Open Secrets Gift Guide for Readers and Writers
Books, writing workshops, fashion, and more to enhance your reading and writing
To see our full gift guide, read this post online.
With the holiday season approaching, we wanted to share some gifts you might like to give (to yourself or others) from our contributors, event speakers, the Open Secrets community, and items we think you’ll enjoy if you’re a writer and/or reader.
Want to give us a little gift? Vote for us in the Best Lit Mag Awards from Chill Subs by December 7!
Books
Books are a natural gift for any avid reader or writer. You can find lots of our book recommendations in our Bookshop storefront, including books by Open Secrets contributors, magnificent memoirs in essays, and recommended reading. Here’s some ideas for gifting this year:
Memoirs and Essays
Open Secrets Book Club Picks
Our first five book club picks (yes, we are stealth announcing our March and May picks) deal with heavy topics, but if that’s your giftee’s jam, these are books that will make them think, feel, and learn: The Loneliness Files by
, Alligator Tears by , The True Happiness Company: How a Girl Like Me Falls for a Cult Like That by , sorry i keep crying during sex by , and Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die by .
Historical Fiction
Our pick: The Secret Keeper of Main Street by Trisha R. Thomas, set in 1950s Oklahoma, about a Black dressmaker with the gift of “second sight.”
Romance Novels
A trio of contemporary romances: Up for Air by
, The Relationship Mechanic by , and But How Are You, Really by Ella Dawson.
Mystery and Thrillers
For mystery and thriller fans, check out Assassins Anonymous by
and Secret Identity by ; both have plenty of other page turners to check out too!
Funny Celebrity Memoir
If you love to laugh and are a fan of celebrity memoirs, don’t miss Actress of a Certain Age by Jeff Hiller, about his decades-long acting career’s highs and lows and landing his starring role on Somebody, Somewhere.
Writing Advice Books
We ran an excerpt on silencing your inner critic from Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay: Crafting the Story Only You Can Write by Nancy Slonim Aronie earlier this year and highly recommend the whole book to any essayists looking for inspiration.
Writing Workshops
Taking a writing workshop can be a great way to get out of a rut with your work, get crucial feedback, gain accountability, and dedicate yourself to your writing. It’s also a great experience to gift a writer who knows they want to write but doesn’t know where to start.
A few places we recommend:
The Heartbreak Years author
is teaching this drop-in writing workshop in December for paid subscribers, where you’ll get to read and discuss a piece, write to a prompt, and share your work if desired.
WritingWorkshops.com (they’re also on Substack), where you can find online classes from Open Secrets contributors including
and and as well as in-person writing retreats. One we recommend is Personal Essay Endings That Stick by Elizabeth Austin coming up on December 13.
Writing Co-Lab also offers a range of writing classes and a monthly accountability and coaching program. A class essay writers might appreciate is Why Your Essay Needs Research and Reporting on February 28, taught by Matt Ortile. Registration for that one opens January 1, so mark your calendars.
Fashion
We are big fans of Mixed, the company run by Nasrin Jafari, a teacher turned fashion designer who also writes a newsletter every Sunday about her life. Follow them for news about sales and events at their Brooklyn showroom where you can try on dresses, jumpsuits, sweaters, and scarves.
Give them permission to be bold about their mental health issues with this Intrusive Thoughts tie-dye crop tee from Reductress.
Let them wear their values while they stay warm in this Protect Trans Kids hoodie from The Phluid Project.
To celebrate 100 years in business, scarf company Echo collaborated with artists, writers, and creatives, including Open Secrets Live speaker Tracy O’Neill, author of memoir Woman of Interest. Tracy designed this limited edition black and white scarf and said, “The design plays on the duck-rabbit or rabbit-duck, an iconic illusion that ask us to reconsider perception – which I see as the work of any artist.”
Mental Health
A gift for yourself or someone who could use a mental boost? Open Secrets contributor
is teaching this December 7 Out-of-Office: A pre-holiday somatic coaching workshop and is offering our readers 50% off with the code OPENSECRETS50.
Holiday Cards, Stationery, Stickers, and Bookmarks
Looking for artsy letterpress holiday cards that will be immediately displayed? Check out Kwohtations run by
, who also sells fun products like this NYC sticker sheet. We’re partial to the survived another year card, because don’t we all deserve to celebrate that?
For the budding writer who’s eager to dedicate time to their innermost feelings, this regency ruled notebook from Levenger is sure to give them a luxurious feel as they dedicate themselves to their journaling.
What are you giving and hoping to get this holiday season?
Giving Julian Brave Noisecat’s _We Survived the Night_ and C.D. Rose’s _We Live Here Now_ to several people. Also giving Charlie Jane Anders’ _Lessons in Magic and Disaster_, Midori MD notebooks, and homemade cheese straws & other goodies.
Selfishly faunching after a Songmont “Song” handbag, because I am that kind of girl.
Love this list! Adding all of these books to my wishlist