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A carefully chosen book is always a welcome gift, but it's not always easy to know which books are good and which have had the benefit of clever marketing. We've picked out the best books which we've seen this year and we think that you should be able to find something for everyone on your gift list.

'''Crime'''

|author=Ian Rankin

|title=The Complaints

If you'd like a larger choice why not have a look at our [[Top Ten Crime Novels]]?

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'''Fantasy and Science Fiction'''

|author=K S Turner

|title=Before the Gods (Chronicles of Fate and Choice)

If you'd like more suggestions then have a look at [[Bookbag's Fantasy Picks]] and our [[Bookbag's Science Fiction Picks|science fiction picks]].

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'''General Fiction'''

|author=Sue Townsend

|title=Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years

If you're looking for some crisp writing with a slightly eerie feel then there have been some welcome re-issues of some [[:Category:Shirley Jackson|Shirley Jackson]] books - and for another welcome re-issue you could do a lot worse than [[Tell No One by Harlan Coben]].

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'''Literary Fiction'''

|author=Hilary Mantel

|title=Wolf Hall

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary=It's been a vintage year for the [[Man Booker Prize 2009|Man Booker Prize]] and for once we didn't have a single quibble about the winner. Wolf Hall is quite the best historical fiction which our reviewer has read - and she's read a lot. If you enjoy short stories then we think that you might enjoy [[Collected Stories by Janice Galloway]]. We've also got a couple of reworkings of tales from the Mabinogion which drew on pre-Christian Celtic mythology - have a look at [[The Ninth Wave (New Stories from the Mabinogion) by Russell Celyn Jones|The Ninth Wave]] and [[White Ravens (New Stories from the Mabinogion) by Owen Sheers|White Ravens]] - both books would make a wonderful present. Fans of Tove Jansson will be delighted to see a translation of [[The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson|The True Deceiver]]: deception, truth, honour, friendship and self-interest blur in an intriguing tale set in the northern wastes as only Jansson can depict them.

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'''Women's Fiction'''

|author=Miss Read

|title=Christmas at Thrush Green

If you'd like some more suggestions have a look at our [[Top Ten Books For Your Auntie]] and [[Top Ten Books For Your Girlfriend]].

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'''Biography'''

|author=Tracy Borman

|title=Elizabeth's Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen

If we haven't suggested something that you fancy then have a look at at [[Top Ten Biographies and Autobiographies]].

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'''Cookery'''

|author=Kate Colquhoun

|title=The Thrifty Cookbook

If there's nothing here which appeals to you then have a look at our [[Top Ten Cookery Books]].

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'''History'''

|author=Ian Mortimer

|title=1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

We've also got a brilliant [[The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir|book]] about Anne Boleyn by the unsurpassable Alison Weir and a [[Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary|history of world through Islamic eyes]] which our reviewer found to be a real page turner.

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'''Home and Family''' and '''Lifestyle'''

|author=Victoria Moore

|title=How to Drink

If you know of someone who is down-sizing or could do with help to make ends meet then we might have the [[Top Ten Books To Help Down-Size And Make Ends Meet|perfect suggestion]].

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'''Politics and Society'''

|author=Robert Winnett and Gordon Rayner

|title=No Expenses Spared

|genre=Politics and Society

|summary=We did wonder if it would be just a little bit ''soon'' to revisit the scandal of the MP's expanses, but this 'story behind the story' is a well-written and as exciting as many a thriller. It's also slightly frightening to realise how close we came to not getting the story. I did wonder if [[The Country Formerly Known As Great Britain by Ian Jack]] might a trip down memory lane, but it's actually a collection of thought-provoking and interesting writing. Those with an interest in India will find [[Listening to Grasshoppers by Arundhati Roy]] to be a shocking exposé of the India behind the shining Bollywood mask - and the writing is exquisite, as you might expect.

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'''Popular Science'''

|author=Ian Stewart

|title=Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures

Need some further suggestions? have a look at our [[Top Ten Books For Slightly Geeky People]].

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'''Teens'''

|author=Alison Goodman

|title=Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye

If you'd like to look at some teen books yourself then have a look at our [[Top Ten Teen Books That Adults Should Read]].

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'''Confident Readers'''

|author=Jeanette Winterson

|title=The Battle of the Sun

|rating=5

|genre=Confident Readers

A classic makes a thoughtful Christmas gift so you might like to have a look at [[Top Ten Classics of Children's Literature]].

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'''For Sharing'''

|author= Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

|rating=5

|genre=For Sharing

|summary=Is it a duck or is it a rabbit? No, it's a fun and quirky picture book that introduces children to a gentle optical illusion. Staying with the ducks, our reviewer loved [[Duck by Janet A Holmes and Jonathan Bentley]] - a gloriously sweet and brilliantly simple tale of a young boy looking for his lost toy. Both text and illustrations are packed with emotion, to make it a must-have for any young child. There's [[The Dudgeon is Coming by Lynley Dodd|another classic]] from Lynley Dodd, the creator of Hairy McLary, with a gentle message that things are not always what they seem. If you'd like a real bargain then it would be hard to do better than [[The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr Benn by David McKee]] with four stories of our intrepid hero. For a modern look at a classic, have a look at [[Jim, Who Ran Away From His Nurse and Was Eaten By A Lion by Hilaire Belloc and Mini Grey]], but if you'd just like a fun book then have a look at [[Jumpy Jack and Googily by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall]].

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