Our 2017 Christmas Gift Guide: What to buy your siblings
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.
If they’ve recently moved out of home…
- House plants are experiencing a revival of sorts and there are plenty of books with information about how to maintain and style them, such as the Plant Style, or the aptly named How Not to Kill Your House Plant.
- It’s common knowledge that most sharehouses in Australia come with spiders, lots of spiders. Help your sibling stay alive with this very informative reference book from Robert Whyte and Greg Anderson: A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia.
- Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is a brilliant and interesting cookbook that is built on the four key principles of cooking: Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat. It’s a staple for any kitchen, and a fun pick for a beginner cook.
- Elif Batuman explores literary ambition, female friendship, the Russian novel, and more in The Idiot – a very, very funny and incredibly relatable coming-of-age novel set on a campus.
- It’s time for someone else to answer their sex questions… Law School sees Benjamin Law and his mother, Jenny Phang, give their best advice for a host of tricky (sexy) dilemmas.
If they’re not enjoying high school…
- When John Waters delivered his gleefully subversive advice about creative life to the graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design, the speech went viral. His message is now condescended into a compact gift book, Make Trouble.
- Lorde’s sophomore album is a treat: Melodrama perfectly encapsulates the anxiety and heightened drama of late adolescence and your early 20s, plus it’s clever and catchy to boot.
- Written by world champion hula-hoop star Marawa Ibrahim, The Girl Guide is a frank and charming guide to puberty, written in consultation with Doctor Janice K Hillman.
- John Green writes wonderful, emotionally rich, contemporary coming-of-age stories that have wide appeal. His latest, Turtles All the Way Down, features a fugitive billionaire, Star Wars fan fiction, and New Zealand reptiles…
- Be a Unicorn is a sweet gift and quirky book about celebrating your individuality.
- You might also like to browse our gift guide for young people here.
If they’re engaged activists…
- Talking to My Daughter About the Economy is an informative and accessible history of capitalism from the renowned economist, Yanis Varoufakis.
- Rebecca Solnit is one of the most vital voices in current politics. The Mother of All Questions brings together a collection of her essays on feminism.
- Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race is a searing, concise and powerful long essay about race and racism in Britain from journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge.
- Depends What You Mean by Extremist is a startling, confronting portrait of contemporary Australia. John Safran embeds himself with Australian political extremists in an attempt to make sense of their views and lives.
- For politically engaged fiction we highly recommend On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong – a fast-paced narrative that is both thrilling and timely. Our managing director Mark Rubbo once described Serong as the thinking person’s adventure writer, and his third book lives up to this reputation.
If they’re creative and crafty…
- Renee Rominger shares 25 unconventional embroidery designs in Edgy Embroidery – instead of ‘Home Sweet Home’, your sibling can learn how to embroider ‘Smash the Patriarchy’ or add a flower crown to a cow skull…
- Do they like to get ambitious in the kitchen? Poh Bakes 100 Greats presents 100 recipes for baked goods that range from easy to more complex – and always scrumptious.
- The Museum of Words is a memoir from one of Australia’s best writers, Georgia Blain, who sadly passed away before the book’s publication. It’s a beautiful, moving reflection on language and the importance of storytelling in family life.
- DIY Dollhouse teaches readers how to build and furnish their very own eco-friendly dollhouse using recycled material. This is a great pick if your sibling has older children as all the projects are suitable for ages 8 and up.
- The Animators is Kayla Rae Whitaker’s fantastically juicy debut novel about a creative partnership between two women. You can listen to an interview with Whitaker about the book here.
- You can find even more crafty gift suggestions here.
If they relish a good page-turner…
- Set in a future where women develop the ability to kill men with a touch, The Power is an electrifying page-turner that explores timely issues including gender politics, religion, violence and the corrupting influence of power.
- One of our staff’s favourite books this year is Philip Pullman’s darkly thrilling fantasy novel, La Belle Sauvage. You can read why we love it so much here.
- Candice Fox writes brilliantly addictive crime fiction. Her latest is Crimson Lake – a sharp, crocodile-infested thriller.
- In Terra Nullius, Claire G. Coleman reimagines Australia’s colonial settlement, moving between perspectives and weaving in futuristic elements.
- For a tense high school drama, try Lindsey Lee Johnson’s The Most Dangerous Place on Earth, which makes vivid a modern adolescence lived in the gleam of the virtual.
If they’re in need of inspiration…
- Not Just Lucky is a feminist career manifesto and the debut book from writer, journalist and former political staffer, Jamila Rizvi. An excellent choice for the sibling who’s about to enter the workforce, or has recently started a new job.
- Instagram poet Rupi Kaur is one of the most popular poets of the contemporary. Her new collection, The Sun and Her Flowers, offers a refreshing new perspective on the world around us.
- Musician Patti Smith writes about her creative process in Devotion, a beautifully packaged and original gift book.
- Perhaps your sibling would enjoy reading about the live of an inspiring person, such as footballer Nick Riewoldt in The Things That Make Us or Gail Kelly in Live Lead Learn.
- Or how about 200 inspiring people… 200 Women is a stunning photography book, complete with interviews from the participants.
If they want books that make them laugh…
- Titus O'Reily, Australia’s least insightful sports writer, gifts readers A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport. In his inimitable comic style, he explains how sport has shaped this wide brown country into the greatest nation to ever stride the sporting globe.
- Created by two film critics and friends – The Hot Guy is a warm, savvy, and genuine romcom, with characters you won’t want to kick out of bed.
- Wellmania is an in-depth, entertaining, laugh-out-loud-funny exploration of one of the weirdest trends in our culture – the cult of wellness.
- We’re delighted that comedian Tony Martin has released his first novel! Deadly Kerfuffle is a biting satire about the kind of paranoia that could only ever blossom in the quietest and safest of places.
- In the wryly hilarious Goodbye, Vitamin a woman returns home to care for her father with Alzheimer’s disease. This debut novel was voted among our top 10 fiction books of the year by our booksellers.
If they’re always giving you recommendations for things to listen to and watch…
- No Way! Okay, Fine is a memoir that examines pop culture and feminism. Brodie Lancaster is a fresh and engaging new Australian voice for fans of Lena Dunham and Lindy West.
- For the sibling who binged Stranger Things, The Book of Barb is an illustrated tribute to the iconic wingwoman, and would make a great Kris Kringle.
- Heather, The Totality is the first novel from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner – a menacing domestic drama that has echoes of Richard Yates.
- If your sibling attend gigs every other weekend, Zo Damage’s photography book would make a rather special gift. Back in 2016, Zo set out to document 365 consecutive days of live music and music culture through her lens. Afterwards, she published The Damage Report, which brings together a selection of her immersive photography with a selection of quotes and abstracts from artists featured.
- Yes, Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit exists and it might just be the perfect gift for your sibling – or maybe for yourself…
