It’s holiday time again, and I’m trying hard not to freak out about the “December to do list”. Husband tells me every year, “You always get everything done. Why do you get so worked up about this?” Ah, dear hubby, the devil is in the details, on multiple levels. Do details threaten to unravel you, too, as December unfolds? I have a plan to help us approach the holiday season with a little more joy and a little less cranky.
The Word Nerd Plan
The first part of the plan errs on the “nerdy” side; it’s a spreadsheet. Yes, I actually have a spreadsheet that I use each year to help me remember who I need to buy gifts for and what I’d like to give them. It takes just a few minutes to whip up this gift guide, with a column for names, a column for ideas and a small column for “Yes, did that!”. If you have a lot of loved ones you like to remember at the holidays, but struggle to actually remember all them, make a spreadsheet and fill in the blanks. It will give you a huge sense of accomplishment.
The second part of the plan gets into the “wordy”. I love giving books as gifts. They are easy to mail, reusable, instructive, and entertaining. Besides, buying books supports writers and the publishing industry, and we all want to keep books around, right? The problem: finding proper books for each person on your spreadsheet. Here’s where Diary of a Word Nerd can help.
Today I’m starting the Favorite Books Giveaway for 2016. Here’s how it works. Tell me your favorite book from 2016 and the reason you liked it. I’ll add your book to a list of recommendations and your name to a drawing of potential winners. In the end, we’ll have a collection of fabulous book titles to use as a shopping guide, and one lucky reader will have a new book to read.
Favorite Books of 2016: Giveaway details
- You may enter the giveaway by commenting on my blog, my Facebook profile, my Twitter feed, or my Instagram Favorite Book post by December 12, 2016.
- Your comment must include your favorite book from 2016 and a short explanation of why you recommend it. All genres welcome.
- The book doesn’t have to be published in 2016, just read in 2016.
- I will announce the winner on Monday, December 12, 2016 with the full list of favorites. That will give you plenty of shopping time. 😉
- The giveaway winner must choose a book and provide mailing address.
The first suggestion
I love Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and have given it as a gift several times this year with enthusiastic responses. My book club enjoyed it as well. Moriarty combines wit, sensitivity, and suspense in this novel about an unexpected death at a primary school fundraiser. Using multiple points of view, Moriarty cleverly dispenses clues to her mystery while also exploring sensitive issues like domestic abuse and assault. There’s a foreboding sense of doom that hangs over the novel and keeps the pages turning, but Big Little Lies balances the dark themes with hilarious and accurate commentary on domestic life and the challenges of parenting and marriage.
I listened to the audio book of Big Little Lies, which is performed perfectly by Caroline Lee. However, audio books don’t gift well, so for the holidays, I recommend a hard copy.
Now it’s your turn. What was your favorite book of 2016 and why. Please share this post to social media so that we can get a lot of responses and a giant list of ideas.
Thanks for sharing!
My favorite read of the year is a delicious thriller of a science fiction novel called 14 by Peter Clines. It features a very strange apartment building where every unit is unique, strange asymmetrical cockroaches, cold spots, cryptic writing behind the wallpaper, and most intriguing of all, Unit 14 is padlocked shut.
14 inspired me. It gave me an idea about how to take a manuscript that died on submission, trash everything about it except the premise, and rewrite it with a new cast of characters, setting, and mood.
Cool, Dianne! Both for the thrilling suggestion and for the fact that this book inspired you to rework a novel idea. Good luck with the rewrite, and thanks for contributing. 🙂
Hi Julia,
I just can’t bring it down to one so I’m listing two favorite books for this year – A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Into the Dark by JA Sutherland.
A Prayer for Owen Meany is a big book with 680 pages or a near 27 hour audio book. I listened to the audio book and it was fabulous. There is never a dull moment as it follows the two main characters from childhood to adulthood. It is funny, sad, touching, poignant, thought provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.
Into the Dark was a complete surprise to me that I would like it so much. It’s science fiction of which I’m not much of a fan. But this story changed my mind about all that. Ships, captains, shipmates, sailing, naval adventures, pirates, enemies, New London, loved ones, action, drama, suspense, and a heroine – ALL SET IN DEEP SPACE. I thought it was brilliant, unique, and entertaining as the young heroine faces enemies from without and surprisingly from within. Elizabeth Klett narrates the audio book beautifully! In fact, I think the audio version is what made the experience so wonderful for me.
I hope you have a chance to read either of these and enjoy them as much as I did.
Wow, great suggestions, and I’m always looking for audio books. I’m not a big sci fi fan either, but you make a good case for Into the Dark. These are titles I’ve never heard of, and I’m glad you’ve added them to the list.
My favorite read this year was The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. At first I really didn’t “like” this book, not because it isn’t well written, because quite the contrary, it is beautifully written, but because it made me FEEL so much. It’s graphic tales of the things these men carried, both physically and mentally was heartbreaking. This book tells the horrors, the friendship, the fear and the shame of the Vietnam war with brutal honesty. This book prompted me to do more research about this time in history, but also to have a new respect for my husband who is a veteran, and for the many veterans who have served and are currently serving, who may have had similar experiences.
