Aloha. Actually, I’m back home in New Hampshire, and happy be home…but I will be dreaming about being an island girl forever. It will never cease to amaze me how we can get on a giant winged bird and fly across the world in a day - going back and forward in time. From warm ocean and a tropical island to Boston and SNOW.

I’m sending this earlier than my usual Tuesday because of *holiday deals*, typing slightly jet lagged in front of a fire, while Gregor sets up the Christmas tree - our FIRST artificial tree. Once again, the children are wondering who their parents have become?!? It’s a reminder to keep the children guessing. If I have to buy pine-scented doohickies, 1so be it.

And now for the good books read this month - that would also make for great gifts!

What to Read (& would make a great gift) a banner month - all terrific stories read this month!

Heartwood by Amity Gage: a literary thriller about a woman lost in the woods. Terrific!

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: Stubborn Sybil writes letters. And over time, sees that she can change. As fantastic as you’ve heard.

The Names by Florence Knapp: An extraordinary concept - how would life be different with another name? Read it!

Frindle by Andrew Clements: Who says a pen can’t be called a frindle? Nick Allen discovered the power of words (and so did I!) Utterly delightful for all ages.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi: 13-year-old Charlotte is the lone passenger on a long sea voyage with a cruel captain and a mutinous crew. A classic.

Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel by Natalie Babbit, adapted and illustrated by : What if you could live forever? This is a new and gorgeously illustrated version of a beloved story.

What to Read From the New Yorker

“A Battle with My Blood: When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.” -by Tatiana Schlossberg, November 22, 2025 (online). Published in the print edition of the December 8, 2025, issue, with the headline “A Further Shore.”

This hits super hard. An intelligent, beautiful young mom of two small children - an athlete, a writer! Tatiana Schlossberg (Caroline Kennedy’s daughter) moved me to tears writing about her terminal diagnosis. Her doctor thinks he can keep her alive for a year. Maybe. Published on the anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination, it is a profile of courage - of grief and the realness of RFK’s (her uncle) terrible influence on healthcare and research in this country.

Here’s the link and a New York Times follow-up (gift link).

A New Yorker subscription is on sale right now and would make a wonderful gift for the reader and writer in your life. The covers are keepsakes (and sometimes painted by the fabulous ).

Other Gift Ideas:

For adult readers: Outlive, Everything is Tuberculosis, The Hidden Life of Trees, Kate Baer

For younger readers: (that adults would also love): The Burning Season, Blood in the Water, The Trouble With Heroes, The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, Olivetti,

Want signed editions of my books? The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair, Ten Thousand Tries, and The McNifficents. Let me know asap, I’ll send you a free bookplate!

*Shop my affiliate Bookshop.org links, where every purchase supports local bookstores. Enjoy 20% off your first order + FREE SHIPPING until Monday, December 1st.*

For the face: my favorite facial serum oil (I have dry skin) 25% off until Monday.

For the body: pre workout powder, creatine, and plain protein powder (these are a must for my brain and muscles now - I notice a difference.) Saucony running shoes are my FAVE (I wear the Triumph). 25% off until Monday. Mittens from Etsy, a minky couture blanket or really soft dupe.

For the writers, readers, and doodlers: a Date Stamp (I love using this so much), a Lamy Safari Pen (I have yellow), a library card (go together & it’s free!) markers, paint, and notebooks are always a hit. books.

World peace: Find a giving machine in your area! Give blood, let go of a grudge, forgive someone. The small things are the big things.

For relationships that don’t cost money: time. Give a coupon for a back scratch, walk, dinner, cleaning out the freezer. Work at a food pantry together, find some service in the neighborhood.

Read the above New Yorker article or sit with a loved one who is at the end of life and you’ll remember that we have enough, that we are already wealthy if we have spent time on relationships. Experiences and time make for great gifts.

I hope you find just the right thing.

Amy 🎄

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If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

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doohickey: a small object or gadget, especially one whose name the speaker does not know or cannot recall.