Are books good holiday gifts?

We say yes! But there's a way to do it well. As with any type of gift-giving, there are some pitfalls to avoid... For example, arbitrarily giving a book to someone because you like it, or because you've latched on to one detail about them and thus neglected the bigger picture. But never fear! We’ll help you match the right book to the right person using reading doorways. (If you haven't listened to our bonus episode about reading doorways...what are you waiting for?!)

Bonus: we’re offering a bookish holiday gift guide as a supplement to this episode. Check it out on our website at: allbooksaloudpod.com/giftguide
 
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Books we're reading in this episode:
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keech
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon

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Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves.

Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at allbooksaloudpod@gmail.com. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.

If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.

And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.

Read on!

Transcript

Martha: Hey folks, before we dive into the episode, we want to invite you to download our free book giving gift guide for 2023. This is our small way to say thank you for listening and being one of our bookish besties. Go to allbooksaloudpod.com/giftguide to download your free copy today. We also want to let you know we are taking a break for the month of December, but we'll be back with a new episode on January 3rd.

[All Books Aloud intro and theme music]

Elizabeth: Hi, Martha.

Martha: Hey Liz, it's good to see you.

Elizabeth: Yeah, it's good to see you, too. What are you reading since we last talked?

Martha: I am reading The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. It's a reread for me, I think I read it, I think it was around [00:01:00] 2015, and you and I and our other sister Bekka were doing a sister book club at the time, so we all read it together.

Elizabeth: Yeah,

Martha: And it's a lovely book. I'm glad that I was prompted to reread it by my local book club that I'm in now. It's what I call fantasy light. There's little elements of something whimsical or fantastical, maybe magical about it. But mostly it's a historical fiction set in Alaska when it was just a territory.

She was born and raised here. And she does a fantastic job describing The landscape, and it really makes you feel like you're there. And for someone who lives in Alaska, I appreciate how accurate it is. 

And then, I am also reading Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keech. It's an Arthurian retelling from the point of view [00:02:00] of Morgan Le Fay, and it's kind of a feminist spin on her story, which I'm really enjoying. And that's it for now.

Elizabeth: I love feminist re-tellings.

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: If that could be a genre in and of itself, it's definitely would be one of my favorite genres.

Martha: I feel like it should be a genre. Mm

Elizabeth: There are a lot of them now. Which I just love and actually is very related to what I'm reading. I just finished 

a book called By the Book by Jasmine Guillory that is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. And it is from the woman character's perspective, the Belle character, if you could call her that the main character's name is Isabel Marlowe and she is a black woman who works in publishing and publishing is very, very white. And so she's like the only black person that works at her publishing house and talks a lot about her reality in that space and how that is for her.[00:03:00] 

So, it has a lot of different issues that go into the retelling of it, and I really enjoyed it. It's also an incredibly sweet and delightful, mostly closed door romance that I flew through it. It was just so much fun to live in that world. And then a few days ago I started a book called Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon.

Which I'm already loving. So it made me think about our episode about not finishing books that you don't get into. And this book is a great example of the way that beginnings are done right. Basically, like, I was in after the first five pages. I was like, Oh yeah, this book is for me. This is great.

I'm , right in the story. I'm right in the character. And it's really interesting because it has a prologue which. I think that in modern publishing those tend to be sort of frowned on a little bit, which I think is just because a lot of writers want to put prologues in their books when it's not actually appropriate.

But when it is appropriate, it's really [00:04:00] helpful to have a prologue. And I think that this book is a great example of when it's done well and when it's necessary. And so after reading the prologue, which is essentially the first chapter of the book, I was a hundred percent in. 

Martha: When when is an example of when it's appropriate versus when it's not?

Elizabeth: I've never written a prologue and have never been compelled to write one. So this is all based on writer's webinars or advice articles or whatever that I've read. Or I listen to a lot of agents and publishing professionals podcasts and things like that talking about the submissions that they get from writers.

And what I have gleaned from all of that is that a lot of writers want to put prologues in. To set up their story, but what ends up happening is that it turns into an info dump.

Martha: Mm.

Elizabeth: There's all this stage setting before they actually get into the story. Whereas to start the story strongly, they actually should just get into the story.

Right? And, weave the setup in, weave the backstory in as they go. That is [00:05:00] conventional wisdom for how you are supposed to start your book. You're supposed to start. Pretty much right before the inciting incident. You're supposed to start in the world of the every day of the character, but on the day when everything changes, essentially.

And if you have a prologue that is not appropriate for the story, then sometimes you start way before that. You start trying to give the backstory or the setup of the world or whatever before you actually get into who the character is and , how their world is changing in the inciting incident.

