How about gifting the habit of reading in an era when albeit it is fast-fading but still undeniably extremely impactful on our language and expression?
Every month there’s one festival or occasion to be celebrated not only in India but across the world; and on each festival a question which hounds all of us is what gift to give to our dear ones. Well, there are unlimited options – electronic items; apparel; coupons; food baskets; et al. But how about walking the less tread path this year and gifting something offbeat but extremely constructive to your professional contacts, friends and family members…say something like books? Books do not get consumed in a day or two, they last for almost eternity. In fact, books can help you upgrade yourself till your last breath.
Through this article Gharpedia brings to you a quick look at the benefits of reading; and the vast genre and types of books available which can satisfy the yearnings of every reader irrespective of his age, gender and socio-economic background.
Benefits of Reading
We all are well aware that books are our friends for a lifetime; but besides being our companions reading books has a plethora of pluses –
- Develops our thoughts and activates our thinking
- Provides us with infinite knowledge
- Keeps our minds active as it acts as a cognitive mental stimulation and brain exercise
- Helps us learn, understand and make us smarter
- Improves our vocabulary and thinking as well as our grasping power and communication skills
- Lowers our stress levels and provides us with relief from tension
- Helps alleviate depression and dysthymia
- Improves our memory and concentration
- Strengthens our writing abilities
- Enhances our imagination and empathy
- Increases our EQ and SQ
- Helps us sleep better
- Enables us to broaden our horizons as a book opens up an entirely new world and perspective
- Strengthens the muscles of our mind
- Enables us to learn from the lives of great personalities who have made history
- Helps us know and understand our own self and enables us to work on our weaknesses
- Elevates our self-esteem and self-confidence
- Expands our creativity and power of innovation
- Provides us with strong argument points during debates
- Cuts down on wastage of time spent on mobile phones and other gadgets
- Strengthens our public speaking skills
Genres of Books
What makes books an awesome gift idea is that they come in a variety of genres to suit the palate of recipients across all strata and geographies.
Gharpedia brings for you a brief snapshot of some of the popular genres of books. Broadly these are divided into fiction and non-fiction. So here we give you the ideas for best books to gift this festive season –
Fiction
01. Women’s Fiction:
This is specifically targeted for the female reader segment and hence the thrust is on reflecting on the shared experiences of being a woman in society and the protagonist’s personal growth.
02. Suspense and Thrillers:
In this genre the hero is more focused on restraining and defeating the villain to save his own life rather than uncovering a specific crime.
03. Short Stories:
This one’s for those readers who don’t have the patience to sit through a novel and don’t generally extend beyond 20-30 pages!
04. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi):
What sets apart science fiction stories from the fantasy genre is that they rely more on themes of technology and future science. As a matter of fact, most discoveries have been first discovered in fiction!
05. Romance:
Remember Mills & Boon? This one’s a perennially popular genre that makes the reader go all warm and fuzzy! It includes a plethora of sub-genres like – contemporary romance, historical, paranormal, and the steamier erotica.
06. Literary Fiction:
The artistic writing style of the author and the prose is meant to evoke deep thought-through stories that offer personal or social commentary on a particular theme.
07. Horror:
The supernatural and paranormal elements in these stories arouse fear and discomfort for both the character and the readers.
08. Historical Fiction:
These are based in a time period against the backdrop of significant (real) historical events.
09. Fantasy:
These are set in a fictional imaginary world and revolve around magic, mythology, or the supernatural.
10. Detective and Mystery:
These are for readers with a streak of adventure as the plot always revolves around a crime of sorts that must be solved-or foiled-by the protagonists.
11. Comic Book or Graphic Novel:
These are pictorial books with the dialogue presented in the “word balloons” next to the respective characters in the traditional panel layout.
12. Classics:
These have been around for eons of years and continue to impact the community, serving as the foundation of many popular works we read today.
13. Action and Adventure:
These books keep you on the edge of your seat with excitement, as your protagonist repeatedly finds himself in high stakes situations.
Non-Fiction
01. Self-Help:
This is fast emerging as one of the hot-selling genres as the thrust is on emotional well-being, finances, spirituality, et al topics which are a burning issue with all and sundry.
