10 Books That Are Great to Give as Gifts

(SPOT.ph) Books make great gifts, regardless of whether someone is a bookworm or not. 

Think about it: books are both a generic stocking stuffer and a highly personal gift. You can find books that are sure to fit every personality type. But at the same time, they can also be an I-thought-of-you-when-I-saw-this gift, making them rank high on the aww-you-remembered scale. Another perk is their accessibility; you can easily buy them online and at physical stores.

Books are great, but the sheer number of options can make choosing the perfect book overwhelming and confusing. Don't worry; we've got you. We've rounded up some sure-fire gifting hits that anyone would be happy to receive.

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Here are 10 books that are great gifts to give 

She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa

Perfect for: Your barkada's resident cat lady, a.k.a. the feline-obsessed friend.
Where to buy: Lazada, Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon.

If your friend's stories always involve her cat or pet in any way, then this is the best gift for them.

She and Her Cat follows four women and their interconnected lives with their cats. What's unique about this Makoto Shinkai tale is that it's told from both the perspective of the cat and their owner, shifting throughout the narrative and providing readers with curious insights into the secret lives of cats and how they see their humans. But more importantly, the story is a poignant commentary on the desire for connection and love.  All in all, a great cozy read if you love the vivid imagery of Japanese storytelling.  

Love on the Second Read by Mica De Leon

Perfect for: Your friend crushing on someone they work with.
Where to buy: Lazada and Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon.

We've all been there. We've all had a crush on someone we've spent so many hours in a high-pressure situation with. Whether or not that ended in heartbreak or a love match is a whole different story, but if you (or your friend)  want to relive the kilig, the confusion, and the mess that is an office romance, grab this read ASAP. 

Love on the Second Read is an enemies-to-lovers office romance with lighthearted, kilig-filled scenes that will bring you back to your puppy love phase.  

Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yun

Perfect for: Your friend with a lot of what-ifs and regrets.
Where to buy: Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon.

Marigold Mind Laundry may sound new to us but this book is already a bestseller in its home country of South Korea. This cozy read is perfect for anyone who ruminates about all their mistakes and finds it hard to forgive themselves for every little thing.

It follows Jieun, a woman blessed with powers she doesn't know how to control, so much so that she erased her entire family's existence—a mistake she's still trying to fix millennia later. But at the Marigold Mind Laundry, Jieun can erase her customers' pain by transferring their sadness onto T-shirts as stains. After a spin in the washing machine, the stains become flower petals that soar into the air, and Jieun’s customers find solace. Marigold Mind Laundry is a moving tale on how forgiving ourselves is the only way to find peace. 

The End Is Here by Shiela Familaran, Shim Simplina, Kenneth Daniel Olanday, Kaede Maple, M Laurel, and Mica De Leon

Perfect for: Your friend who loves an adventure.
Where to buy: Lazada and Shopee

Remember in the late '90s and early 2000s when the Goosebumps choose-your-own-adventure books were all the rage? Well, The End Is Here is precisely like that—only instead of horror stories, it covers multiple retellings of an apocalyptic adventure.

Whether the apocalypse comes in the form of an alien invasion, a zombie breakout, or an eternal winter is all based on your decisions.  The End Is Here has 39 different outcomes, and only you can decide your path. You better choose well—not all those outcomes end with you alive.

Toto by AJ Hackwith

Perfect for: Your friend who is obsessed with Wicked or dogs (or both).
Where to buy: Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon.

With all the hype over Wicked in the past few weeks, giving Toto as a gift is totally warranted. For the uninitiated, Toto is Wizard of Oz Dorothy's dog companion.  While he never really gets much air time in the main narrative, this book lets us in on his totally unhinged and unfiltered thoughts about the chaos that ensued in the land of Oz. Do you think Toto was just a loyal familiar by Dorothy's side? Nope, he's one sassy dog with a lot of thoughts, and if this remotely reflects what our dogs think of us in real life, then we're a bit scared. 

Toto follows pretty much the same narrative as the original story of The Wizard of Oz, but brace yourselves for a few additional characters and subplots here and there.

Philippine Food Holidays by Clang Garcia

Perfect for: Your friend who loves food and travel. 
Where to buy: Message the Philippine Food Holidays Facebook page. 

