My parents have told me that I am hard to shop for. Translation: I am hard to shop for because I can never think of anything I want for Christmas besides books. I might be biased, but books are great gifts to give.

Since I have a considerable amount of non-bookworms in my life, I know the struggle is real. You don’t know what to give your favorite reader because you don’t know where to start. So, I have some recommendations for books that I think would make great gifts for bookworms this holiday season.

1. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron.

Of all the books I have on this list, The Shadow of the Wind is the one I recommend the most. Simply put, it is a book about books.

The story is set in post-WWII Barcelona and follows Daniel, a young boy who becomes fascinated with a mysterious author named Julien Carax after finding one of the writer’s books in a secret bookstore called The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Only someone is going out of their way to destroy all of Carax’s works. As if that wasn’t strange enough, Daniel’s life is starting to mirror the author’s.

2. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

If your favorite bookworm likes Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, or even The Hunger Games, chances are, he or she will like Throne of Glass.

Throne of Glass is the story of Celeana Sardothian, a renowned assassin who is pulled from a prison camp to compete in a competition to become the King’s personal hitman. There are five books in the series out so far, plus one collection of short stories, and two more coming out next year. Throne of Glass sets up for one story, but by the fifth book, the series takes a completely different turn that you probably never expected. But the reader in your life will love it anyway.

3. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton.

A book with some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a magical realism novel about three generations of women from the Roux family. Ava is born with bird wings, and her gift is connected to the doomed romantic histories of her mother and grandmother.

The writing is what got to me, but once I delved deeper into the story, I was hooked. If you are giving this book to a family member who is a reader, this is a good book to give because there is a strong family element present, both loving and sad.

4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

This book is a huge, over 500-page World War II story set in Germany and France. But bookworms love big books.

It was a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2015 and it was well earned. The writing is great, the characters and setting are amazing, and, despite its size, it is a breeze to get through. It’s perfect to read during Christmas/winter break. It has its depressing moments, but there are a lot of exciting and beautiful ones, too.

5. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.

The first word I can think of to describe this book is “cute.” It’s about a 17-year-old girl named Maddie who has a disease that makes her allergic to everything. All her life, she has lived inside her house, never leaving the sterile environment with only her doctor, mother, and nurse for company. Then, a boy moves next door and, naturally, things get complicated.

The book is fast-paced and told in both prose and other formats, like emails or instant messages (IMs). Maddie is a fun heroine and the whole book itself is sweet.

6. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.

This is a huge, beautifully written historical fiction book. It is filled with romance, tragedy, and art histories going all the way back to the Impressionist movement in France. The novel is about Dr. Andrew Marlowe, who becomes enthralled in the story of his latest patient, a gifted but troubled artist who has a nervous background trying to destroy the very thing he loved.

I found this book while browsing a Half Price Bookstore in Texas. I had heard of Elizabeth Kostova, because she wrote The Historian, but the summary of The Swan Thieves drew me in when I picked it up. This novel does not get all the love it deserves. It broke my heart.

7. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.

If the bookworm of your life is a sucker for romance, and/or a watcher of The Big Bang Theory, they will enjoy The Rosie Project. The main character, Don, a geneticist, is less blunt but as equally socially awkward as Sheldon Cooper. He is 40 years old and decides it is time to settle down- only he has certain requirements of his future partner, based more in genetics. And Rosie, a young woman who comes to Don to track down her biological father, certainly does not fit the criteria.

This book is adorable, and the kind of book I think a reader would like to receive from a significant other.

8. Gift Cards.

I know gift cards seem a little impersonal and I understand why people sometimes don’t like giving them. But I think I speak for most book nerds when I say we honestly don’t mind if we get a gift card to Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Most of us already have growing wish lists of the amount of books we want to read, so we know what we want.

I could go on all day about good books to give your bookworm. But, like I said, they are easy to shop for: they only want one thing and, if you ask, they will tell you what the want. Happy holiday shopping!