What to Give for Christmas

Naturally, any Christmas suggestions from the ZOVA staff are going to involve our books in some way. But there are always ways to be creative with even the simplest of gifts. In that spirit, we've put together some gift ideas inspired by our publications.

For the foodie: 
Possibly the easiest gift in the ZOVA arsenal, Happy Hour is a book for every woman. Pair it with a bottle of wine (perhaps one of the bottles suggested in the back of the book, or mentioned in one of the more vine-inspired chapters) or a ticket to a local wine tasting event. The book is about four friends who share their lives over happy hour every month, so it would be appropriate - and more than a little clever - to get one for each of your friends so you can all read it together.

For the historian:

There are few events in American history more compelling than the story of the Great War. In Into the Stars, Michael Blake narrates several days in the life of one American soldier who finds help and friendship from a battered war horse after being trapped behind enemy lines. Many of the novel's themes are echoed in the upcoming Steven Spielberg film War Horse, which just happens to be coming out in theaters on Christmas Day. Pair the novel with two tickets to the movies, and you have a perfectly themed gift for your favorite history buff.

For your favorite kid:
You know those movies where the kid is at some turning point in his/her life and the wise mentor/father figure/pirate captain hands him/her a compass and says, "may you find your feet," in a stirring, emotionally charged way? Okay, maybe we're mixing our movie imagery here, but compasses have long been considered gifts of extraordinary significance. Jenny Bellington's classic fantasy adventure, East to Adonia, is an excellent gift for anyone from eight years old to eighty, and there's nothing else that goes better with your carefully wrapped navigational tools than a copy of this book. You could also pair the novel with a map, a mapping kit, or a magical mapping bag, but it may be that only crazy uncles have access to such wonders. Who knows.