Wow, I’m not sure if I can do this one, but it sounds like a powerful book and a “hard” one worthy of reading. Thanks Erin!
Thank goodness for Goodreads – I consulted my list of books read this year, and I’m torn between a few as my favorite. In the running: contemporary fiction (Faithful by Alice Hoffman), memoir (You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein), fantasy (The Court of Mist and Fury) and nonfiction/history (The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration). I will choose You’ll Grow Out of It because I think it’s the best book to give as a gift. Jessi Klein is a comedy writer, but her memoir proves she can pen much more than one liners. Each essay is honest and real, and covers everything from her tomboy childhood, her dating life, to her quest for the perfect wedding dress. It’s a relatable, honest, and very funny book.
I like funny! Holiday craziness is a good time for funny. Thanks for these suggestions.
Well my very over-ambitious reading goal of 100 books this year has not been met by a long shot. But. I’m back to reading more than I was in previous years, so…that’s good. Although if I actually FINISHED books I’ve started, I’d be a lot closer to my 100 goal! 😀 I’m easily distracted…
Anyway, I think my favorite this year has to be Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Non-fiction about, well, introversion and all that makes introverts tick. It’s excellent. I highly recommend if you are an introvert or know/love one.
I’m currently re-reading Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine and it is a beautiful gem! I read it probably 30 years ago and had quite forgotten it. Well worth picking up again. It leaves me speechless; it’s that gorgeous. A stunning and haunting coming-of-age.
These are great, Lisa. I have several introverts in my family and bought Cain’s book years ago for them. I’ve been meaning to read it but forgot. I’ll pull it off of the shelf and stick it on my night stand. Thanks for the suggestions!
I’m on my second read of Quiet. It’s great.
I read four Liane Moriarty books Jan-March and LOVED them all. How can I choose??? I’m going to deviate and pick something totally different: “Hamilton, the Revolution,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. Genre? It’s a libretto, and winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. What I love about this book, is Manuel’s 200 personal notes through out the text. It tells the story of a revolution – the one that founded this story, but also how this brilliant story came to be. I might be more than slightly obsessed 🙂
You and Dana are definite Hamilton addicts. I will probably get this as I’m not sure when we’ll be able to see the show. “Libretto”? That’s a new one for me; sounds like a blog post topic… Thanks!
2016 was a bit of a reading dud year for me but the book I recommended the most frequently and the most enthusiastically was the short memoir Beginning French: Lessons from a Stone Farmhouse by Les Americans. It’s about a California couple buying a old farmhouse in southern France and living there part of each year. We vacationed in France close to where Marty & Eileen bought their stone farmhouse and I loved reading about the area.
Great suggestion, Debbie. How fun that you could travel near the farmhouse.
I’ve got lots that I liked a lot, but the one that probably surprised me with LOVE the most was a MG book called The Inquisitor’s Apprentice~ I had never heard of it (it’s a bit older) and picked it up at the library and devoured it! It had a wonderful voice, great setting descriptions, and some deep questions were explored (plus it was FUN to read). Others favorites were The Empress of Bright Moon & The Moon in the Palace, adult historical fiction by Weina Dai Randel~ FABULOUS historical fiction.
Thanks Jessica! I can always count on you for great Kid Lit recommendations! I need this for Christmas! Thanks also for the historical fiction- not a typical genre I read so thanks for adding that to our list! 🙂
My favorite read of 2016 has been Driving Hungry: A Memoir by Layne Mosler
It’s a memoir that’s part travel writing, restaurant review, and cultural study, and love story. I enjoyed it all! The book was the beginning of her blog Taxi Gourmet.
Travel, food, and a love story? Sounds fabulous! I’ve never heard of this, so thank you very much for sharing. 🙂
Hi Julia! Wow, one favorite book is hard. I read a few good ones this year. I was surprised by “Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be your Own Person” by Shonda Rhimes. I really enjoyed it. It seems Ms Rhimes is an introvert (not surprising for a writer but surprising for her position in Hollywood) and she decided that she needed to make some changes in her life. I think one of the funniest parts was the list of things that would happen if she were to do (fill in the blank). She had a whole list of things to keep her from accepting invitations. (Falling on her way out to be on a talk show and ending up unconscious was one outcome she envisioned.) I could relate to her fears and trepidation. It is written in a casual style that I found enjoyable.
If someone has move of a bend toward mysteries, then my current favorite are the Louise Penny books. You do need to read them in order. I happened upon “Still Life” (the first book) by happy accident. This year’s book, “A Great Reckoning” catches you from the beginning and doesn’t let go until the end.
Thanks for the opportunity to share fav books! Can’t wait to see the list.
Carol, these are great recommendations, and you’re right, just one is hard. I’m going to change the Giveaway Guidelines! The Year of Yes sounds intriguing, and thanks for the tip on the mysteries.