And that can bog it down, and then you have people like me who are just going to close the book because they're not into the story after the first few pages. Whereas with this book you need the setup of the way that the main character came to know her aunt. Which, it's not spoiling anything, the premise of the book is that she Has an aunt that is estranged from her family and estranged from her mother who Leaves her an inheritance basically of a certain type that I'm not gonna say what it is because that would spoil it that [00:06:00] changes her life and she has to go on a journey Physically and internally to figure out what's going on with this inheritance And so the prologue sets up how she ended up having a relationship with that aunt who's estranged from her family Which you need in order to understand why this aunt dying would be, such a big deal for her.

Or, why this relationship that she has with the aunt is such a big deal. So, if the story had started without that information, it would have been confusing, I 

think

Martha: Mm hmm. Not as 

Elizabeth: the emotional stakes are of the story. Yeah. So, anyway, 

that's what I'm reading.

Martha: Cool. I want to read that book. I'm gonna read it. I think I'll listen to it.

Elizabeth: I'm really excited about it.

Martha: Well, it is the season, huh? 

Elizabeth: I can't believe it, but

Martha: I know it's already here again. It's time to start thinking about gift giving. If you celebrate the holidays. And so that's our topic today, right? Liz.

Elizabeth: Yes, that is our topic. [00:07:00] Are books good holiday gifts, how to give a book as a gift That is a good and thoughtful gift as opposed to a gift that someone opens and their face falls.

Oh, a book. Thanks.

Martha: you know, I think there definitely is a connotation about people who give books as gifts, or that books are lame gifts, or, oh yeah, Aunt Susie always gives me a book, you know, like that sort of thing, but I do think that they really can be great and we're going to help you learn how to do it.

in, in a way that might be better for matching a book with the specific person.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Because they can be great gifts, but they can also be bad gifts, right? 

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: it's like, you know, because I certainly have gotten some bad So I'm going to talk about some bad book gifts.

 Let's talk about some books that we've gotten that were bad [00:08:00] gifts to set us up for what not to do. So that then when we talk about what to do, we have something to define it against. I mean, or am I the only one that has gotten bad book gifts? Have you gotten bad book gifts?

Martha: any book that I've gotten that I've been like, oh, this is horrible, but I don't think that I've necessarily I don't know, put myself out there as someone who would receive books, if that makes sense. I guess people maybe didn't assume I was a reader, or I just didn't have that book giving person in my life.

Elizabeth: That is interesting. I hadn't thought about that before. And I think that that's a great thing to bring up on this episode because, books could be a great gift for anyone. I mean, unless you have someone in your life that you know, specifically does not like reading. I think that they don't need to just be gifts for, well, people like me, quite frankly, because I am the type of person that people give books to. [00:09:00] Which maybe is why I've gotten bad book gifts because , it's one of the things that people know about me, even if they don't know me very well, is that I'm a librarian, which equals liking books, right? Although it's kind of funny because for someone like me, a book as a general category is not the greatest gift to give because I have access to any and all books that I could ever want every single day of my life.

Martha: But it's like, again, love you mom, not to throw shade on our mom, but, you know, at a certain time. Liz loved sunflowers, so then every gift had a sunflower on it, or, or seals, you loved seals when you were a kid, so then, and you still do, but then every stuffed animal, every figurine, every gift became seal related, so I feel like if you're a big reader and people know it, that can kind of [00:10:00] become what it is, like, oh, she loves books, so I'm just gonna get her a book, Random book.

Yeah. Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: Yeah, any old book. Yeah, but I think that that, that is instructive to think about that type of latching

Martha: Mm

Elizabeth: to a detail and then giving a gift based on that. I think that that is one of the core things that we will be trying to get people , not away from, but to expand on 

because,, the kernel of the idea there is good. You're thinking about the person and what they like, that's the basic level of giving a gift to someone. But, You want to go beyond that. So, for the books that I've gotten that have been bad gifts, the person had latched on to, that one thing.

Not just that I was a book person, for instance, I'm not going to call out anyone specifically in my life that I

Martha: Ha

Elizabeth: that have given me these bad books, so I'll just sort of talk in general terms. But one time I got a baking cookbook.

Because I like baking. And that is true. I do like baking. But the [00:11:00] book was very focused on baking with as few ingredients as possible and as efficiently as possible. it was like, you know, bake anything in under 30 minutes with like, five ingredients. I mean, that's an exaggeration, but that's sort of the vibe of the book. And that is not my baking vibe.

Martha: no, it's geared towards, like, busy working moms who have an army to feed and need to get dinner on the table quick with dessert, , and that's not you. Ha ha ha.

Elizabeth: to feed like five growing boys and always need a dozen cookies in the house or else they riot. Like that is not.

Martha: Thank goodness.

Elizabeth: Right? Yeah, thank God for my life choices, but

Martha: Ha ha.

Elizabeth: yeah, so I do like baking, but that was not a good fit because that's not the experience that I enjoy baking.

