I love reading. My children love reading. Much of our family culture is modeled around reading. I read for work and for pleasure everyday and most days I also read to my children for at least an hour. Thanks to the advent of audiobooks, I also listen to hours of audiobooks. Indeed, my children are some of the best read and most literate children I know, largely because they started to develop the skills to listen, track, and create the intricate imaginary words necessary to “ear-reading.”
I will write more about my thoughts on reading and the books I recommend for different ages, but for now I am reviving this blog from a few years ago to re-introduce the idea of books: in physical, audio, or electronic format as some of the best gifts for the holidays.
This guide is adapted from a gift guide compiled by Audrey van Petegem and Suzanne Letourneau of the ballyhoos, who support Indie Authors with their Branding and Marketing needs.
Happy Holidays and Happy reading!
Audio Books
Audible
Did you know that you can gift Audible subscriptions? Easily one of the best ways for people–no matter how busy–to get into books, audible is a subscription audio book series. Learn more about audible and whether it’s “worth it” for you or as a gift read this review
Your library on audio
Did you know that your library offers access to thousands of titles on audio or in e-format? Your library will have some of it’s own websites and applications to help you access them or you can try Libby or Overdrive, both free, and designed to work with libraries in the US, Canada, and even the UK. So, not necessarily the same as a gift, you can help feed the book addiction with the library.
Buy the Netflix of Books
UNIQUE Gift for Book Lovers! The e-GO! Library is today’s Top 1,000 Indie eBooks, picked by 5 million avid readers, PLUS 250 Bonus Classics – all on preloaded & portable USB drive. Fiction & non-fiction titles span all genres.
No WiFi or Internet required. Saves downloading time. Holds 3 file formats PDF, Kindle (PRC) and EPUB for Kindle, Nook, iPad, laptop, computer, tablet, and or smartphones too. Works with all devices to enjoy anywhere, anytime! This great gift idea puts 1,250 books in anyone’s pocket. Help them escape boring reading. Find the Best Sellers of tomorrow and discover the undiscovered today. Check out their website here.
Stories for Kids
Do you want really, really good stories for kids? Hands down, without question, my favourite stories for children (including some options for older kids) is Sparkle Stories. I started my children on these stories when they were two and five and I attribute these stories for making my children fantastic readers that don’t rely on movies, videos, or TV for entertainment, information, or inspiration. You can try out these stories for yourself and your children for free or give gift subscriptions for just $15 here.
New Parents
Green Mama: Giving your child a healthy start and a greener future – Manda Aufochs Gillespie
What are the most pressing problems facing new parents today? As the world has gotten increasingly complicated, so has parenting. Manda Aufochs Gillespie, The Green Mama, brings 20 years of green consulting, research, and lots of humour to a variety of topics that affect the health and well-being of our children. You’ll find help getting back to the basics at a time when the “basics” are being redefined: clean air, nutritious food, simple play, healthy indoor and outdoor environments, and less stuff.
The Green Mama helps parents become what they were always meant to be: experts on the care of their own children.
It is Really 10 Months – Natalie Guenter & Kim Schenkelberg
No one ever tells you about all of the crap that happens to you when you’re pregnant. We are three thirty-something women who were fortunate enough to be pregnant at the same time. We began sharing our questions, fears, humor, and experiences through emails, which became a lifeline and virtual support group. We are here to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly of our experiences. This book is for anyone who wants to have fun, who wants to laugh, who wants to know what it is like to be afraid for your baby, who doesn’t mind poking fun at herself, who can lay it all out there. Even if you never have any intention of being pregnant, you can laugh with us – or at us.
Motherhood – JC Little
This is the universal story of motherhood, from the gentle moment of birth to the inevitable letting go. In the playful and poignant simplicity that is her signature style, JC Little has captured the tender bond between mother and child. Motherhood is a timeless picture-book for mothers, sons and daughters of all ages.