02. True Crime:
Alike their hugely-popular television counterparts, true crime books chronicle and examine actual crimes (murders, kidnappings, serial killers et al) in minute detail with a dash of poetic license.
03. Poetry:
This genre is for those with a leaning towards poetry – as it comprises a particular rhythm and style to evoke and portray various emotions and ideas.
04. Memoirs:
Unlike autobiographies, memoirs typically don’t feature an extensive chronological account of the writer’s life; but rather share key moments and scenes that convey a specific message or lesson to the reader about the author.
05. History:
These books chronicle and layout a specific period with the objective of educating and informing the reader.
06. Essays:
These are for those with a sturdy academic bent of mind! And are generally written in the first-person as writers use their own personal experiences to reflect on a theme or topic for the reader.
07. Cookery Books:
Another popular genre with the rapidly growing number of home cooks and home chefs these are a collection of recipes that could be theme, cuisine or experience specific curated by professional chefs, celebrities, et al.
08. Biographies and Autobiographies:
These are broadly an official account of the details and events of a person’s life span – while autobiographies are written by the person themselves; biographies are written by a third person.
09. Spiritual:
This segment comprises religious texts, commentaries and all the philosophies that help you gain an insight into your inner self and nourish your soul thereby setting you on the path of bliss and liberation.
Types of Books
Another plus about giving books is the variety in terms of ‘types’ of books that one has on offer.
But before we proceed to explore the various types of books a clarification is mandated – while ‘genre’ epitomizes the subject of a book i.e. the 20-plus categories which we just explored under the fiction and non-fiction segment; ‘type of books’ stand for the format they could be in the form of i.e. pictorial, journal, novel et al.
From the broader perspective, books are generally classified into the following types –
01. Activity Book:
These are engaging and interactive comprising of games like code-crackers, connect-the-dots, puzzles, word power and Sudoku.
02. Anthology:
This is a collection and could comprise of – poems, stories, plays, or any other pieces of writing chosen by the compiler… say for instance – Collected Short Stories by Ruskin Bond.
03. Audio Book:
These are fast gaining popularity among a generation who is always on the go and doesn’t have the time or the patience to actually sit down, open and read a book. An audio book is basically a recording of a text – it could be for learning a language or even a classic transcript in audio form.
04. Coffee Table Book:
These are voluminous in size, hard-covered and picture-heavy with superior quality of paper and a whopping price too! They adorn the interior décor of many elite houses as status symbols or conversational pieces too!
If you also want some ideas about interior decoration ideas, here are some of them:
05. Colouring Book:
These are targeted for both – children and adults. A colouring book contains line art which is to be filled adding colours of your choice; some also include the use of stickers.
06. Comic Book:
These basically carry a story in pictorial strips and don’t contain too heavy text. A good example would be Archie Comics which practically all of us would have read at different stages of our lives. As they are less demanding in terms of time and create a connect because of the pictorial element they are a sure shot hit among a large community of readers.
07. E-book:
In an era where saving one’s carbon footprint is the need-of-the-hour e-books or electronic books are emerging as the best replacement for their paper cousins. These are basically digital publications containing text, images, or both; and are portable so can be carried everywhere on handheld devices; and the best part is practically every book now-a-days has an e-book version.
08. Graphic Novel:
These are frequently confused with comic books as they also contain art to represent story. But the difference lies in the fact that these work on a single story line. Albeit the genre of a graphic novel can be fiction, non-fiction, or anthologized work.
09. Illustrated Novel:
In this type, the text is complemented by pictures on the same page or on a separate page in order to represent a story. A good example to cite here would be of – Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini.
Final Takeaway
For years altogether reading was the only form of personal entertainment, and perhaps this is why it has been touted and fortunately sustained as a ‘good’ habit.
So now onwards instead of gifting run-of-the-mill items, pick up best books to gift to your kith-and-kin and trust us they’ll be touched by the trouble taken by you and the impact that the book and more importantly reading will leave on their lives.
We hope that you clearly got the brief about the best books to gift this festive season. Besides books, we also have some unique ideas for giving your friends and family home decor gifts.
And before you take a leave, here we share some interesting articles that might help you in your interiors:
How to Correctly Add Accents to Your Interior Design?
Orange Colour Posters are Dominant for Multiple Purposes at your Home
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Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.