So when it comes to books, you really want to think about, what is the experience of reading that this person [00:12:00] enjoys? And I also think that genres can lead you a little bit astray in this area. Someone who knows that I read romance might give me a romance novel that is an old school bodice ripper, but that would be a bad gift for me.

 Those are not the type of romance novels that I enjoy. No judgment to people who do enjoy those, right? But, that's just not, that's not. The experience of romance that I enjoy. So genres can also really lead people astray there, what about sometimes where you've gotten a book and it's been a good thing?

Have you had those? Or are you just, people just don't give you books?

Martha: I've gotten books as gifts before. Specifically I remember high school graduation. I got a couple books that were gifts and I have some on my shelf that I think were gifts, but I can't remember who gave them to me. So I don't know if that would count as a good gift if I can't remember where it came from, but[00:13:00] 

Elizabeth: But you still have

Martha: I still have them. So yeah, the one bookish gift that I Get almost every year for the last I can't even must be at least five years or so our brother, Michael, will get me a year's worth of Audible credits for my birthday every year because he knows that I'm a huge audiobook reader and with my Audible subscription, I get one credit a month, which is not nearly enough for what I, , which is a great gift in my opinion, because he's not picking the book for me, but he's feeding my addiction,

Elizabeth: That is a really great gift. That's a really great gift. And that is a good reminder to think about the format that people read in as well as what types of stories they like to read.

Martha: Yeah. It's just another great example of really considering. someone's preferences and what they [00:14:00] like, so what about you? What's a example of great book gifts that you've gotten?

Elizabeth: Well, I'm happy to say that. I have a lot of examples of that. More good examples than bad examples. Even though I was being a little bit flippant earlier about all the bad books that people give me. So I got, I think it was for high school graduation as well. Because I remember it being as I was going off to college or when I first started college I read this book.

The book is called Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Faye Weldon. And Faye Weldon is a great feminist novelist who has written other things that I have read over the years, and I actually didn't remember that this book was by her until I was thinking about it for this episode, and then I was like, oh my god, Faye Weldon, I actually have gone on to really like that writer.

But before I knew who she was one of our aunts gave me this book, one of mom's sisters, and And for the life of me, I [00:15:00] can't remember which aunt it was, and I'm sorry to the aunt that it was. If you're listening to this, I love you. I've, I really loved that book, but I can't remember which of them. But it is, I think to this day, one of the best books that I have ever received.

It was just so perfect for my taste and my personality at the time. But also for the phase of life that I was in, I was 18, and the young woman that is the Alice, so Alice on Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen, is slightly older than that. I think maybe she just started college, or she's in her first or second year of college. And basically the premise is that she, thinks that Jane Austen is pointless and has decided that she's going to write, but that she's going to write something better than Jane Austen, would ever, you know, have dreamt of, or whatever.

And her aunt, who's writing her the letters, is helping her see the value in things that she has just completely dismissed in her rebellion. And [00:16:00] so you could think that it's a little on the nose, but, it just for whatever reason hit perfectly for me at that time I didn't hate Jane Austen of course.

The reason that she got me the book is because she knew that I loved Jane Austen. But I did have that rebellious hubris that new college students have, where you feel like you know everything and you're going to right all the wrongs of the world and what are all these old people doing?

 You know for whatever reason, it was just the perfect book for me to read at that time. And I loved it so much. It really spoke to me. I mean, I'm waxing lyrical about it all these years later because it was a long time ago that I graduated high school.

And I still remember it. So yeah, that was a great book.

Martha: I think it goes back to the experience, she matched the phase in your life with the book and the experience you would have reading it and how you would relate. So that was really 

smart

Elizabeth: [00:17:00] Yeah, it was really thoughtful. And then my other example of a really good book gift that I've gotten Is one time a boy who had a crush on me gave me the, I think it was also a graduation gift. This was a good year for, for book gifts. He gave me the collected works of the Bronte sisters in this big leather bound volume that's very stylized on the outside and the pages are very thin sort of like Bible pages and they have like that gold around the outside.

And. I didn't like him back, but I'll tell you that, that gift gave me pause about him. I am not going to say who it was, I'm

Martha: Oh my gosh, I want to know, you're going to have to tell me off camera

Elizabeth: I'll tell you, I'll tell you off mic it was such a great gift. So to anyone who's listening who wants to give a gift to their romantic partner. You know, I, this person did not end up being my romantic partner, but I really was very, very taken with [00:18:00] this gift that he gave me and it was, it was just so sweet and so thoughtful because he was not a big reader.

So what that said to me is , this person is listening

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: to me, he is picking up on the fact that I love these classic authors. I love these sort of like old y, time y things, take note, if you're looking for a gift for your significant other.

Martha: Cute.

Elizabeth: So I think that that is a good way to set us up for giving some suggestions for gifts for different types of readers. Because genres can so often lead us astray, and obviously we don't know personally all the people in the lives of all of the listeners that might be listening to this episode.