Children, Tween and Teens
NEW! PickleWeas
What’s that playful PickleWeas
Story artist JCLittle has created a wacky, zany, super-fabu
Bonus: Flip the corners of the book to see a little animation, just for laffs. PickleWeas
Magelica’s Voyage 
– Louise Courey Nadeau
A Magical Fairy Tale about Believing in Yourself, Love and Positivity. The Perfect Gift for Children This Holiday!
Mercury in Retro Love – Janie Emaus
A story about crushes, conflicts and astrological PMS.
MERCURY IN RETRO LOVE follows Emma on her journey toward self-awareness. Her unflinching belief in astrology sets up more than a few roadblocks and threatens to derail her friendships with her best friends in the whole world.
The Last Snowman – JC Little
“This afternoon it snowed. It was probably one of the last snows of the winter, so it was lovely sticky snow…perfect for making a snowman.” So begins the funny and poignant tale of a teenage girl and a dangerously tall snowman.
The LAST Snowman is a book with timeless appeal for children and adults alike. Award-winning story artist JC Little has playfully captured a tender “moment” in family life, marking the ephemeral grace between childhood and adolescence.
Inspirational
Over iT – Mary Buchan
We all have an “iT” to get over, some challenge in life that seems difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. This may be a problem with health, a past trauma, or stressful situation in our finances or career. Sometimes the “iT” stems from broken relationships or negative judgments we’ve encountered during our journey. In this award winning book Mary combines lighthearted personal stories with ancient wisdom keys. She shares life-changing insights that will help you drive away the dark shadows from your life and break free from whatever is holding you back from your full potential. These keys transformed Mary and they can change your life!
Million Dollar Moments – Deborah L. Hall
What if everything you’ve ever been taught is a lie? What if we’ve been living under false assumptions? How can we know for sure? How can we find the truth? Today’s internet bombards us with daily information creating cognitive dissonance as we struggle with who to trust and what to believe. Million Dollar Moments sorts through the noise of these mixed messages bringing usto the only possible truth: your own truth. In 5 minute bursts of brain change each day, Million Dollar Moments shows you the path to uncover and claim your truth. These daily gems of inspiration will illuminate your values regarding business, love, creativity, and resources while encouraging and supporting you to step into who YOU are! Need a quote for a presentation or a speech? You’ll find some gems on these pages. Need a boost for the day? Open the book randomly to any page and you’ll get the inspiration that is meant just for your eyes for that day.
SOAR with Vulnerability – Suzanne Letourneau
This is your book. The book that is inside of you all-ways. We all have a story to tell. In mine, I share how the biggest turning point of my life has opened my heart to receiving the best gift of all – Vulnerability.
Vulnerability works hand in hand with Authenticity. And from the moment you experience your authenticity, your true self, you will not want to be anything else but authentic.
Vulnerability is about daring to be more than who you think you are. Get Curious. Be Outrageous.
oh La La! Réalité
Being French – Francois Roland
LOL;-) Living Out Loud – Veronica Tanzen
Thought Provoking
A God for All Seasons – Patti Tingen
Based on Ecclesiastes 3, A God for all Seasons takes the reader on a year long journey, month by month. Starting with winter, the book moves through the natural seasons of the year. Each chapter correlates with a month and offers personal testimony and insights for the various spiritual seasons that we all experience. The theme of the book is that God’s love and presence is with us through every time and every season of our lives. 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Silver Medal Winner in the Christian Non-Fiction Category.
A River of Tears, The River of Hope – Orit Murad Rehany
A River of Tears The River of Hope centers on the saga of the Two Torah Scrolls, and of an fluent and thriving community living peacefully for 2600 years until World War II and the events of Nazism, anti-Semitism and hatred took place in the ancient region known as the Cradle of Civilization, or modern days Iraq.
A River of Tears The River of Hope follows the enchanting and fascinating Murad family. The Murad family brought to Israel a proud heritage to share with the world including the two Torah Scrolls of their beloved father and grandfather, Rabbi Ezra Murad.
