It doesn't count if there's no books.

I'm lucky enough that I come from a family where books have always been appreciated gifts. Though throughout our extended family, reading tastes differ quite a lot, books have always been a staple of Christmas or birthday parties. Christmas shopping for family was always going to the bookstore, and then wrangling up something else like a sweater or a bathing set or something to prop up the gift bag - but the book was always the main aspect.

Needless to say my happiest and most memorable Christmases past involved books. What do you want? Books. Always. Irrespective of how many books I'm reading or want to read. There's just so many of them, and such a broadness of subjects, it's an inexhaustible gift supply in my opinion.

Not a present per se, though I consider it a great gift from my lovely @ladyrebecca, introducing me to the one and only Sir Terry. I re-read this one every year at Christmas Hogswatch.

Of course, the gifts I make typically involve a book of some kind, and I realize that's not always appreciated. I have friends who don't really read much. I realize there would be things they might appreciate more than a book, but I don't really care. I'm one of those people who think that people who say they dislike reading simply haven't found the right book. Yet.

I just try to help them along. And it's a constant exercise, reminding myself they're not in the same life place I am in, and might not appreciate the same books I would. I try not to be preachy about the books I buy, because I know if it feels like I'm telling them what they should be reading, they'll like it even less.

And I don't think there's things you should be reading. Not really. I just think you should read. Period. What you read is up to you, though ideally it wouldn't all be entrepreneurship guru-type books, as those seldom feed the soul in the way fiction does. As with any diet, I think it requires a great deal of variety to maintain proper working order.

If last year, I was buying self-help/psychology books to everyone who matters, this year I've been buying them all fiction. I'm simply not in the place I was this time last year. While some of those were appreciated, I know, others were not. The trouble with going through an aha moment is you expect everyone else is going through it as well, when they're not. So I've stopped trying to get them to. So I've bought all of them fiction books, and I'm quite excited. I think this year's gonna go down a lot better than last one. I know for a fact they're all looking for or at least open to books (then again, most people who are part of my life have accustomed themselves to this reality of the gifting experience).

For myself, I hate asking for stuff, mainly because I have what I need. I don't like asking for a shirt or a scarf that I might wear but I don't really need. However, books and music, I have no qualms asking for. This year, I've opted for non-fiction. I'm hoping Santa's generosity comes in the form of Jane Birkin's diaries and a series of love letters between French artist Antonin Artaud and his muse, Genica Athanasiou.

All my favorite Christmas memories involve literature, as I've said. I've always loved Christmas a great deal, the ritual of it, the preparation of it. I loved sitting down for lunch with my grandmother and discovering new games with my little brother when he was still small. But best of all, I loved curling up on the couch with a new book.

I got this one above when I was 16 - he's a very famous Romanian actor. I'd just seen his one-man show and was in awe. I remember walking out and starting to text all my friends, telling them how amazing this guy was. I must've taken several people down the years to see his shows. Almost a decade later, I still think he's pretty amazing. So of course, when I found out he'd published a couple of short story collections, with this one having just launched at the time, I knew what I wanted for Christmas. It's still one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever, and I still love so many of the stories in it. Dude's got a great mind.

There is, to books, a feeling of starting anew, of a fresh beginning. And what better way to commence the New Year than by reading, ideally by discovering a new author or a new series or a new idea? I began 2024 by reading Alain de Botton's A Therapeutic Journey, a Christmas present of course, and loved it. It set the scene. It suggested there's so many wonderful things to discover in the world in the coming year.

And how else are you supposed to begin?