We thought the way that we would give some suggestions is based on the reading doorways that we talked about in our bonus episode, right?

Martha: Mm hmm. Yeah, so the first one we're gonna start with is story.

Elizabeth: Yes, and I think these reading doorways are a great way to give these [00:19:00] recommendations because they're about the experience of the book. That's what Nancy says, right? So you're finding a book that someone would like based on the experience of the book that they like. So with story, the experience that A story reader has with a book is that they can't put it down because they desperately want to know what happens, 

or they describe books that they like as page turners. Or, or even movies, right? Stories that they like. They might describe as you know, something that they just had to get to the end. Or when you talk about a movie or a book, this person might ask, what happens, they want to know what the plot is.

Martha: Mm

Elizabeth: and I think that they're possibly a type of person who likes things like action movies or adventure movies, that type of thing. If you're thinking about other media that they might enjoy.

Martha: Yeah, I kind of imagine the story reader could be, a little bit of a thrill seeker or an adrenaline junkie. [00:20:00] But they could also just be, the kind of person who wants to hear the tea, you know? Someone who's like, oh, oh, what's going on with them? What's the story? I could see it both ways.

Elizabeth: Yeah, definitely. I think those are some good profiles. I also think that maybe they could be the type of person that really likes to listen to true crime podcasts.

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: So what are some suggestions that you would have for a story reader?

Martha: The books that came to mind for story were... Basically, all of the Sarah J. Maas books, which I think it's really hard to narrow down exactly what doorway fits for Sarah J. Maas books, because I do feel like she has a bit of everything in there, they're big, they're thick books, and people fly through them because they want to know what happens.

 The Throne of Glass series, the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and Crescent City. 

Elizabeth: [00:21:00] a lot of potential gifts with Sarah J. Maas books, right? Because there are so many books.

Martha: Yeah, it's like the gift that keeps on giving, because once your friend reads the first one, they're going to want to read them all. So really, all you have to do is give them A Court of Thorns and Roses, and then they'll go from there.

 Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. And I don't think that a lot of people would think of romance maybe in the same vein as the story Doorways, but I really think it can fit because you and I both mentioned in previous episodes when we read this book, we both flew through it because we wanted to know what happened.

Elizabeth: Yeah, absolutely. I would agree with that. I think that actually romance is a big genre for the story reader because a lot of the books are very focused on , will they, won't they? Will they get together or won't they? It's on what happens. And I mean, I think that a lot of them also, especially more modern romances are character doorway books.

And those tend to be the ones that I [00:22:00] like, but I think that within the genre of romance. There are a lot of story driven ones and there are a lot of character driven ones, which is why. You know, doorways are sometimes better for thinking about this than genre, because there can be lots of different doorways within the same genre.

Martha: Yeah, so much crossover. Like we've said before.

What about you? What do you. Think for story.

Elizabeth: A book called The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware that I read last year that was definitely what I would describe as a on the edge of your seat. I think a lot of suspense thriller books are definitely story driven, and then also The Lake House by Kate Morton is a book that I really, really enjoyed, 

 I wouldn't describe it as a thriller. It had a little bit of a mystery element to it that, that compelled me forward. Even though there were also other things I liked about it. I think that that was the main driver.

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: And then I thought of for this, [00:23:00] for the story reader, several books that I would suggest because they have big surprising twists.

Usually in the middle, but sometimes not in the middle. And so for these, I think that there could be an argument that some of them might have bigger, other doorways, but because I'm thinking about something that a story reader might like, I think that these might be books that are maybe a little different than what a story reader usually gets into, but that they still might really like them because they have that plot twist that's such a huge surprise that is a big piece of them.

So Magpie by Elizabeth Day which we talked about on the bonus episode and also Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Another one that I would put in this category is Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: I'm not going to say anything else about any of those because I don't want to ruin the big surprise, but if you like twists, all three of those books I would highly recommend.

Martha: yeah, and fourth wing by Rebecca Yarros because there is a big [00:24:00] twist or cliffhanger right at the end, and everything you believed up until that point gets turned upside down, so yeah. Yeah, again, I don't want to give too much away, but it fit for me so well in story because it's a big book and I read it over a weekend And I could not put it down and then to get to the very end and be like, but like I gotta know what happened I thought it was a great experience and the second book by the time this episode airs will have just been released so you could do fourth wing and iron flame if you can get your hands on iron flame that would be a great gift for someone who would love those books

Elizabeth: that's cool. Those are our suggestions for a story reader. And there obviously are lots of other books for a story reader, but just to give you a little taste of the type of books that you might give to someone who likes books like that. The next doorway on [00:25:00] our list of four reading doorways is a character reader.

