The Midnight Library
Matt Haig
A woman between life and death finds a library of every life she could have lived. Warm, hopeful and easy to share.
All moods
Gift books
Choosing a book for someone else is hard, so these lean on crowd-pleasers: widely loved, easy to find in any bookstore and rarely a miss. Between them they cover the thoughtful friend, the busy parent, the person who says they don't read and the one who reads everything.
Books to start with
Born a Crime
Trevor Noah
Stories from a boyhood in South Africa, told with big laughs and real heart. A memoir for people who skip memoirs.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy
A lost boy and three unlikely friends, in gentle drawings and short, kind words. A small book that suits any age.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus
A chemist in the early 1960s becomes the host of a TV cooking show. Funny, sharp and satisfying.
A Walk in the Woods
Bill Bryson
Bryson sets out to hike the Appalachian Trail with an old friend. A funny pick for anyone who likes a road-trip story.
Atomic Habits
James Clear
A practical guide to building good habits through small changes. A safe gift for the friend with new-year goals.
How to choose
Match the book to the person, not to the bestseller list. For someone who says they don't read, try Born a Crime or The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, an illustrated book with short text. For a friend who likes travel and humor, choose A Walk in the Woods. For someone with goals, Atomic Habits. For a fiction lover, pick The Midnight Library or Lessons in Chemistry.
Check the content before you wrap it. The Midnight Library opens with a suicide attempt. Born a Crime is funny, but it describes apartheid and domestic violence. Lessons in Chemistry includes sexual assault and sexism. Choose another book if the recipient may find those hard.
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