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A lifetime of book recommendations

Your 1-minute-a-week shortcut to
always having awesome gift ideas well in advance.
My attempt to make you smile
before getting to today’s gift ideas
Hi gift-givers! Better Gift Coach is your master gift sommelier with an exquisite palate for gift pairings.
So you want to find a thoughtful, yet affordable, complement to the customary (and likely preferred) grad gift of money?
Thanks to Rachel, a subscriber for New York, I have just the pairing for you!
One-ish more thing(s)
before today’s gift ideas
Have you ever wondered if I, the Better Gift Coach, use any of the gift ideas shared in the newsletter for my own gift-giving needs?
Of course! This newsletter and its subscriber-submitted stories have been a gift inspiration goldmine for me too. See the “Subscribers putting BGC gift ideas into action” section for my Father’s Day gift to my dad this year.
Estimated read time: 2 minutes & 30 seconds
Gift idea time! Here’s a story of a
great gift to spark your creativity
The “Sentimental Book Recommendation Shelf" Gift:
When I graduated from high school, my mother (a librarian) wrote to our relatives, my former teachers and people who had known me over the years and asked them for book recommendations. Then she presented me with a book of book lists as well as a bookshelf with copies of many of the recommended titles. It's still probably the best/coolest/most personal gift I ever received, and I'm 48 years old.
Last year as their graduation approached, I sought out book lists for my daughter. Relatives and friends and even a few favorite teachers going back to second grade replied. Read my blog post about it.

Rachel’s book recommendations grad gift
Why this gift is great
Unique
Personalized
Great group gift
Gets better with age
Gives recipients a lasting connection to the people who helped shape them
Brainstorming your version of this gift
Assembling the recommendations into a book like Rachel did is a really nice touch, but you could alternatively just present your recipient with the list of books and who recommended them
When seeking book recommendations from others, ask them to also include brief explanations for their submissions such as:
What they enjoy about the book
Why they are suggesting the book
What the book has meant to them
What they hope the recipient takes away from the book
Great gift for those entering a new chapter of their lives. Possible events to consider:
Graduation
Retirement
Moving away
Health change
Loss of a loved one
Alternatively, you could always leave it to the professional book recommenders and subscribe your gift recipient to a book subscription service. Click to see the top book subscription services.
To explore more gift ideas that you can crowdsource with friends/family of a gift recipient, see 🎁Low-cost gift of a lifetime
To explore more graduations ideas, see 🎁Grad gifts for zombie apocalypse...or just adulthood
Making this gift happen
What reader(s) do you know whose entering a new chapter of their life?_____
Who from their life can you reach out to for book suggestions?_____
Spread some love! Share this gift idea
Forward this email to:
The avid readers in your life
Someone with a loved one approaching graduation in the next 1-2 years
And introduce them to your favorite 1-minute-a-week shortcut to always having awesome gift ideas well in advance. They can read past editions and subscribe here.
Inspire others!
Share the stories of your best gifts
Please reply to this email ~ or ~ click the button below if you have stories of awesome gifts that you can share with the community that fall under the below topics:
Anniversary gifts
Retirement gifts
Any memorable gift you’ve received or given
Your input helps others brainstorm
What book(s) would you recommend to a recent school graduate? Reply with your recommendations!
My attempt to send
you off with a smile
Happily curating your gift idea library,
Patrick Kucharson
Better Gift Coach
P.S. Reply to this email if you’re seeking a bereavement gift for someone dealing with a loss of a loved one. I’m currently flush with bereavement gift ideas. I was just a guest on the Tendrils of Grief Podcast (click here to listen). This is a phenomenal podcast ‒ pass it along to the folks in your life who are experiencing a loss.
Subscribers putting BGC
gift ideas into action
Have you been inspired by a gift idea shared in the BGC newsletter? It would be the highlight of my week to hear from you about it! Here’s who made my week:
Inspired by the Dad quote gift shared in 🎁Dad gifts beyond white New Balances, here’s a photo of the pint glass featuring my Dad’s most infamous quotes that I gave him for Father’s Day. I also had 3 more made for my brothers and me to have one too.

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