David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion

What were the favorite gifts you gave during the holidays this year? What were the favorite gifts you received?

I loved giving my core team of beta readers a gift card to Amazon/B&N, as without them my books would be at least a hundred times less good LOL!

And I loved receiving my third straight month of 2,000 book sales, which is an INCREDIBLE gift from all of you! Thanks to all my readers for making December another amazing month :)

The one thing I asked for Christmas, and was the first gift I opened (not having a clue that's what it was!)



The new HP book set!!!

My other favorite was a new quilt my mom made for me. I should really take a pic of that, too, its gorgeous!

As for giving, I always get my dad a certain Hickory Farms gift set every year that he loves. I could not find the specific set this year, and just couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. So I bought everything separate--2 meats sticks, 3 cheese blocks, and Ritz crackers. I then wrapped each item individually, and put them all in a huge box and wrapped that. Took him 15 min I think to open it all! That was pretty fun!

And I gave my mom and dad a bottle of wine from our new local downtown shop. I actually bought a few gifts from there (shopping local!)and it was so fun!

I'm pretty jealous about the Air Hockey Table, Layla!!

my son picked out an orange water bottle for me which I love, I drink lots of water and always have my water bottle with me, so I love the new one he picked out for me. also my mom bought be a Pandora bracelet which I think will be fun to build thru out the years (I want to find a book charm and I know they have a cupcake cause I love to bake).
I gave my husband his windows 8 tablet he wanted, only person I know who loves windows 8 lol and my parents wanted the nutriblaster which they both seem excited about.

My favorite gift I gave was to my husband he needed new tools and his expression was priceless. my favorite gift I reveived.... well all my amazon gift cards to buy more books and my new jewelry from my husband from Brighton! !

I received a framed blown up photo that was made 55 years ago, showing my parents (from their wedding photo) with me floating between them from my first birthday. It was literally photoshopped and colorized 55 years ago. I love it and cried when I opened it from my mom.

And I gave my granddaughters nano iPods. They're always singing and both were so excited! And my grandson got the "gold" X-box 360(?) remote control. He must have come up to hug me about half a dozen times throughout the night!

This thread is so fun! Love hearing about all the generosity :)

My favorite gift received was a very pretty business card holder from one of my daughters.

My favorite given, well, I just loved all the looks and excitement of my families faces when they opened their gifts.

Aww nice daughter :)

David wrote: "Aww nice daughter :)"

You should have seen what I was using to carry them around in. You'd be laughing.

LOL! I bet :)

So, I'm a bit late with this. :)) Thought I'd give it a go nonetheless. It's so great to see everyone happy, both in the giving and receiving, after all. :)

Let's see, favorite gift given was definitely the silver bow tie I gave my little brother. He's into suits (and that style, don't ask me why), and he's been looking for a bow tie that's not the clip-on type. That's a lot harder to find here than you'd think. :))

And favorite gift received? Hmm... Probably the crafts book and decorative tape my aunt gave me. More crafting stuff~! (As if I have the time. XP)

Ok lets give this a go....favorite gift I gave was a set a books (4) that took me months to find for my mom...she was so surprized to see them and was very happy.

Favorite gift I was given, besides Amazon gifts cards which I love probably was my Apple Tv I received from my coworkers. Now if I could get it working it would make my day. lol

@Dominique- awww love those ones!

@Tana- Hard to go wrong with books! And ooh, I've never heard of Apple TV, sounds cool though, good luck getting it up and running!

Tana wrote: "Ok lets give this a go....favorite gift I gave was a set a books (4) that took me months to find for my mom...she was so surprized to see them and was very happy.

Favorite gift I was given, beside..."

It just doesn't get much better than Amazon gift cards ;)

So I finally took of a pic of the quilt my mom made me. Excuse me in the pic, I look awful after a long day of shopping!

I love receiving books. And I got a gift card from my brother-in-law.


And Amazon GCs. Thanks to my "Secret Santas" *cough cough*

I also like getting stuff for my new flat! My sister got me a really cool wall clock. I will post it when I get it up on my wall. XD

@Jenny- wow, she made that? Pretty impressive!

@Dre- can't go wrong there :)

Nice gifts, Dre

Yup, David, she did! Quilting is one of her hobbies, she makes around a dozen quilts a year. She has so many, she's started giving them away! This is the 4th quilt she's made me, and its the best yet!

Wow, that's awesome, the gift of warmth is hard to beat :)

YES!!! And something handmade as well :) We keep all our families quilts, and most of them are like new. 4 generations worth!

That's so cool! Heirlooms with a nice story :)

I received A LOT from my parents — bags, shoes, clothes, jewelries while my other relatives gave money. I summed it all up and it was a huge amount! I donated some to my church.

I also received Champion by Marie Lu from my dad, I'm reading it now, woot woot! And Days of Blood and Starlight from my friend. He forgot to include the bookmark in the present, lol.

I gave my churchmate a cake, my bookworm friend a book of course, and all my other friends clothes! It was a cheerful time for both giving and receiving. :)

That was so nice that you gave away some of your money, Mei!!

Aww, great gifts, both given and received, Mei!!

My favourite gift of all I've received is the super soft fluffy gray blanket I got from my mom xD

And the favourite one I gave is a Harry Potter time turner I bought for my sister :)

Oh, I'm jealous, I so want that time turner, but not willing to spend $50 on myself for something kind of frivolous!

I got a super soft blanket last year as a gift. Guess what I'm cuddled under right now?? And my dog constantly steals anytime I get up? Ha!

One of my favorite gifts I received ever



Baby Perry! From my dear friend, Karen :)

Karen wrote: "I got a super soft blanket last year as a gift. Guess what I'm cuddled under right now?? And my dog constantly steals anytime I get up? Ha!"

Blankets are the best gifts!

Jenny wrote: "Oh, I'm jealous, I so want that time turner, but not willing to spend $50 on myself for something kind of frivolous!"

I found mine on etsy, I think it was about 8 dollars together with shipping. It came in perfect condition and it looks exactly like the real one! :)

Jenny wrote: "Karen wrote: "I got a super soft blanket last year as a gift. Guess what I'm cuddled under right now?? And my dog constantly steals anytime I get up? Ha!"

Blankets are the best gifts!"

Truth! :D

Taja wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Oh, I'm jealous, I so want that time turner, but not willing to spend $50 on myself for something kind of frivolous!"

I found mine on etsy, I think it was about 8 dollars together wi..."

Oh, WOW I will have to look into that!

Here is the link if you're interested :)