Semicolon Book Recommendations

I just found this site, called Anne Knows Books, which offers personalized book recommendations for a reasonable price ($3.00 a month) based on a book profile that you fill out and update regularly. I also noted this post, Why I’m Not Making a Holiday Gift Guide by Alyssa at Everead, in which Alyssa offers to give you personalized book recommendations for yourself or for those who are on your Christmas shopping list.

Well, I generally give book recommendations at the end of the year to those who add a link to their “best of” reading lists at the Saturday Review of Books on the Saturday just before or after New Year’s Day. (The Saturday Review of Books, Special Edition for Book Lists will be January 3rd this time.) But I’d love to get a head start. If you have some Christmas shopping to do, and you’d like to buy a book for someone special, or if you’d like to have suggestion or two about what you might want to read next, leave me the following information, and I will suggest three or more books for you to choose from for your gift-giving. I need to know the gift recipient’s:

Age and gender
A few interests and hobbies
Two or three favorite books or genres, if you know

You could try Alyssa, too, or Anne Knows Books, and see if we come up with the same ideas. Have fun giving a book or two or three for Christmas. I’ll leave my suggestions in the comments section here, and I might compile them into a post at some time later in the season.

7 thoughts on “Semicolon Book Recommendations

  1. I would love recommendations for books my husband might like! Is this the right place to leave info?
    He is:
    – Male, late twenties
    – Engineer/computer programmer; likes classical music, some history, and theology/philosophy
    – Reads a lot of classic sci fi (Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, Orson Scot Card, and other sci fi authors I can’t remember); likes Gillian Bradshaw historical novels, likes Ursula Le Guin, Harry Potter
    – Reads books very quickly and focuses more on the author’s overall ideas than on grasping all of the tiny details. Likes seeing how different philosophical sci fi ideas get fleshed out.

    Thanks very much!

  2. Anna, your husband sounds a lot like mine, who is a NASA engineer. I would suggest, if he hasn’t read them:
    A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=13882
    The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=4357

    Perhaps, for nonfiction
    Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with his Father’s Questions about Christianity by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd.
    Death by Living by N.D. Wilson http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=21215

  3. Hey, Sherry! I’d love your input! My girls read voraciously but not terribly widely. My 10 year old loves very gentle mysteries (not scary ones) like most ifthe classic Nancy Drews and Trixie Beldens. She lives historical fiction, history in general, but oddly enough, her favorite series is Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga. Her hobbies are most handicrafts–crocheting, sewing, crafting in general.

    My 9 year old daughter is very similar in her likes and dislikes, though she enjoys science-y books more, including nonfiction. (Both girls also enjoy juvenile biographies, especially Childhood of Famous Americans.). This girl’s favorite series is Mysterious Benedict Society. She enjoys paper crafting and drawing. She creates beautiful and intricate snowflakes!

  4. Amy, I doubt I know of much in the way of children’s literature that you don’t already know about, but I’ll give it a shot.
    There’s a series of mysteries, published back in the sixties or maybe even the fifties, by Helen Fuller Orton. The first one, I believe, is called The Secret of the Rosewood Box, but any of hers that have “mystery” or “secret” in the title are good. They’re “tame” as you termed it, and they’re also historical fiction. I remember devouring them as a child. These are, of course, out of print, but you can pick up used copies on Amazon.

    My thirteen year old, who hates to read (ouch!), just finished Kiki Strike, and it reminds me a bit of Mysterious Benedict, although not as good. My older daughter’s review of Kiki Strike: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=1775

    As for this year’s crop of Cybils, I think my favorite so far has been The Orphan and the Mouse by Martha Freeman. I see that you commented on my review of that one. Be warned that it begins with the rather violent demise of a mouse character, but the rest of the book is not so bloody or nasty.

    Finally, have your girls read All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor? Those are quite lovely and could qualify as historical fiction since they’re set just before WWI.

  5. Thanks, Sherry! I’ll definitely check these out, especialy the older series you mention!

  6. Sherry,

    Thanks so much for the mention! It’s great to see other people doing personalized recommendations as well. 🙂

    Just a bit more about our gift subscriptions:
    – short but thorough survey to get to know your reader
    – 6 or 12 month subscription options
    – a beautifully styled email sent on the day of your choosing

    Learn more: http://anneknowsbooks.com/gift

    We’re proud to be a part of the book community and strive to be the best place for recommendations!

    Anne Knows Books

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