 A character reader is the type of person who, thinking about what media they might enjoy is someone who probably likes biopics. So those movies that are about someone's life, who likes memoirs, who talks about the characters in the books they're reading as if they're people that they know in real life. Someone who says that they have book boyfriends, is probably a character reader, at least in part. Or if you have heard them say that finishing a book that they loved was like losing a friend or losing someone that was dear to them. If they talk about the feeling that they were spending time with this person and when the book was done they were bereft of that person, that is probably a character reader.

Martha: Yeah, they probably had a book hangover after that book. I imagine a character reader could be someone who's very empathetic, whether they're an extrovert or an introvert, but [00:26:00] the extroverted person's probably someone who has a lot of friends and family around. They might say something like, I would do anything for them.

 Like an Enneagram two, if you're into Enneagram. Or if they're introverted, they're probably someone who is also empathetic, but has a rich inner life, and who feels deeply for the plight of other people.

Elizabeth: I think that's a very good profile. and very observant. ,I am not an extrovert. I'm definitely an introvert. And I am a character reader. And I, like, I cry at books all the

Martha: Yeah, like

Elizabeth: Is that the sign of a character reader? When you were saying about being empathetic and feeling deeply the plight of others, I feel like that is part of why I cry at books a lot, is because I just feel like I know these people and they're going through these horrible things.

Martha: you can feel the emotions that they would be feeling. I think, yeah, that's a big characteristic of [00:27:00] what makes someone a character reader, I think.

Elizabeth: yeah, okay. I like it. So I have a lot of suggestions for character readers because this is my main doorway but let me know if you, if you want to jump in with any of these because I think you've read a lot of them. So books that I've read recently that I think are huge for character readers would be books like Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmis.

I absolutely love that book.

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: I can't say enough about it. 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Which you suggested to me actually, Martha. And I, oh my god, I absolutely love that

Martha: It's really good, and it also has a bit of a twist at the end.

Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah, . So if you're someone who straddles character and story, then Eleanor Oliphant might be a great book for you if you haven't read

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes. I adored.[00:28:00] One of my favorite books of all time is My Life in France by Julia Child.

 It's a memoir by Julia Child of her first introduction to France and when her and her husband went around France the first time. And then later parts of the book, if I'm remembering it right, because it's been a really long time since I've read it, I need to reread it, ooh later parts of the book get into like.

The later parts of her life where she wrote, mastering the art of French cooking and, and lived there for a while, but the parts that I remember the most are the parts of her describing being introduced to France and to French food. And, oh God, I just loved it. Her and her husband were just so adorable and their relationship was, just absolutely hashtag goals, they are just so, they're just so cute.

I also think that this , could be a big one for setting readers though, just jumping ahead a little bit, because I definitely wanted to live in France for the rest of my life after [00:29:00] I read that book. So that could be another one , if you cross over these two different type of readers.

Martha: I love that. I haven't read that. That would be a great book gift for me if anyone's trying to decide.

Elizabeth: yeah, because also I would also say we aren't really talking about it like this, but someone who is a foodie or who really likes to cook or bake, definitely get them My Life in France by Julia Child. Other memoirs that I've really enjoyed, the last few years I've read several of the memoirs by Diana Athill, who wrote, I want to say, like, six or seven memoirs.

Her first one is called Instead of a Letter, and I really loved it. And then her last memoir is called Alive, Alive, Oh, and I read that last year. And she's not a very well known person. She's a British woman who worked in publishing over there, and she also has.

Some novels that she wrote but in her later life, in her, I want to say 70s and 80s, she became more well known [00:30:00] because people realized that her memoirs are just so good and they're such a slice of what life was like, you know, during World War II or during these different times when she was living and, and being a professional woman.

And I just, yeah, I really enjoyed her, her memoirs. Yeah. Along that same sort of memoir vein, I would put Wild by Cheryl Strayed. you read that book,

Martha: Yeah, we read that in our sister book 

club

Elizabeth: That's right. What else? Oh, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I know that people like to hate on that book, but I love d tat book when I read it the first time.

If you love memoir, I think that Eat, Pray, Love is a great book. Not to say that there aren't criticisms you could make about it, because there are about any book. 

Martha: Yeah, but there's a reason why it was so popular, too.

Elizabeth: yeah, exactly. I think that that could be a crossover for a setting reader as well, because I definitely wanted to go. Especially to the, to the eat, to the eat place when she was in Italy.

Other books for character readers where the characters are [00:31:00] very, very memorable and recognizable. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abby Waxman. that's a great book. Another Elizabeth Gilbert, The Signature of All Things. It's basically the story of a life from almost beginning to end.

 I think about it in the same category as the Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne in the way that it's basically an entire life. So you get to know this person, it's long, , . But you get to know this person so well and so deeply that if you are a character reader you will love that

Martha: and you're almost guaranteed to cry at the end of those types of books, I feel 

like

Elizabeth: Yeah definitely, well right, because you have read this person's entire life. Yeah. The Confessions of Franny Langton by Sarah Collins is another one that I would put in there. I really liked that book, that's a big I would say also like a really memorable character for me. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth [00:32:00] Strout.