The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and 82 provinces, resulting in a diverse culinary landscape. If you have a friend who always has a bag packed and is ready to go on an adventure, give them this guide and help them plan their next adventure around the food of a specific area.

Go on a flavorful journey across the Philippines with tour guide and renowned culinary and gastronomy tourism expert Clang Garcia. More than just being a list of spots to visit, Philippine Food Holidays celebrates crowd-favorite dishes, rich traditions, and vibrant food festivals from different regions of the country. Its detailed text is enough to lead you from one adventure to the other while also being coy enough to have you want to try out the food yourself.

Anvil Publishing's Nick Joaquin Collection

Perfect for: Your friend building a mini-library.
Where to buy: Available online at Anvil Publishing's official stores in Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok, as well as in select National Book Store branches.

We all have that one friend who loves to collect different editions of books as part of their collection. You might see them eyeing a classic or a new read based on its cover, so why not help them out and give them copies of Nick Joaquin classics to add vibrant Filipino classics to their collection? Every library must have at least one book from Nick Joaquin, who's widely regarded as the greatest Filipino writer of the 20th century—so why not make it from these beautiful reprints with stunning covers? You don't need to choose just one; with each priced at less than P200, you could get the entire set without breaking the bank.

Titles included in the refreshed edition of Nick Joaquin classics include Candido's Apocalypse, Cave and Shadows, Gotita de Dragon and Other Stories, May Day Eve and Other Stories, The Summer Solstice and Other Stories, The Woman Who Had Two Navels, and Tropical Baroque: Four Manileno Theatricals.

Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

Perfect for: Your friend who always asks for advice.
Where to buy:  Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon.

We all have that one friend who's either crying over a boy, lost in their career, or dealing with expectations—basically, one who always needs some advice. If you already have that one friend in mind who would benefit from real talk and no-holds-barred, no-nonsense advice, let Sugar do all the talking for you.

Tiny Beautiful Things is a collection of real, anonymous letters received through the years by Cheryl Strayed during her stint as an advice columnist known as Sugar. It covers topics from love, marriage and fidelity, family, career—life as we know it. It's the type of book you're not meant to finish in one sitting. It's the type you come back to at every point in your life depending on what you need to hear at the moment, much like a friend ready to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Fun fact: Tiny Beautiful Things has recently been staged as a theater production this year by The Sandbox Collective. It starred Iza Calzado as the titular Sugar, along with a rotating cast of anonymous letter writers portrayed by Rody Vera, Gabby Padilla, Ketchup Eusebio, and Gawad Buhay awardees Regina De Vera and Brian Sy.

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia Manansala

Perfect for: Your friend who loves to gossip and eat.
Where to buy: Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon.

Adobo and Arsenic is the first book in a series but TBH, it's such a good start. The book follows Lila Macapagal, who, following a bad breakup, moves back home to help out at her family's failing Filipino restaurant. It starts off as a cozy book about food and family but quickly turns into a murder mystery when the town's toughest food critic—who also happens to be her ex—drops dead at their restaurant. Watch Mia attempt to save their restaurant and solve the mystery with the help of all the nosy titas.  

The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon So Min

Perfect for: Your friend on the verge of burnout and in need of a warm hug.
Where to buy: Lazada, Fully Booked online and in physical stores nationwide. The ebook version is available on Amazon. 

Raise your hand if you've ever felt like just quitting your job. If you raised your hand (which we're pretty sure you did), this book is for you. 

TV broadcaster Jungmin was burnt out, to say the least, when she abruptly left her job. Now in her thirties and in the middle of a depressive episode, Jungmin stumbles upon a mysterious pottery shop, and slowly and surely, much like how the ceramics are made, Jungmin finds herself once again. This book is relatable, with lots of heartwarming and cozy imagery that makes the reader feel seen and heard in their own struggles. It's like a warm hug, perfect for anyone going through a rough career patch. This Korean bestseller shows how art and slowing down can be exactly what you need to start anew. 

Check out our other book recommendations:
10 Must-Read Books By Filipino Authors
10 Books We Can’t Wait to Hit the Shelves

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