Reddit mentions of Ghostwritten

My bf and I have been together for about 8 months, and we talked and put a $30 limit on gifts for each other this time. To that end, my plan for this is:

• Portable charger/external battery - because his phone battery right now is crap and he could really use this; he's planning on replacing his phone soon but I mean, he'll be able to use this no matter what phone he has. ($14)
  
• Ghostwritten by David Mitchell - DM is his favorite author and Cloud Atlas is his favorite book; poking around the internets suggests that Ghostwritten is most like Cloud Atlas stylistically so I think he'd like it a lot. (Checked that he didn't already own it.) ($9 c/o the current HOLIDAY30 to get 30% off any book at Amazon)
  
• The last thing will be, I think, either hot chocolate or tea. We went to Boston together this September and he LOVED LA Burdick's hot chocolate, but the 12 oz bags are something like $22. It's largely just shaved chocolate, so was thinking of just getting some nice chocolate and chopping it up into a jar (add some nutmeg, cocoa powder maybe) so he can make it easily himself. That or a green tea from this one local place; he really likes Japanese green teas.
  
• Last thought was that I might make some chocolate chip cookie dough balls and freeze them b/c he loves eating them for a snack (salmonella be damned); I was just debating if that makes it too many food items...
  
  I wasn't planning on getting a gift for his family, but I asked and he said that his parents probably will get me something small. :-/ I probably still won't get them anything store-bought really but I'm thinking I'll up my baking game & just plan to bring goodies to any situation in which I will encounter his parents for the next month. My other thought was that maybe I'd make some of these, but was thinking maybe that's a bit weird. (I'm a med/grad student so I don't think it's TOTALLY out of the blue?)

There are so many great books! The Brontes' work, Jane Austen, War and Peace, everything by Dostoyevsky....Sometimes it takes a while to get into certain of the great books, but they always pay off.

Also, in case you haven't read them, check out David Mitchell's early work--Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, and Cloud Atlas all are brilliant.

Ghostwritten by David Mitchell. Link

It might be too early, but this one still shouldn't be forgotten. Like Cloud Atlas, it mingles SF concepts with intertextual literature. It is perhaps a more subtle work, but anyone who enjoyed this month's novel should definitely give it a go.

I also really loved A Suitable Boy. I think it's brilliant.

For a completely contrasting look at India, I recommend the white tiger by Aravind Adiga.

I think The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is absolutely brilliant, one of the best novels of the last decade.

White Teeth is another really wonderful book about multiculturalism and immigrant life that really stands out.

For a rip-roaring old-fashioned adventure yarn, you can't do better than
Sea of Poppies.

Finally for some superior storytelling and brilliant narrative experimentation try Cloud Atlas or Ghostwritten