Maybe we’re biased, but we think that books are pretty much the perfect gift. They’re thoughtful and thought-provoking, they fit in almost any shopping budget, and they can be enjoyed over a long period of time.
The trick is to find the right book for each person on your list—and that’s where we come in. If you’re looking for a few gift books this holiday season, look no further than the 25 reads below, each of which is matched to a different personality type. Whoever you’re buying for, we think they’re going to love it.
Or invite them to join us in the Next Big Idea Club! Get 10% off your gift purchase today when you enter promo code HOLIDAY10 at checkout.
The Adventure-Seeker:
Beginners: The Transformative Joy of Lifelong Learning
By Tom Vanderbilt
The bestselling author of Traffic and You May Also Like now gives us a thought-provoking, playful journey into the transformative joys that come with starting something new, no matter your age. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Tom Vanderbilt, in the Next Big Idea App
The Comedian:
Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life
By Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas
It turns out that a broken funny bone doesn’t just make you a buzzkill at parties; it can also put a damper on your professional life. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a comedian, this book by two Stanford professors can help you use humor to improve your negotiation skills and build better connections. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, in the Next Big Idea App
The Hustler:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
By Maria Konnikova
The incredible story of how a psychologist combined her deep knowledge of human behavior with rigorous training in the game of poker. Though she had never played before, she started winning—a lot. And along the way, she learned crucial lessons about risk, deception, and wise decision-making. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Maria Konnikova, in the Next Big Idea App
The Introvert:
The Powerful Purpose of Introverts: Why the World Needs You to Be You
By Holley Gerth
A bestselling author dives into the psychological, neurological, relational, and spiritual aspects of being an introvert. She also explains how introverts can live with clarity, courage, and confidence in a world that needs what only they can give. Listen to or read our Book Bite summary, read by author Holley Gerth, in the Next Big Idea App
The Extrovert:
The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World
By Nichola Raihani
A biologist looks at how and why collaborative behavior emerges throughout the animal kingdom. She reveals that the species that exhibit cooperative behavior—teaching, helping, grooming, and self-sacrifice—most similar to our own tend not to be other apes; they are birds, insects, and fish, occupying far more distant branches of the evolutionary tree. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Nichola Raihani, in the Next Big Idea App
The Futurist:
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
By Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan
In this provocative, utterly original work, a former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers teams up with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by AI. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Kai-Fu Lee, in the Next Big Idea App
The Historian
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
By Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. View on Amazon
The Provocateur
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear
By Carl L. Hart
A Columbia neuroscientist draws on decades of research and his own personal experience to argue that the criminalization and demonization of drug use—not drugs themselves—have been a tremendous scourge on America, not least in reinforcing this country’s enduring structural racism. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Carl Hart, in the Next Big Idea App
The Kind-Hearted:
When You Wonder, You’re Learning: Mister Rogers’ Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids
By Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski
When You Wonder, You’re Learning shows parents and educators the many ways they might follow in Mister Rogers’ footsteps, sharing his “tools for learning” with digital-age kids. With insights from thinkers, scientists, and teachers—many of whom worked with Rogers himself—the book is an essential exploration into how kids and their parents can excel at what Rogers taught best: being human. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski, in the Next Big Idea App
The Star-Gazer:
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred
By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
An acclaimed physicist shares her love for the secret workings of the universe, from the Standard Model of Particle Physics and what lies beyond it, to the physics of melanin in skin, to the latest theories of dark matter—all with a new spin informed by history, politics, and the wisdom of Star Trek. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, in the Next Big Idea App
The Critical Thinker:
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know
By Adam Grant
An acclaimed Wharton psychologist offers bold ideas and rigorous evidence to show how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, encourage others to rethink topics as wide-ranging as abortion and climate change, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Adam Grant, in the Next Big Idea App
The Ambitious:
Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most
