Books to buy for Christmas

Gifting a (good) book for Christmas can be challenging, so CBC Radio got some tips to help you out.

Saskatchewan author Gail Bowen suggested to consider the interests of the person you are buying for.

Also, make sure you aren't imposing your own taste in books on someone else, she added.

Bruce Walsh, director of the University of Regina Press, suggests it's also wise to pay attention to the book's reviews.

Here are some of the selections Walsh and Bowen suggested.

Yann Martel's The High Mountains of Portugal

Walsh plans on giving Martel's book from earlier this year to one of his sisters who enjoyed Life of Pi.

"This ... has gotten terrific reviews around the world. The Washington Post has called this miraculous. The Telegraph has called it deeply affecting," he said.

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Walsh explained that the book is comprised of a series of novellas, all of which take place in Portugal.

"It's part quest, part go story and part contemporary fable."

Charlotte Gray's The Promise of Canada: 150 years

Bowen calls this selection a good gift for the person who is a bit difficult to buy for.

"It's the people and the ideas that have shaped our country," she said.

The book is filled with short biographies.

"Her theory, which makes good sense to me," said Bowen, "is that the actions and the ideas that individual people do shape social change. And when social changes come, that molds our national identity."

Romeo Dallaire's Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD

Walsh chose this book as a gift for his brother, who works closely with veterans.

"[Dallaire has] been a real leader on so many different levels in this country and he's also a very good writer," he said.

Thomas Mallon's Yours Ever: People and Their Letters

Mallon's book is a companion piece, Bowen said, to a novel released in the 1990s that explores letter writing.

"It's kind of an elegy for what we have lost," Bowen said, adding she loved reading the book and talking to others about it.

Sandra Boynton's Moo, Baa, La La La!

Walsh picked this board book for a younger person on his list: His one-year-old great-nephew.

He said the important thing to remember when buying a book for youngsters is to make sure they're enjoyable for the other people who will be reading them.

"You have to read it again and again," Walsh said.

"You have to have a book that you're going to have fun with so that you're not dead bored."