Books make the best presents
December 2024
Hi friends,
Books make the best presents. (Bet you knew I’d say that!) Gifting a book is like giving someone 5+ hours of escape, adventure, and imagination. Honestly, we all could use a little of that!
So I wanted to pop in and walk you through books (mine and not mine!) that I think might make fantastic gifts this holiday.
But first:
If you want a personalized, signed book from me this holiday…
Please email laurenmagazinerbooks@gmail.com. I will send a bookplate (a 3x4 sticker that I would personalize to the book’s recipient) and a bookmark for any copies of my books you buy this holiday!
Now do I have a book for a reader you know? Let’s see:
THE MYTHICS SERIES
Concept: Pokémon meets Baby-Sitters Club, with a dash of Avatar: The Last Airbender. In other words, it’s about 10 year old kids who are traveling all around the world looking for mythical beasts to bond with, but each book switches perspective, so you get the story told from five points of view (YES, all five!).
Who it’s for: Perfect for 6-10 year olds who love imaginative play and fantasy… but who aren’t quite ready for a thick book. Each of these books is about 150 pages, with lots of dynamic illustrations by Mirelle Ortega. Fantastic to read as a family, or great to hand an emerging reader on their own, to bridge the transition between chapter books (Magic Tree House-sized) and middle grade books (Percy Jackson-sized). There’s also a really fun audiobook for even more accessibility or if you want to listen as a family on a car ride. These books are action-packed (with short, digestable chapters), adventurous, and very funny.
Themes: Friendship, self-love, how the things you think are your flaws might actually be your strengths, problem-solving, teamwork, courage, and forgiveness.
CASE CLOSED SERIES
Concept: A highly interactive pick-your-own-path mystery series where YOU choose what happens next in the story. You get to pick which suspects to interview, what questions to ask them, what clues to follow, and there are puzzles that you must solve in order to find your next page.
Who it’s for: Perfect for 8-12 year olds who love video games, escape rooms, puzzles, and making choices in the plot. These books look thick, but each novel is actually four books in one! Depending on what choices you make, you get totally different experiences, secrets, and puzzles each time you read it. Every puzzle you encounter has a hard version and an easier version (readers can access the easier version of the puzzle if they ask the character Eliza for a hint). I’ve designed this series specifically so that kids of all ages and levels can tackle each mystery with confidence.
You can also read this series in any order. Here’s a snapshot of each case:
Mystery in the Mansion = death threats in a millionaire’s mansion
Stolen from the Studio = kidnapping of an actress at a TV studio
Haunting at the Hotel = ghost haunting at a hotel during a blizzard
Danger on the Dig = Greek mythology mystery and theft at an archeological dig
Start with whichever mystery appeals to you most! Makes for a great read-aloud as a family and/or a perfect alternative to a video game console.
Themes: Self-confidence, learning that everyone brings different strengths to the table, helping others out, parental-child trust, teamwork, and challenging yourself to think outside the box with math, logic, and word puzzles.
THE INCORRUPTIBLES SERIES
Okay okay, you definitely WON’T get this book in time for Hanukkah or Christmas… but you can preorder it right now for yourself or a friend, and they’ll thank you later!!! Christmas in July is a thing, right? Or in this case, June 10th!
Concept: In a future ruled by sorcerers who use their magic to oppress, human resistance fighters called Incorruptibles battle for safety with nothing more than tech and grit.
Very excited to tell you so much more about it next year!!!
Other books I’m recommending you buy this holiday!
FOR THE KIDDOS
Here are some middle grade books I’ve read this year and loved:
(I actually just finished A Split Second and haven’t had a chance to talk about it on the newsletter yet, unlike the others. I adored A Split Second! The first speculative fiction book for Janae Marks, and she rocked it! I loved the magic rules and time travel elements, and the characters were so relatable.)
Here are kidlit books (5 middle grade, 1 YA) that are on my own holiday shopping list:
FOR THE ADULTS
And here are ones for the grown-ups that I loved this year:
FOR EVERYONE, ALL AGES
I’m always going to recommend you buy Jonathan Stroud’s books!!! The Lockwood & Co. series is my forever obsession:
Saying Goodbye
This is my last newsletter of 2024! I can’t believe I had two book releases this year: The Mythics 3: Kit and the Nine-Tailed Fox and The Mythics 4: Ember and the Phoenix. That’s a wrap on my second series! It’s so surreal that this adventure with Marina, Hailey, Kit, Ember, and Pippa is completed, but so wonderful that the story is in your hands… and hearts! Thanks for being on this journey! I hope you have had (or will have) as much fun with this girl gang as I did.
I’m so looking forward to next year! First, because of The Incorruptibles release. This book is so electrifying, friends! I’m itching to shout about it!
Plus, I’m releasing FOUR books in Spanish next year, starting with a spin-off of Case Closed called El Diario de Eliza (aka Eliza’s Diary), releasing January 23rd! Eliza is headed to super genius school for more mysteries to solve!
After that, my Spanish publisher is releasing Case Closed 8, The Mythics 3, and [redacted secret book I’m not sure I’m allowed to talk about yet]. And also: I’m lighting my green candle with hope that I’ll have more to share about Horror Project and Trauma Project in 2025. As for goals? I would love to write an adult book next year, but with everything else I’m juggling in middle grade right now… I can’t promise myself that. Let’s see what happens. ;-)
Happy and healthy new year to you! Thanks for sticking around—and more exciting stuff to come.
Auld lang syne, my dear,
Lauren