# Birthday Present Help. Book Snobs Wanted! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808 "2012-08-27T12:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/1 "2012-08-27T12:36:15Z")
I need to buy a Kindle book gift today… The reader is a 60 yr old white, upper class woman who reads a lot (!). What is new and interesting that everybody is talking about? It’s my mom, so no 50 Shades of Whateves. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/2 "2012-08-27T12:46:03Z")
I’m not sure if you’re looking for fiction or non-fiction, but my dad (also a sixty-year-old, white, upper-class, frequent reader) is loving Robert K. Massie’s biography of Catherine the Great that was released last year. He was also a big fan of Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic, about James Garfield. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/3 "2012-08-27T13:14:39Z")
_The Disappearing Spoon_, by Sam Kean, is a wonderful non-fiction book that got quite a bit of attention when it came out a couple of years ago. It’s about the various elements on the periodic table and it has some great stories about how they were discovered. Its author just came out with a new book, _The Violinist’s Thumb_, which also got good reviews but which I haven’t read yet. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/4 "2012-08-27T13:22:44Z")
_Unbroken_, Laura Hillenbrand, and _Killing Lincoln_, O’Reilly and Dugard, are both popular non-fiction. Of course, if she reads “a lot (!),” she may already have read these. Does she have a preferred genre? I can suggest lots of mystery names. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/5 "2012-08-27T13:41:38Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > _The Disappearing Spoon_, by Sam Kean, is a wonderful non-fiction book that got quite a bit of attention when it came out a couple of years ago. It’s about the various elements on the periodic table and it has some great stories about how they were discovered. And if you’re looking for popular science, Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook (about the science of forensics in 1920s New York) is also terrific. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/6 "2012-08-27T14:04:00Z")
My wife, who is not prone to reading much fiction, absolutely loves Alexander McCall Smith and his various series, including [The #1 Ladies Detective Agency](http://www.amazon.com/The-Ladies-Detective-Agency-ebook/dp/B000FBJF6Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346076176&sr=1-1&keywords=ladies+detective+agency) series. The first book is only $7.99 now, so you could include it with whatever else you buy. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/7 "2012-08-27T15:08:54Z")
Thanks everyone. She actually has read several of these (?!) I got her Gone Girl by Flynn. (My sister keeps tabs on her kindle history or whatever.) Great recommendations though. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthday-present-help-book-snobs-wanted/632808/8 "2012-08-27T15:16:46Z")
If she hasn’t read Shogun, (James Clavell) she’d probably find it very enjoyable. I realize it’s 25+ years old, but I still remember it as one of the best books I’ve read.