(Part 3) Top products from r/santashelpers

I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.

 

Teen Fantasy:

 

Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.

The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.

Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.

User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.

Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.

Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.

 


Adult Fantasy:

 

Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.

Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.

Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --

An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!

 

Sci-fi:

 

Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).

Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.

Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.

 

Mature Humor:

 

He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.

Sourcery: Really, really funny.

Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.

Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.

 

I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.

I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.

Edit: Links

I agree with some of the other people that an 'experience' gift would be cool, a concert or spa day, but those aren't always feasible so I'll give you some gift gifts that have worked great for my mom.

Handmade soap! I was gifted some from here a while ago and it is amazing.

Some necklaces here and here off of etsy. I'm getting the gold one for my mom, I love the other one too.

I just discovered this expansion pack for Cards Against Humanity called Crabs Adjust Humidity and it looks AMAAAZING. Getting that for the family for Christmas. While getting the link I just noticed there are a few volumes too. Basically from the preview they look 10x as outrageous as regular CAH.

Have you heard of Humans of New York? He put out two books, one of them is 'Little Humans' that focuses on the kids he's taken pics of. My mom used to be a kindergarten teacher so I think it'll be great for her, kinda depends more on what your mom is like or if she'd be into that sort of thing. The other book would be more 'universally liked' but this one just came out this year.

Your mom sounds kinda zany so she might like this book too. I've given his books for several gifts to various people. They're just super chill and a lot of the pics have a neat message. I tore out several pages and have them framed around my house so maybe even buying the book for yourself and framing a page could be cool.

I got my mom a Sephora perfume sampler thing for Mother's day. One of those that comes with like 10 mini vials and then with a coupon for a free full size bottle of whichever she liked best.

Is she into makeup stuff? A birchbox subscription could be cool. I used to have one, they send you samples and sometimes full sized items once per month. There are a number of companies that do that too so you could shop around.

This is....kind of weird... but seriously the reviews are amazing. And it actually is like the most healthy way to do it. I'm getting one for me and my parents for xmas. They have a two pack for cheaper. It's kind of awkward but if your family is like that (mine are a bunch of jokesters) then it might be fine!

Wellll that's about all I can think of right now, hopefully something helped!!

I may be late to the party, but it seems you haven't received many suggestions.

For her decorating spirit, this book, The Perfectly Imperfect Home: How to Decorate and Live Well, seems like a great fit as the book is wonderfully written, not just photos and ideas, but it looks amazing nonetheless. You probably wouldn't go wrong with a cute jewelry box in pink, a quality one - on Amazon I've seen cheap looking ones or pretty expensive ones, although quality stuff.

Since she loves gardening, maybe she'd like a metal bicycle-shaped planter, beautiful to have in the garden. Or a gardening kit with high quality tools.

For your sister: you could get a Lush gift set with different bath bombs and lotions they have tons of pre- packaged Christmas gifts. Otherwise you could make like a spa kit? Include some lotions, nail polish, and some slippers. She would also probably appreciate a good book, you could get a fun memoir that almost everyone will like. A couple of good ones are (Mindy Kaling's)[http://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Hanging-Without-Other-Concerns/dp/0307886271], (Tina Fey's)[http://www.amazon.com/Bossypants-Tina-Fey/dp/0316056898/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DKE9VHSE47JT5861QM7], and (Amy Poehler's)[http://www.amazon.com/Yes-Please-Amy-Poehler/dp/0062268341/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=14XX5H3BTB60TZ13GJST] Another really fun book is Humans of New York which is on sale right now. Pinch Provisions offers some really cute emergency kits [http://www.pinchprovisions.com/] Maybe she'd like a perfume set or a cute mug with a starbucks gift card or some tea. You could also make a college kit for her; include advil, 5-hour energy, some candy, a starbucks/dominos gift card, tide-to-go pen, purell, first-aid kit, some nice pens.
For you parents you could get them tickets to a Comedy Club or Theater, or even just tickets to the movies and a nice dinner. Another possibility with movies is to make a little gift basket; include your favorite movie or one you think they would enjoy and then some popcorn and various candy [http://www.grannastreasures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/movie-night-gift-basket.jpg]. I'm not sure if your parents would enjoy it but a spa day? They could get a couples massage and just relax. Hope some of these ideas help!

Hi!
A few ideas:

• He likes cartography, writing, and you later say “nerdy” in your post. So maybe a book of fictional maps? This book (available here) gets generally good reviews and has essays reflecting on the maps, etc... If you spend elsewhere, I’m sure you could find a map or three online and print it, age it, and make it interesting in a different way.
  
• He likes typewriters and jewelry, so perhaps a typewriter key as a ring? They have the letter “Z” available. It would be more hipster if it could be used for wax seals, but that might be more of 10 years ago interesting than current.
  
• Depending on where you live, maybe the Les Miserables tour will be in your area? Not sure if that fits the budget.
  
  Hope one of these helps you come up with something!

>He doesn't need/want cookbooks - he loves coming up with his own recipes.

If he doesn't already own it, The Flavor Bible is a great gift for people that like to come up with their own recipes. It is essentially a reference of food and spice pairings, some classic (tomato and basil) and some you would never think of (oysters and tapioca?). I use it mainly whenever the seasoning seems just a touch "off" (What else goes with turkey? OK, I'll add some sage).

A drone, but that's over 200$ for a decent one.

What about a small, powerful flashlight she can keep in her purse? For general safety and when traveling. Something like the Olight S1R II baton.
Bonus is she can use it to to "paint" in light-photography.

The [Skinnytaste cookbook] (http://www.amazon.com/Skinnytaste-Cookbook-Light-Calories-Flavor/dp/0385345623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418503118&sr=8-1&keywords=skinnytaste) just came out. I don't own it yet but the author is a blogger and all the food from her blog is amazing and healthy -- great for someone trying to lose weight, even if she has other people who share meals with her.

If she likes baking, maybe some cake/cookie decorating supplies? I'm thinking cool cookie cutters, gel food coloring, an awesomely shaped bundt pan, etc. Or a cookbook! Even if she never cooks out of it, she might like just looking through it. (That's what I do with half of mine.)

Joy the Baker has a new cookbook, so maybe that plus this fleur de lis bundt pan?

Puppies underwater is a great book

https://www.amazon.com/Underwater-Dogs-Seth-Casteel/dp/0316227706/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1543533185&sr=8-2&keywords=puppies+underwater

Pandemic is an amazing adult board game that they might like

https://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-Games-ZM7101-Pandemic/dp/B00A2HD40E/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1543533222&sr=1-1&keywords=pandemic

Or also getting their dogs face as a magnet on for their fridge. You can get them done at Wallgreens or CVS, just bring your phone, plug it in and pick which photograph in your album and they turn it into a magnet.

I'm buying this book for everyone on my list that loves cooking. It's great!

Fifty Shades of Chicken.

Apparently it's pretty funny, and a completely useable cookbook.

I came across this activity book this morning. It'd be an unexpected gift for a drinker. Also, I know there's a ton of Japanese snacks on Amazon, not sure of the shipping costs though,

http://www.amazon.com/Imbibe-Professor-Featuringthe-Selection-Contributed/dp/0399532870

They have the hardcover version of one of those books for MUCH cheaper: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0032IZ2KK/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=1-1&qid=1415936555

If she enjoys reading at all, get her a copy of this book. It's intimidatingly big for non-readers, but every line is poetry. It made me want to visit India- not the rich, luxurious parts, but the slums, the dirty parts with real people.