Celebrating Christmas with the family, and I’d like to give everyone a book this year. However, my sister-in-law poses a particular challenge because she does not like to read at all. No fiction, no non-fiction. Things she does like:
\- art (she’s very creative and visits a lot of art galleries – mostly (post)modern)
\- nature and travel
\- cooking and food
She likes beautiful covers, illustrations (she’s done some graphic design herself), but no interest in stories. I’m looking for something beautiful and unique that she can treasure even if the words cannot move her. Fantasy is a definite no-go. I don’t want to get her a cook book, or an art book – she has plenty of those. I’m thinking along the lines of a graphic novel, or something with an extraordinary design, an I-want-to-have-this-even-though-I-might-never-read-it book.
Any suggestions?
by Miyette
5 Comments
My personal suggestion? Don’t get her a book. If someone insists they don’t like reading, you’re very unlikely to change their mind by giving them a book and it’ll just sit around unread for years until it hits the Goodwill bin.
However, if you’re dead set on it, The Story of Art would be good. It’s a bit pricey but it’s a massive collection that tells the history of art in a very engaging and interesting way, all the way from the beginning. I went through it as a general art lover and enjoyed it.
Maybe a zine, such as from [https://www.printedmatter.org/](https://www.printedmatter.org/). I got [https://hyunbinb.com/Butterfly-Dream](https://hyunbinb.com/Butterfly-Dream) this zine from Printed Matter as a gift before
Below are some ideas, going in very different directions!
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Persepolis and Maus are great graphic novel memoirs
An adult activity book like 365 Days of Art by Lorna Scobie
National Geographic has a bunch of books with lovely pictures that could inspire her for travels or hikes
– Trees: An Illustrated Celebration by Kelsey Oseid
Going by your description of her, she would enjoy [The Art of Looking Sideways](https://books.google.es/books/about/The_Art_of_Looking_Sideways.html?id=y5PsF5M-WdYC&redir_esc=y)
by the seminal graphic designer Alan Fletcher. The book showcases, in images, his visual wit and sense of fun and is also a great source of design inspiration for cleverly-wrought print graphics and thinking outside the box!