Rabbi Murad’s two Torah Scrolls traveled with the family to Israel. While settling in Israel the Murad family showed us the most valuable elements of hope, drive, and determination as they continued to thrive in Israel and Canada. A River of Tears The River of Hope will welcome readers into the history of the Murad family and their amazing journey from a world filled with oppression and tyranny, to one supported by acceptance and support.
Fun Reads
Are You Kidding Me? – Stacey Gustafson
My Life with an Extremely Loud Family, Bathroom Calamities, and Crazy Relatives, a compilation of hilarious, surprising, and relatable stories. The book reached #4 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list for its category during its debut week. Hop into your minivan and get ready to cruise through the crazies of Suburbia! Humorist Stacey Gustafson makes an entertaining tour guide in Are You Kidding Me?, a brash, voyeuristic peek inside the topsy-turvy world of suburban motherhood, midlife madness, and all points in between. If you’ve ever called SWAT on a neighbor, faked a heart attack in church, or pulled your hair out while questioning the sanity of your family, Stacey’s tongue-in-cheek brand of humor will resonate with you. Enjoy the ride and don’t forget to fasten your seat belt.
Drink Wine and Giggle – Deb Mangolt & Julie Smethurst
(101 ways girlfriends can connect, have fun and be inspired) combines friendship and personal growth in a collection of easy-to-follow activities that have been tested and proven to turn girlfriend get-togethers into life-shifting experiences. The activities in DWAG include short projects, exercises or excursions. The book is divided into four sections—mind, body, soul and funny bone—with twenty-five activities in each. The perfect get-together companion, Drink Wine and Giggle uses the power of girlfriends to inspire women to get the life they deserve.
Empowering
Fish Don’t Climb Trees
Fish Don’t Climb Trees by Sue Blyth Hall has changed my family’s life. I read this book and I suddenly understood how my child’s brain worked, and got deeper understanding in how to get to the root of my child’s learning differences and discover how to get to the gifts at their core. If you are dyslexic (or just learns differently) or love someone who is: you will LOVE this book. Buy it here!
Empowered Women of Social Media
Empowered Women of Social Media – This book is perfect for the woman who is looking to find her VOICE. Finding ones voice means a deep self-discovery of life at its core. Read about women who have used Facebook, Google and Twitter to get support while they were going through breast cancer, midlife crisis and depression. Many women used social media to find their business path and create successful companies.Empowered Women of Social Media is a timeless collection of first time stories written by first time authors. Finding their voice meant writing their story, transcending pain and transforming their life. This book is for you if you are a woman who has been muted from abuse and violence, scared into silence from childhood trauma, or was simply raised to be seen not heard.
Inspirational Ways to Succeed with ADHD
The fourth book in the best-selling ADHD Awareness Book Project series, Inspirational Ways to Succeed with ADHD: Real Life Stories and Strategies to Help You Thrive with ADHD is a one-of-a-kind informative and inspirational resource for people with ADHD containing over 100 strategies and stories to empower, enlighten, educate and entertain. Laurie Dupar of Coaching for ADHD asked 40 ADHD experts: “What is your best strategy or story to help people succeed?”Within these pages is that one tip, strategy, resource or story that is the answer or inspiration to help you succeed with ADHD!
Find Your Self-Culture
Find Your “Self-Culture” takes you on a journey of case studies, exercises and teachings from Victoria Lorient-Faibish’s twenty years of working with clients in her busy practice as a Relationship Expert and Holistic Psychotherapist . Learn to move beyond depression and anxiety, rewire your brain towards profound joy and transform your inner bully into a supportive coach. Learn also how to set healthy boundaries while healing the hurt child within and moving past shame, anger and guilt. This empowering book with facilitate you breaking the cycle of family dysfunction and setting you on the path of self acceptance.
Buy one of these books now!
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What an incredible list of books! There is something for everyone here!! Thanks for sharing!