10 books to gift literally anyone on your Christmas list.

So you need to buy a Christmas gift for your brother, parents, partner, niece, in-laws, three different Secret Santas, work wife, the kids' teachers... and you’re stumped. 

Because goodness, where to begin. That's HEAPS. Maybe you’ve known them basically your entire life and you’ve run out of creative ideas. Or you know, you meet them once a year at parent-teacher interviews. Or maybe it’s your dad, because we all know dads are weirdly impossible to shop for. 

Regardless of who's on your to-buy-for list this season, they don't need to be a capital-R reader to love receiving a thoughtful book. I swear they're the best bang for your buck option when shopping for a personal present, and there's something so satisfying about whittling down that yuge Christmas list of yours in one swift transaction. That's like, 7 people's gifts, done.

There's absolutely something worth reading for everyone you need to buy for this year. Let's dive into 10 of Mamamia's recommendations that'd make the perfect gift, shall we?

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

Michelle Obama needs no introduction. With her trademark humour, compassion and incredible candour, she brings us her follow-up (!!!!) to her critically acclaimed, multi-million #1 bestselling memoir Becoming. 

“This book is a collection of stories and practices that have helped me sort through all the challenges and questions that keep us up at night: How do I know I’m good enough? How do I bring my whole self to the table? How can I overcome my fears?” she wrote in her book announcement on Instagram.

This memoir would make a beautiful Christmas gift to someone who loves self-help, and anyone who resonates with books exploring gender, race, working through fear, finding strength, and living with boldness. You'll most definitely want to borrow this powerful read back from whoever you gift it to.

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is back. She's the author behind fascinating and unforgettable heroines, and the queen of creating historical fiction so vivid, we feel every twist like it was actually happening to us. If there's a book worth gifting a few times over to your girlfriends and work colleagues, it's by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

In Carrie Soto Is Back, TJR explores complicated love, family-centred relationships, fame and the cost of greatness. Carrie Soto was the all-conquering star of the tennis world of the 1980s. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan on the verge of breaking her record.

At 37, Carrie makes a monumental decision: to come out of retirement and be coached by her father again for one last year, in an attempt to reclaim her record. Despite public scrutiny. Despite her body working against her. Despite the risk of failure. 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

This book is a fresh, warm, laugh-out-loud funny, charming delight. And compulsively readable. So an easy one to match exactly which person would love receiving it from you this Christmas.

Set in 1960s California, the novel follows chemist Elizabeth Zott. She's the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six, and her ~unusual~ approach to cooking proves revolutionary of the time. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.

Anyone who's big-hearted and bold, or a born leader would love this book. A beautiful one to gift educators too!

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

If you're gifting-hunting for a U2 fan, it's Bono who's picked up the pen this time for his very first memoir about his remarkable life and those he's shared it with.

Surrender covers it all: Bono's boyhood in Dublin, the sudden loss of his mother as a teenager, to U2's rise as one of world's most influential bands, and Bono's 20 years of activism dedicated to fighting AIDS and poverty. He writes with candour, self-reflection and humour, Bono opens the aperture on his life - and the family, friends and faith that have sustained, challenged and shaped him.

Fifteen Seconds of Brave by Melissa Doyle

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

Here's an intimate and insightful book recco for you. You probably know Melissa Doyle as an unwavering and trusted fixture from Channel 7. She's just turned 50, her eldest child has left home to move overseas and her twenty-five-year-long career on air has come to an end. Now Melissa's asking: when you're thrown off course by life, what comes next?

Fifteen Seconds of Brave shares the stories of some of the most resilient people she's ever met, gently drawing out their wisdom, empathy and heartfelt, practical advice for anyone who’s going through a difficult time. 

This book would be a thoughtful gift to remind someone that hope can prevail, if they're struggling to find their own strength right now.

One by Jamie Oliver

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

The perfect gift for anyone who loves to cook (or eat). 

This cookbook is smart simplicity at Jamie Oliver's best. Each recipe uses eight ingredients or fewer, requires minimal prep (and washing up, promise), and offers maximum convenience. Jamie's packed One with over 100 budget-friendly dishes you can rustle up any time – we're talkin' delicious WFH lunches, quick dinners whole families will *actually* love, and meals to get novice cooks started.

Plus, the cover's beaut so it gives them the option to exercise full bragging rights by keeping it on display.

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

This one's definitely for crime novel lovers (but the kind with a cheeky British charm, not the kind that keeps you up at night). The Bullet That Missed is the third mystery in the record-breaking Thursday Murder Club series – but before you ask, you don't actually have to have read the previous two to start at number three. Promise! 

The lovable gang of retirees-come-amateur-sleuths are back in this cracking read: Ron, Joyce, Ibrahim and Elizabeth. This time, a decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then, a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill . . . or be killed.

If heartwarming and hilarious is the vibe you're after, this one (or any in the Thursday Murder Club series) is an A+ gift idea.

No Plan B by Lee Child and Andrew Child

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

Now if crime with some REAL thrilling suspense is more what you're looking to gift, then No Plan B is absoluuuutely your Plan A then. It's the gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from easily one of the world's leading thriller writer Lee Child, and his younger brother, author Andrew Child.

Okay, so. Gerrardsville, Colorado. One tragic event. Two witnesses. Two conflicting accounts. One witness sees a woman throw herself in front of a bus. The other witness is Jack Reacher. And he sees what really happened. Her death was no accident.

Reacher is following answers that are part of something much bigger... a sinister, secret conspiracy, with powerful people enmeshed in an elaborate plot that leaves no room for error. This is edge-of-your-seat stuff, and a book that demands to be devoured in the Christmas break!

The Orphans by Fiona McIntosh

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

If historical stories set in the Australian desert sound like the right vibe for your giftee, it's gotta be Fiona McIntosh's new novel, The Orphans. You can basically hear the shears clipping and flies buzzing as she takes us through the outback of South Australia's Flinders Ranges in the 1930s. 

Orphan Fleur Appleby is adopted by a loving undertaker and his wife, and she quickly develops a special gift for helping bereaved families. Her ambition to be the first female mortician in the country is fuelled by her plan to bring more women into the male dominated funeral industry. 

But with time passing, a chance encounter from childhood, and a murder investigation, certain things will change the course of her life forever. 

Triple Cross by James Patterson

Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.

Even Lee Child praises this book, saying, "No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent – which is what Jim has, in spades. The Alex Cross series proves it." Well, add to cart immediately then. Detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson are chasing a brilliant murderer called 'The Family Man' in this (wait for it) 30th instalment of the bestselling Alex Cross series. Crime buffs who love edge-of-your-seat entertainment will love receiving this book!

The elevator pitch: They're strike under cover of darkness, triggering no alarms, and leaving no evidence behind. Detective Alex Cross is hunting a killer who targets families around Washington, DC. But Cross isn't the only one investigating.

Now, a charismatic true-crime author has spotted patterns in the actions of 'The Family Man' that others have missed. It's up to Cross to determine whether the writer's theories are fact or fiction.

Feature Image: Penguin Books Australia/Mamamia.