I tend to like to own all of the books I’m reading and am not really one for libraries, as great as they are, it’s just not my normal reading route. And buying every book I read when I tend to read at least a few books a month can get really expensive, even if most of them are second-hand. So when Christmas and my birthday come around I have a few gift suggestions for my parents to get me, and the reading material tends to tide me over for at least a few months. Here’s my book wish list for this holiday season:

1. As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway- Renowned young adult author John Green has accredited this book as being one of his inspirations for his best-seller Looking For Alaska, so I have no doubt this book will be great.
2. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer- My cousin, who is a freshman at Bard University in New York City and I trust her book taste, recommended this to me after I said how much I enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It’s the story of a nine-year-old going on a secret journey through the five boroughs of New York, according to Amazon, and sounds like a really intriguing story.
3. Ham on Rye: A Novel by Charles Bukowski- Like I’ve said in two of my other entries I really like Bukowski’s writing. And this is the one book that I want to read by him more than any other. It may be partly because James Franco said it was one of his favorite books of all time, and I take his opinion pretty seriously, but it’s also a pretty acclaimed work of literature and I look forward to finally getting a chance to read it.
4. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling- Kaling is one of the stars and the producer of the hit television comedy The Office, winner of multiple Emmys. This is definitely more “fluffy” of a read than I’m used to, but according to its reviews it sounds really funny. And it’s always nice to a good laugh, regardless of the level of intensity of a book. I also really appreciate Kaling as a TV personality, so no doubt she’ll shine through in her book.

These are just the bare necessities of books I want for Christmas. My parents and friends do a pretty good job of picking out books they know I’ll like to read, or at least books that I wouldn’t ordinarily pick out that are still good reads.