last minute holiday gift books that are probably still easy to get

i couldn't find one I wanted within 100 miles, so here are some that are both pretty universal and not hard to find

I have bought all my gifting books. There was some compromise involved—I really wanted Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey (NOT the one with “fifty” in the title, very different) but had to settle for the second in the series, which is still a stand-alone story. That one’s for a young adult who grew up as a Harry Potter/Rick Riordan fan, and I think it should be a hit. I got the last copy in my small bookstore, along with the last copy of The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman (for an older version of that same kid, this one an enthusiastic Mistborn fan) and the last copy of Rental House by Weike Wang (for me!).

But for those of us who would still like to add a book to a gift, or pick out one for a friend, or are Hanukkah shopping (score there this year, as everything will be on sale and you have all the time in the world) here’s a list of books I think have broad appeal AND should still be on the shelves, especially at a Barnes and Noble.

The Chicken Sisters. I mean, come on, you haven’t read this yet? It’s my book about small town sisters, one who stayed and one who left, who each want the other to acknowledge that they made the right choice—and the battling fried chicken reality TV contest that they use to conduct a full scale war on one another until, well, things happen and they need to get over themselves, grow up and be there for family.

Starter Villain from John Scalzi for anyone who loved The Glass Onion or Doctor Who and likes their books fast, funny and fantastical. The tag-line on my copy was something along the lines of inheriting your uncle’s super-villain business is more complicated than you’d think… and it’s a hysterical romp involving sentient cats, unionizing dolphins and the logistical nightmare that is a oceanic volcano lair. I loved it.

The Wedding People, by Alison Espach. I gave this one, about the one person staying in a beachfront hotel who’s not there for the wedding, and who gets tangled up in all the wedding drama and helps change everything, to my mom for her birthday. Although I don’t know if she liked it. I did! It’s a good one. It was pretty popular, though, so maybe toss in a gift receipt if you’re gifting it to someone who buys a lot of books.

The Blonde Identity. This is for a wide swath of fun readers—your Red White and Royal Blue fans, your Emily Henry people, series mystery lovers… its a ridiculously romp about a woman who wakes up after being attacked on the street with amnesia (but it’s fun, it’s not really a thriller it’s definitely a rom-com) and a whole series of spies chasing her, and who absolutely does not turn out to have the skills to get herself out of this mess, because it’s her twin sister they really want. It’s James Blonde. I’d give it to almost anyone.

The Five Year Lie. Yes, I tell you about this all the time, because it’s GREAT (it hit #1 on Audible—as in ONE, above all the ACOTAR and Atomic Habits books, NUMBER ONE) and because my bff Sarina Bowen wrote it—but it’s also the perfect stocking stuffer for someone who has a trip planned and needs just the right paperback. It’s a thriller—our heroine just got a text from her dead ex, and figuring out how and why leads her into a whole morass of corruption and wrong-doing —with a great edge of romance, because the story of how the dead guy came to be her ex—and the father of her kid—is all woven in there.

On a Quiet Street. This is a thriller that’s been around for a while, a good solid now-in-paperback option that there’s a decent chance the thriller lover in your life missed—a twisty story of three women in a wealthy Oregon community uncover secrets and lies about the hit-and run that killed one’s son that threaten their lives and relationships. I liked it because the women all turned out to be tougher than they thought, and the ending wasn’t predictable.

Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman. I’m still slowly reading this. I LOVE IT. It’s like a devotional for the non-faithful OR the faithful, a series of 3 page meditations on accepting the limits of life and flesh, living with uncertainty and finding a reasonable amount of joy in spite of most things. It was a pretty big seller, but even a pretty big selling book doesn’t get bought by THAT many people, and it’s snacky and easy to read.

Those books ought to be on the shelves, but also aren’t so obvious that they’ve already been read or look like you threw them into the cart at Costco—and they’ll make your reading recipient happy. Every one of them brought me plenty of joy.

Wishing you lots of reading time over this nice long slow period between Christmas and New Year’s, for lighting Hanukkah candles or fires in the fireplace. I’ll be in Puerto Rico for all of 4 days (flying weather out of Boston Logan permitting), and all I’m packing is a swimsuit, a cover-up and a bunch of books.

That’s it for me this week!