My friend is a 25-year-old writer and I’m trying to find a good book to gift her for Christmas.
Unfortunately, she has read most everything I have read as she reads far more than me.
She loves fantasy, queer fiction and things with deeper themes (less “light reading”). She will read adult fiction or the occasional YA.
Some books I know she loves: The Book Thief (Markus Zusak), Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo), American Gods (Neil Gaiman – most anything by Neil Gaiman she has read and mostly liked), the Hunger Games (though she read this a while ago when we were teens), Gemma Doyle series (Libba Bray), The Diviners (Libba Bray)
Books I know she has read but did not like: Red White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston), Song of Ice and Fire series (too sexual), Heartstopper (said it read too young and was too hesitant to have meaningful conflict between characters), Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett – she mostly liked it but found it hard to get into, which is weird because she likes most of Neil Gaiman and does really enjoy the show,) Lord of the Rings (loves the films, read the books, found Tolkien’s style very dry and rambly at times).
I’ll probably take this down within a day to avoid her seeing it XD
Thank you!
by nerd_inthecorner
18 Comments
it sounds like your friend actually likes ya more than adult fiction based on what you said here.
For Fantasy and more pedestrian maybe ‘Yumi and the Nightmare Painter?’ It’s not queer but is romance focused, only recently out and is by Brandon Sanderson. If possible you can check if she’s read any of his other stuff since he is very popular.
If you want to lean more towards the bizarre ‘House of Leaves’ could be interesting for a writer since it has multiple layers of batshit insanity in terms of its presentation.
Razorblade Tears – SA Cosby is a Southern noir novel that has racial and LGBTQ elements.
On Writing by Stephen King.
{{The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J Klune}}
Give her the set of Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers
Wonder book by Jeff Vandermeer. It’s a book on the writing process.
The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield. A mystery about two writers.
Katherine Kerr – Deverry cycle series. A mix of fantasy and life choices, definitely has some deep themes in it.
I don’t have many recommendations in the genres you highlighted, but what about a craft book for writers? I’ve listed a few below; if this sounds like something your friend might like, maybe take a look and pick the one that works best for her genre/WIP/style.
– Writing Fiction (Janet Burroway)
– A Poetry Handbook (Mary Oliver)
– Crafting the Personal Essay (Dinty W. Moore)
– You Can’t Make This Stuff Up (a guide to writing creative nonfiction) (Lee Gutkind)
– Refuse to Be Done (a guide to revising novels) (Matt Bell)
– Bird by Bird (an overall guide to writing) (Anne Lamott)
– Writing Down the Bones (an overall guide to writing) (Natalie Goldberg)
I’ve read all of these except for the book by Matt Bell, and I give them a thumbs up 🙂
EDIT: Oops, just saw your reply to another Redditor about probably not wanting writing books rn. My bad!
The Lies of Locke Lamora. It’s the first book in the Gentleman Bastards series. It’s in a similar vain to Six of Crows. Not close enough to feel like you’re reading the same thing and more adult. I read the first two years ago but I think there’s four now.
Whatever you get, make sure you get a gift receipt just in case she read it!
Reverie by Ryan La Sala, and probably his other books, I just haven’t gotten to them yet.
The murderbot diaries. Check out r/murderbot and you’ll see how awesome they are.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu
I’m going to suggest anything by Tj Klune.
Under the Whispering Door made me laugh AND cry.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/let-it-be-a-good-life-meighan-klippenstein/1144286080
Beautiful poetry book on love, loss, wonder, and grief. Dives deep into lifes layers.
I’m going to jump out of my box and recommend something different (lol I know I recommend this book all the time, but it’s really good) Six of One Rita Mae Brown.