These are books that are a little bit older, but I just absolutely loved. They're still some of my favorite books of all time. , these are kind of, I don't know. Actually, I don't think I would call them kids books, but the Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery.

I love those books, and I just re listened to them as audiobooks, and loved them just as much as the first time I read them when I was a teenager.

Martha: yeah, they're so good on audio, too. I think I downloaded them on audio after the Netflix Anne of Green Gables came out, which was really good too for a screen adaptation. But yeah, everyone should read Anne of Green Gables, but especially if you're a character reader.

Elizabeth: Yeah, definitely.

Martha: I would say... Almost any Kristin Hannah book.

I think she does a really great job with character, but Firefly Lane specifically then the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann [00:33:00] Schaefer and Annie Barrows. I think that's a great example of character. And there's a lot of characters in that book that you feel like you get to know,

Elizabeth: Yeah, they're all so well drawn. Yeah, that's a great one. I love that book.

Martha: mm hmm

Elizabeth: so what about a setting reader? A setting reader is the type of person who likes to travel, who is really into exploring new places, Nancy's shorthand for this is that after reading a book that they love, they immediately make plans to visit the place where it was set if they can,

Martha: it's

Elizabeth: real place, right?

Yeah if they say things like, I felt like I was there about their favorite books, then they might be a setting reader.

Martha: hmm. Yeah, I think that's a great description. Someone who loves to hike or be outdoors and really takes in the scenery, I think, could be another example. Someone who likes to, you know, you climb to the top of the mountain and you just take it all in. That could apply for setting readers here, too.

So, 

Elizabeth: [00:34:00] definitely. What are your recommendations for a setting reader?

Martha: The Snow Child. We already talked about it in the beginning. It's kind of top of my mind right now because I'm re reading it, but I think it's such a great example for setting. And even if you've never been to Alaska, I think you will feel like you're there.

Elizabeth: hmm.

Martha: So, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. Harry Potter, the Harry Potter series.

It's by J. K. Rowling, obviously. know, I think that Harry Potter checks a lot of the doorway boxes, but Hogwarts is such an iconic setting, 

Elizabeth: The fact that they made a amusement park out of the setting, I feel like it's a good sign that the setting is a, is a big part of it. Yeah,

Martha: definitely. And you know, most adults, or a lot of adults, will have already read this. But if you have a young person in your life who's new to reading or just getting into reading and they haven't read Harry Potter yet, I think it could be a great gift. And, The Lord of the Rings.

[00:35:00] By J. R. R. Tolkien. I think, obviously, people will travel to New Zealand to see where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed and go to Hobbiton, so that just makes sense. And Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

That book is so focused on setting and the natural world around the main character. 

Elizabeth: Yeah, absolutely. It was so atmospheric. I think that with setting books, it's like, if you feel like the setting is almost its own character in the book, then that's a good sign it's a, it's a setting book, right? And like that marsh,

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: Where the little girl and where the crawdads sing. I mean, I didn't actually love this book.

But the parts of it that I did love were the descriptions of the marsh. Because it's just so beautiful and so detailed. And you're seeing it through her eyes and she pays such close attention to it because it's her entire world,

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: Yeah, I think that's a great 

call

Martha: Yeah, I agree with you. Those were the best parts of the book, dune by Frank Herbert. Again, it might not be the main [00:36:00] doorway, but it could certainly fit.

There's a lot of description about the setting.

. So what about you, Liz, what do you think for setting?

Elizabeth: Well, setting I always think about, the first thing I think about is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. And I know I talked about that on the bonus episode, so I won't go into it, but I would say that that's like my number one pick for a setting reader. And that again is where the setting is a, a character in the book all on its own.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Hodgson Burnett. I haven't read this book in a really long time, but I definitely remember the feeling of wanting to go to this magical garden so much. Like it wasn't actually magical in the book, right? It's not like a Narnia situation, but I just feel like it was described in such an appealing way that it like felt magical.

Martha: hmm.

Elizabeth: sort of mysterious, and yeah, I think that that's a great fit , and especially for a younger reader, but I think for an adult reader too[00:37:00] The Secret Garden is a great book. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. We haven't gone with many classics, and I think that I think that you could make the argument that actually this book is a character book because Cathy and Heathcliff are such a big Presence and reason for the story and what you remember about it.

But the title of the book is Weathering Heights, which is the name of the, big rambling house that's on the moors. Whenever I think about that book, which I know I liked it more than you liked , Martha I think of the wind swept, moors the heather, the brooding sky.

