(Part 2) Best products from r/santashelpers

I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.

 

Teen Fantasy:

 

Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.

The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.

Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.

User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.

Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.

Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.

 


Adult Fantasy:

 

Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.

Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.

Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --

An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!

 

Sci-fi:

 

Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).

Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.

Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.

 

Mature Humor:

 

He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.

Sourcery: Really, really funny.

Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.

Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.

 

I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.

I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.

Edit: Links

Etsy has really pretty jewelry! A few of my favorites I've seen lately (or ones I've purchased as gifts for friends/family) fave 1, fave 2, fave 3

You said she has a ton of scarves, does she have something more like a cowl? They seem to be super popular lately, and sometimes scarves just don't give you the warmth you want like a cowl does. Here's a cool lookin' one.

Does she have cuddl duds? I have like three pairs and they are the most amazing thing ever. I live in the midwest and pretty sure these are the reason I still have all my limbs after 30+ mins of waiting at bus stops. My favorite is this kind, the 'flexfit' cuz it has a v-neck and has that loop for your thumbs - this would something she'd probably like to wear for running too maybe? They have matching legging/pants version as well.

Some other generic go-to's would be a perfume set from Sephora. The kind that comes with like 10 mini vials and then a voucher for a free full size of whichever you want from the set. Pretty sweet since you don't have to wonder what scent she'd like and even if she already has a fave perfume this gives her a chance to maybe find a new favorite.

This is kind of random, but have you heard of those fruit tablet things that change your taste buds? They sell them here and they're only like $14, I'm giving some as gifts in a gift basket with lemons/limes/grapefruit which from the reviews say they're the most fun to try.

Does she have any TOMS? That's always a great gift. Even in the winter they have different kinds that are more durable rather than the typical slip on TOMS.

A nicer necklace would be great too. My bf got me one from Swarovski for our one year and it was like...the best gift I've ever received. Some of their stuff is kitschy (hello kitty necklaces) but they really have some amazing pendants like this, this, and this.

Does she like reading? A nook could be cool! Or kindle fire, whatever they have out now.

These would be awesome! I've been wanting something like this forever. They were also featured on Shark Tank so that's kind of cool.

How uh...weird is she? This mug looks hilarious. But a more normal & cool looking one would be this!

Looking for mittens and she likes cats? Here ya go!

Wellllp that's all I can come up with right now, hopefully something helped!! :)

This is amazing. So is this, and this.

What about one of the constellation night lights? I know they're technically for babies/young children, but they're actually really cool.

http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Twilight-Constellation-Night-Turtle/dp/B000BNQC58

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cloud-b-7323-ZZ-Twilight-Turtle/dp/B000BNQC58/

Edit: Added UK link -- there are a bunch of different varieties beyond turtles too.