Hi all! Happy Friday! I’m so glad it’s the weekend! I’ll be decorating and Christmas shopping this weekend (and working on more gift guides).
If you’re not done shopping yet, think about giving a fun book as a gift! I’m going to be featuring a bunch of books this season. All of the books below will make thoughtful gifts and they are available on Amazon and most on Kindle for quick and easy giving!
An Old-Fashioned Christmas ($12.95 USD) — An Old-Fashioned Christmas presents a carefully curated collection of inspirational, meaningful and fun quotes celebrating the spirit of the holidays.
Deck the halls with boughs of jolly and the An Old-Fashioned Christmas. Chock full of holiday sentiments and joyous words, this Christmas quote book is the perfect stocking stuffer book for the season.
The Enchanted Sonata is a fresh, whimsical retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper, which will captivate readers of all ages. The Enchanted Sonata was written by Heather Dixon Wallwork, who has worked as a storyboard lead for Disney and is the author of two novels published by HarperCollins.
In The Enchanted Sonata, 15-year-old Clara Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: marry the handsome pianist, Johann Kahler (ah!), and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes when Clara receives a mysterious and magical nutcracker. Whisked away to his world—an enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a prince—Clara must face a magician who uses music as magic…and the future she thought she wanted.
Dixon Wallwork is a musician, animator and author. Working under Disney Interactive, she has illustrated for many popular franchises including Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar, and was the story lead for the Moana playset. She is the author of two novels published by Greenwillow Books – HarperCollins: Entwined and Illusionarium.
Ciao Italia Lifelong Adventures ($25.12 Legions of loyal fans of Mary Ann Esposito’s groundbreaking PBS cooking show CIAO ITALIA have enjoyed cooking with and learning from this beloved television personality, a trailblazer who helped spark a billion dollar food media industry and paved the way for countless other television chefs. Fans have three words to describe her cooking style: traditional, authentic and passionate. From creating and launching CIAO ITALIA in 1989 to authoring 12 cookbooks, Esposito has inspired a worldwide audience who want to know more about Italian food and culture.
Musing Mediterranean — ($15.56 USD) When Beth Daigle’s husband, Tony, announced that he was planning a two-week Mediterranean cruise, she wasn’t exactly excited. Plagued by anxieties about leaving home and air travel, as well as the fact that this was to be a multi-generational family vacation including her parents, daughters, sister and her family, there was some definite potential for disaster. Despite that phobia and reluctance, though, the Mediterranean called her in a way that she couldn’t deny—she’s half Greek and half Italian, and seeing her ancestral countries had always been a dream. Musing Mediterranean is the full account of that dream coming true—from the planning phase to the return home, Daigle takes us along on her family’s journey through Rome, Sicily, Athens, Ephesus, the Greek Islands, and Naples.
In her warm and approachable prose, Daigle communicates the beauty, history, architecture and culture of each location that her family visits, and a sense of awe that the trip has given her for what is truly a life altering experience. Whether or not you’ve experienced the beauty of the places Daigle visits in this book firsthand, you’ll feel like you have after going on this journey with her. Most importantly though, in a time when we could all use a bit of an escape now and then, Musing Mediterraneanis an unequivocally happy book that injects humor wherever possible. One that will make readers glad they’ve read it.
Do you like to give books for gifts? What kinds do you like to give (or get)?
Forty, Flirty & Fabulous 