As much as if not more than I think of Cathy and Heathcliff. So I think that there is a case to be made that that's a setting book as

Martha: Yeah, I feel like similar to what you said about Where the Crawdads Sing like the best parts Of wuthering heights for me are the , the descriptive parts about the moors and the setting.

Elizabeth: Yeah. So then the [00:38:00] last doorway is language. A language reader is the type of person who was maybe an English major in college, who knows what authors have won all the prizes. The Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker Prize, you know, All the big literary prizes generally tend to be won by people writing literary fiction, which tends to be that language doorway.

People who say things about their favorite books like, I read, More slowly because I want to savor the language or I'm not even sure what the book was about But I just loved the writing Those are two examples of quotes from that article by Nancy where she talks about the different types of readers that are things that someone Who likes language would say

Martha: Mm-Hmm. Yeah. I kind of imagine someone who loves language might be kind of nostalgic and sentimental and they might see beauty where other people might not. Small details might not escape [00:39:00] them.

If that makes sense.

Elizabeth: yeah, it does. I think that that's a great call. Yeah

Martha: So, what are some examples of books with language doorways that you think would make great gifts?

Elizabeth: I have a few for this, the book Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, which came out a few years ago and essentially, it's not a retelling of the story Hamlet, but it's a story from the perspective of Shakespeare's wife,

Of the time that he was writing Hamlet.

And, what was going on in their lives and their family and, , with their 

kids

Martha: Oh, that's so 

interesting

Elizabeth: It's, like, the world of Shakespeare as told from the perspective of his wife.

Martha: So the real version

Elizabeth: yeah, right. And, and it's, it de centers him, right? Cause he's such a 

 Huge persona. So it's really interesting to think about. Just daily life with Shakespeare, from his wife's perspective. And I really, I absolutely loved that book. So I could make a case that it actually is [00:40:00] also a character doorway book, but it is just gorgeous.

It's so well written. Something else that I think goes with language books that we didn't talk about when we were introducing it, which thinking about Hamnet makes me realize, is that I feel like language books are also the books that have... not... Not the only books that have this, but they will tend to have, deeper themes that they're really grappling with.

 I think that all books have themes to a lesser or greater extent, but , a book that is driven by language and not necessarily driven by the plot is going to take more time to have characters thinking deeply about something or to give a treatment to, , a certain issue, not in a polemic way.

Or in a heavy handed way, but I think that they're more likely to have that type of literary exploration of a theme and I think that Hamnet has that. The writing just really makes [00:41:00] you, it really makes you think about so many things. I'm not going to keep going on and on about it, but it's such a great book. And then another big one from my reading in recent years that I would say is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Doerr, I think is how you say his name.

It is a gorgeous book and it is a really beautiful story. And I mean, like we were talking about in the doorways episode about how like a book that you maybe want to make the case is all four of the doorways is either not a well written book or the best book ever written.

Martha: Mm-Hmm.

Elizabeth: Because with all of these books that I put in language, I'm thinking, oh, well, also, All the Light We Cannot See is so setting.

Because St. Malo, where it's based in France, I wanted to go there after I read it. Like, it was so well described and, and just like a beautiful setting, even though it was during World War II. So it wasn't like all [00:42:00] puppies and roses, but other books that I would say for this are The Secret History by Donna Tartt The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, another one where the setting is a big part of it and also character, but they're just both books that are just so well written and have things to think about beyond just the plot of the story.

And along those same lines, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, I read that book when I was in college and I still think of it every time someone asks for a suggestion for a book to read. It is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read and it does things with language.

 Part of the point of the book is to think about language because it's set in the early 20th century in India and it has a lot of exploration and thinking about the caste system. And the way that language is a way that we sort of differentiate human beings and put them into these different categories.

And a lot of like, what do words even mean? And so [00:43:00] sometimes in the book words will be capitalized strangely or will be spelled strangely, not in a way that's confusing, but she plays with the very concept of language. And so if you're a person who's really into language, I would highly, highly recommend that book.

Also Beloved by Toni Morrison, which is top of mind because we were talking about banned books earlier this month and that is one of my favorite books ever and is really also very, very well 

written

Martha: Mm-Hmm?

Elizabeth: and beautiful and horrifying, but a very well written book. And then This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett it's a book of.

Essays, and each of the essays just, I would read it and be like, Oh, this is my favorite essay in the book. And then I would go to the next one and be like, Oh, this is my favorite essay in the book. And so that's one that also comes to mind for me

Martha: Yeah. I think, Ann Patchett in general is great for the language reader. We've talked about Tom Lake already, her most recent, and the Dutch House was really good too, and. You pretty [00:44:00] much can't really go wrong with Ann Patchett, 

and I think that Pride and Prejudice, obviously by Jane Austen, could fit in many doorways, but I just feel like there are so many iconic passages that that was kind of my reasoning and if there's anyone in your life who has not read it, They should read it, but, you know, I know we don't want to generalize our gifts that way.

