforce the words worked on earlier.

She may already have them, but the Madeleine books are great to read together. Madeleine and the Bad Hat and Madeleine and the Gypsies were favorites in our household.

All of the stories by Bill Peet that I have read are wonderful, but can seem a bit long when reading out loud if you have not done it in a while. Chester the Wordly Pig and The Caboose Who Got Loose are ones I have been required to read more than once. The Whingdingdilly is good, too.

This year I gave my sister Mark Vieira's book,

Into the Dark (Turner Classic Movies): The Hidden World of Film Noir, 1941-1950,

and for Mark's birthday, I gave him aKierkegaard anthology, edited by Robert Bretall, which contains the best translations. I had Mark over for brunch week-end before last to give him his late birthday present because I wanted to read part of Either/Or to him to help explain why I was giving him this book, and he wrote me a nice thank you note afterwards. My sister really liked getting Mark's book, partly because I introduced her to him at his studio in Hollywood when she came to visit me one year.

Right now I am reading the autobiography of Brenda Lee. I only recently discovered her very early (pre-teen) recordings when I saw her on MeTV on the Danny Thomas Show, during which show Danny Thomas advised her to put off her music career. Anyway, she sang Dynamite on that show, which I had not heard before and had to have. She recorded that song, along with Rock the Bop when she was 12, and they are my two favorite songs of hers - I'm not really a fan of country music, but I do like Rockabilly, which is what she recorded in the beginning. Her autobiography is really interesting and makes me like her even more. She got to meet Elvis when she was 12 and also tried to help the Beatles get a record contract in the '50's but was unsuccessful in that attempt.

I seldom read novels any more - most of what I read is non-fiction, but I do read some science-fiction. I have a collection of "UFO, CONTACT from..." books (from Wendelle C. Stevens) that I bought at UFO conventions that I used to go to, and I consider those to be some of the best science-fiction books. I used to go to the UFO conventions with my friend Jimmy to listen to the outrageous (and often funny) stories that people would tell there, but they stopped having the conventions here after the year 2000, when their predictions did not come true.

Another vote for Mo Willems books for emerging readers. My first grader loves the pigeon books and specifically requested more Mo Willems books for Christmas.

Cat in the Hat was written from a list of 1st grade sight words so it's perfect for new readers. I just read it to my daughters 1st grade class and they enjoyed it, and loved telling me about their favorite Dr Seuss books.

We've always given our kids books for Christmas, a tradition started by my MIL. Book selection was my late husband's job when our kids were younger, and I'd kind of let the tradition lapse until last year. His favorite author was Tolkien, so last year I found a copy of The Father Christmas Letters
for each child's family, and this year I've found copies of the compilation by
Tolkien's DIL, with the removable letters, for the two older
grandkids. The 12 year old mentioned he was reading The Hobbit
(e-book) this summer, so I'm hoping they will continue to appreciate his
writings and wondrous illustrations on the written page. I am saving our Tolkien collection, and will give those when
the grandkids are older.

If he reads history - right now, I am reading A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, by Ben MacIntyre. About a quarter or a third through. I'm liking this read.

Unfortunately, among my relatives, I seem to be the only book worm. Alas. Although my sister-in-law's son from her first marriage likes adventure/fantasy.

Philadelphia Chickens, Dog Train, and Blue Moo. All book/cd collections by Sandra Boynton.

The Magic School Bus Inside the Hurricane

Eloise

The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod

Love the Tolkien Christmas letters book idea! I'm going to put it on my want list for next Christmas. We're doing the "Book Advent calendar"--you can see the details on my blog. Some of the books are new to us, some are old favorites. I'll post an update with reviews of each book in January.

Just sent off a package with, among other things, The Tao of Pooh, for DGS, age 9. Even though he is deeply into computers and racing tracks, he is very tender-hearted about animals and has not given up Pooh yet. I hope that he'll be carried through the ideas of Taoism by the connecting conversations of Pooh and the gang.

Also in the package is The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, for DGS's dad. He and I have talked about this book over the years and I finally ordered it. But this edition is so complex, with gorgeous illustrations and a lengthy commentary, that I decided that it should belong to him.

robo, I would recommend

ALMOST READER:

Virginia Lee Burton's books are terrific! Katy and the Big Snow would be a perfect pick for this time of year. Or, try The Little House or Choo Choo.

VERY BEGINNING READER

Nate the Great, by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. Fun introduction to detective stories. Compelling, but very basic reading level.

The Littlest Christmas Tree, and Bruce the Moose and Lily, for best friends little grand daughters, and the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Herbs for a brother in law.