By Greg McKeown
We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we want to overachieve, we have to overexert, overthink, and overdo. That if we aren’t perpetually exhausted, we’re not doing enough. But Effortless proposes a better, healthier way forward, one in which it’s easier than ever to do the things that really matter. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Greg McKeown, in the Next Big Idea App
The Overworked:
Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone
By Sarah Jaffe
A preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements examines the “labor of love” myth—the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. In this way, she reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Sarah Jaffe, in the Next Big Idea App
The Entrepreneur:
Go Where There Is No Path: Stories of Hustle, Grit, Scholarship, and Faith
By Christopher Gray
For all who dare to go off the beaten track, this is the inspirational, power-packed playbook for transforming your life and your world—from a young, Black social entrepreneur whose dorm-room tech startup has helped millions pay for college and access unprecedented opportunity. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Christopher Gray, in the Next Big Idea App
The Diplomat:
How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason
By Lee McIntyre
A philosopher of science explores how we can most effectively get through to those who distrust science, while avoiding the conversational traps of fact-flinging and condescension. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Lee McIntyre, in the Next Big Idea App
The Hedonist:
Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization
By Edward Slingerland
From a University of British Columbia professor comes a long overdue investigation into the history and psychology of humanity’s oldest indulgence—one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Edward Slingerland, in the Next Big Idea App
The Overthinker:
Get Out of My Head: Inspiration for Overthinkers in an Anxious World
By Meredith Arthur
This beautifully illustrated guide walks readers through the process of building awareness around anxiety, identifying triggers, moving through blocks, building healthy boundaries, and developing an arsenal of tools for thriving. Listen to or read our Book Bite summary, read by author Meredith Arthur, in the Next Big Idea App
The Parent:
How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting—from Tots to Teens
By Melinda Wenner Moyer
A clear, actionable, sometimes humorous (but always science-based) guide for parents on how to shape their kids into honest, kind, generous, confident, independent, and resilient people… who just might save the world one day. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Melinda Wenner Moyer, in the Next Big Idea App
The Skeptic:
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
By Amanda Montell
The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Amanda Montell, in the Next Big Idea App
The Believer:
The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness
By Mark Solms
A renowned neuropsychologist proposes a revelatory new theory of consciousness. In The Hidden Spring, he helps readers recognize the workings of their own minds for what they really are, including every stray thought, pulse of emotion, and shift of attention. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Mark Solms, in the Next Big Idea App
The Memoir-Lover:
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
By Suleika Jaouad
A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life—from the author of the Life, Interrupted column in the New York Times. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Suleika Jaouad, in the Next Big Idea App
The Investor:
Nothing but Net: 10 Timeless Stock-Picking Lessons from One of Wall Street’s Top Tech Analysts
By Mark Mahaney
“Sure things” can become “sore things” very rapidly. Nothing but Net provides the knowledge and insights you need to understand what’s really hot, to know what’s not, and to outperform other investors consistently and decisively. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Mark Mahaney, in the Next Big Idea App
The Poet:
Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings
By Alan Lightman
In this heartfelt and mind-blowing collection of essays, an MIT physicist reflects on the preciousness and precariousness of life on Earth in the vast and wondrous cosmos. Read or watch our conversation with author Alan Lightman
The Athlete:
Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas
By Alexi Pappas
The Olympic runner, actress, and filmmaker shares what she’s learned about confidence, self-reliance, mental health, embracing pain, and achieving your dreams. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Alexi Pappas, in the Next Big Idea App
The Philosopher:
The Socrates Express: Searching for Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers
By Eric Weiner
The bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss embarks on a rollicking intellectual journey, following in the footsteps of history’s greatest thinkers and showing us how each—from Epicurus to Gandhi, Thoreau to Beauvoir—offers practical and spiritual lessons for today’s unsettled times. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Eric Weiner, in the Next Big Idea App
This year, let us choose the perfect books. Give the gift of the Next Big Idea Club and get 10% off your gift purchase today when you enter promo code HOLIDAY10 at checkout.
When you buy through our Amazon links, the Next Big Idea Club may earn an affiliate commission.