Elizabeth: Yeah, I think that that's a great, that's a great pick for this. I sort of feel like most of the classics could go in this language reader category, mostly because the language that they're written in is just so different from our language now. That, by default, it makes it a little bit harder to read

Martha: It makes you slow down and think and, yeah, and think about what did they mean in the context of the time and,

Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah. 

 They are definitely very well written [00:45:00] and , I think that that's a great sign of a book that is a book for a language reader is if you want to quote it. Right, like if there are quotes that you want to write down or if there are lines that you remember. I think that that is a good sign that that's a language focused 

book

Martha: Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: And then I think that some other ideas that we came up with are things like cookbooks or nonfiction books. Again, though, you want to think about what is the experience that the person you're buying the , gift for. Enjoys. So, like, my warning of the bad fit cookbook that I got because it just didn't fit with, , the way that I like to bake or the reasons that I baked.

And then , before we started recording this episode, my husband was talking about a bad gift that he had gotten of a nonfiction book that was about politics because the person knew that he was interested in politics. They got this book about politics, but it was just totally off the mark in terms of.

 It seemed like they assumed what his politics were, and they were wrong, and also he [00:46:00] didn't think it was a good book. So I actually think that nonfiction in that same way can be a little bit dicey, because , if you just have a broad category, like, I know they like politics, or I know they like cooking, that's not enough to go on to get them a good gift.

 You have to have more information about what it is about that thing that they like or that what they enjoy thinking about in that area of nonfiction in order to really get a good, a good

Martha: Mm hmm. Yeah. And you don't want to offend someone with the book that you're giving. That's,

Elizabeth: I dunno if I would say that he was offended, but it's just like with something like religion or politics. Yeah. You don't wanna assume that you know something about someone and then be wrong. 'cause that like

Martha: I mean,

Elizabeth: that can be a little

Martha: And even cooking could be fraught a little bit, I actually, I should have talked about this in the beginning, I did get a cookbook one year that was more like health, healthy recipes, you know, which [00:47:00] could be like, Are you making a comment about my weight? Or that I don't eat healthy?

You know what I mean? So yeah, just be careful with those.

Elizabeth: Oh my god, Martha. I just had such a, like, vicarious, awkward, horrible feeling when you were saying that please do not give people diet books. Just never do that. If someone wants to go on a diet, they will buy that book themselves,

Martha: you do not need to give it to them.

Elizabeth: The category of a healthy cookbook I feel like is a little bit on the fence because you are really into healthy eating and you were a vegetarian for a while, right?

So maybe if it was someone who really knew you and knew the direction that you came at that from, that could have been a good gift. But yeah, that's right on the line and over the line is any type of diet cookbook. Even if you know that that person is dieting and that they're trying to cook more just

Martha: Well, and

Elizabeth: Just don't do

Martha: it's kind of along the same lines of [00:48:00] buying a how to write a book, instructive book for a writer. You know, like, if they already are into it, you probably don't need to insult them by giving them something that's instructive.

Elizabeth: Yeah, they've already thought about the basics if this is something that they're doing. They don't need a 101, like this is how you diet or this is how you write a book. Yeah. Oh God. That's so

funny.

Martha: again, kind of going back to the beginning if you know that someone loves to read and you know they like different formats and you don't necessarily want to pick a book for them, Audible credits or e reader credits or something like different format could be a great gift.

Elizabeth: Well, that goes for print books too, you could get a gift card to the person's favorite bookstore in town that you know that they love to go to. People have gotten that for me for a gift before, and I think it's great. It's a little bit impersonal in the way that giving cash maybe is, but it's definitely one step up from cash because , [00:49:00] if you know that a person loves to wander around the bookstore in your town.

And, leave with a stack of books, then you're giving them an experience with that gift card. 

Martha: Especially if you write a little note with it and you could even say something like that, like, Elizabeth, I picture you wandering through the bookstore to pick out a new favorite or something, you know, then I think that can be great. I love a good gift card.

Elizabeth: Yeah, that could be cute for sure. All right. Obviously, we could keep going. I mean, I can list off books that I've loved all day long, but if you like hearing our book recommendations and, or if you want to follow what we're reading in real time, make sure to follow us on social media because we always post everything that we read there.

And we post, quick reviews of every book that we read on Instagram, specifically. Whereas when we record our episodes, we're just talking about what we happen to be reading in the moment that we're recording, right? So, if you want a fuller sense of all of our book recommendations and what we're reading, then make sure to follow us on [00:50:00] Instagram and TikTok at allbooksaloudpod.

Martha: Yes, and be on the lookout for our holiday gift guide.

And as always, if you want to send us a message, you can email us at allbooksaloudpod@gmail.com make sure you subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a positive rating and review so that more people can find us.
And read on, my friends.

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