You: “Is there anything you wanted to buy anyway that I could get you?”
Friend/family/dog: “No, there’s nothing I can think of!”
Every. Year.
Turnaround’s marketing team have put together the ultimate gift guide so that you don’t have to worry about this conversation anymore. (I mean, really, why do we bother to ask when no one ever says what they actually want?).
In the marketing team we’ve each selected a book we’d like to receive as a gift (hint hint friends and family) and a book we’d give as a gift to a specific person. Browse our top picks:
Tanyel:
A book I’d like to receive: Creative Inspiration: Vincent Van Gogh, 9781910463574, September Publishing, £10.99
I recently went to Amsterdam for a break (and man do I wish I was still there…) and my favourite day spent there with my friend began with a visit to the Van Gogh Museum. We were amazed at how much there was we didn’t know about old Vincent. One thing that struck us both was how elegant his writing and use of language was in his letters to his brother. So a collection of snippets of Van Gogh’s poetic phrases alongside images of his paintings isn’t a gift you can go far wrong with.
A book I’d give: London Coffee, 9781910566251, Hoxton Mini Press, £20.00
One of my oldest friends, Alex, is never in London for long enough. She’ll be somewhere else in the UK or in a shoddy car driving care-free around a foreign country (while we’re at home all praying that car makes it through the journey) – to be honest, I think we can all take a leaf out of her stress-free book. However, for selfish reasons grounded in friendship, I want her to spend just a little more time in London. Her other love in life is coffee. So what better gift to tempt her to indulge in the best coffee London specifically has to offer…
Sarah:
The gift I’d pick for myself: Femina & Fauna, The Art of Camilla d’Errico, 9781506703060, Dark Horse, £20.99
As a huge fan of fantasy, fairy tales, anime and art – Femina and Fauna is right up my street! This would be the perfect gift to give myself on Christmas. This beautiful edition showcases the captivating artwork of superstar artist Camilla d’Errico; a breath-taking display of the weird, wacky and simply wonderful. A truly inspirational book that fantasy and pop art fanatics will have a field day looking at and which also makes the perfect keepsake.
The gift I’d pick for someone else: Tale As Old As Time, 9781484758373, Disney Editions, £41.99
My friend absolutely adores Disney, and the Beauty and the Beast is her all-time favourite Disney animation, so what better present to give her than this one?! Tale As Old As Time is an exquisite edition, with stunning images, enchanting illustrations, including never-before-seen scenes from behind the live action movie starring Emma Watson. Fans will also be privy to exclusive interviews with the artists, and voice-over actors, as well as transcripts of meetings and story sessions that any Beauty and the Beast fan will cherish.
Rachel:
The book I’d like: Chronicle of the Murdered House, 9781940953502, Open Letter Books, £15.99
No one ever buys me books because I read so much and they never know if I’ve already got something. This is the gift I would most like myself – I’ve wanted to read it for ages. Winner of the Best Translated Book Award for Fiction 2017 it’s an epic of Brazilian literature from the late 1950s, and this is the first time it’s been translated into English. With a premise that reads like an ever-madder, queer One Hundred Years of Solitude, the plot revolves around a family of decaying repute – full of stories of adultery, incest, and madness, and told through a variety of narrative devices, including letters, diaries, memoirs, statements, confessions, and accounts written by various characters.
The perfect gift for someone: Naturally Vegetarian, 9781101983591, Avery, £29.99
I pretty much always buy everyone books for Christmas (not sure if everyone always appreciate this!) and cookbooks, I think, make some of the best book-gifts. I will be buying Naturally Vegetarian for my in-laws, vegetarians who love food and cooking. It’s a really beautiful book, full of stunning colour photographs – all taken by the author, who is a food photographer and creator of the hugely popular blog Hortus Cuisine. This is a collection of really brilliant Italian recipes, all based around fresh, seasonal vegetables and family cooking. Cookbooks have the added advantage of being the gift that gives back – as the people you buy them for want to make the recipes in there for you – so everyone’s a winner!
Clare:
A gift I’m hoping on: One Gun Ranch, Malibu, 9781941393529, Regan Arts, £33.99
For most of the year I’m a paperback girl – I’m one of those terrible creatures who shoves pristine books into filthy bags, folds down corners, and (occasionally) drops particularly weighty tomes into the bath (sorry HP4) – so I simply don’t deserve nice things. Except, EXCEPT, at Christmas, where you can find me on my elbows under the tree, huffing pine and turning pages of gorgeous books with careful reverence. This year I want One Gun Ranch, Malibu by Regan Arts – a super organic, super beautiful lifestyle guide from authors Alice Bamford and Ann Eysenring, who live on a farm in paradise, moments from the Pacific Ocean. Through their saintly examples I will explore holistic eating and al fresco exercise, and resolutely make plans for the year ahead. Then I’ll heave myself off the floor and refill my mulled wine, thankful that 2018 is still a few weeks away.
A gift for a loved one: The Cannabis Grow Bible 3, 9781937866365, Green Candy, £34.99
My grandad has always been a keen gardener, but these days he has dialled back the attention he gives to the bulk of the garden and is instead focusing more on his greenhouse. Always up for a new project, this would be ideal, as cannabis plants thrive on warmer temperatures (and artificial lamps). Grandad’s relationship with ‘wacky baccy’ so far has been limited, mostly consisting of him mistakenly buying camera straps/clothing accessories patterned with marijuana leaves… but, as we all know, it’s never too late to teach an old dog new cannabinoid extraction techniques! The Grow Bible 3 is unparalleled in level of detail, and features full colour photos so that, if nothing else, at least he’ll be able to pick out those leaves when he sees them. Merry Christmas G!
Jenn:
What I’d like as a gift: Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Jaime Hernandez, 9781606999967, Fantagraphics, £150.00
This book is too big to fit on my boat and also very expensive, but in a world where I live in a larger home and have rich friends, it is what I would like. I’ve been obsessed with Jaime Hernandez’s Love & Rockets comics for more than a decade. His characters Maggie and Hopey have got me through some tough times and some amazing times. I am so fond of them I have literally tattooed them on my leg. This Studio Edition collects 200 pages of raw art at the size it was created. It includes 14 stories, unpublished stories, and lots of other exciting bonus stuff. Please?
What I’d give as a gift: Are You in the House Alone?, 9781909394445, Headpress, £16.99
One of the things I enjoy doing is watching really crap movies with my girlfriend and our mates Mal and Xander. We go over to their house via the pub, eat snacks and drink booze and watch bad films. Our preferred genres are horror and disaster, and anything with sharks. Some highlights include Zombeavers (yes, this is real), Birdemic (you should watch this for the special effects) and Ghost Shark (unforgettable). For this reason, I would buy Are You in the House Alone? for Mal and Xander. It’s essentially a guide to TV movies: low budget genre films with pretty much no star appeal. Despite their crappiness, TV movies, much like pulp fiction, were culturally great at sneaking new ideas into the world, albeit in a ridiculous fashion. Are You in the House Alone? has a focus on horror, on small screen movies about women who kill, cults, possessed animals and haunted houses. Mal and Xander will never run out of things to invite us over to watch.
We wish you a happy Christmas and gift-giving!