Last-Minute Holiday Book Ideas

Dec. 21, 2009— -- Need a thoughtful, last-minute gift that won't break the bank? A book could be the answer you're looking for.

"Good Morning America" teamed up with Parade magazine's editor-in-chief Janice Kaplan to feature some of the best books of the year. Any of these choices would make a great holiday gift!

'GMA' Featured Books

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

"The Help" was a surprise bestseller by a new author who originally struggled to get the book published. The story is about three women in 1960s Jackson, Miss., and deals with race, relationships and the human condition.

"Under the Dome" by Stephen King

It's rare to go through the holiday season without a new Stephen King novel and this year is no different. In his newest work, King chronicles the bizarre happenings in a small Maine town that is entirely covered by an invisible dome. No one can get in or out and things get very scary, very quickly.

"Museum of Innocence" by Orhan Pamulk

Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamulk turned this tale about a romantic obsession -- an engaged man has an affair with a young shop girl who suddenly disappears.

He spends years trying to find her and, along the way, collects everything the girl has touched, from ticket stubs to olive pits.

Books Make Great Holiday Gifts!

Memoir or Biography:

"Open" by Andre Agassi

"Open" sent shock waves through the sports world and Hollywood as Agassi revealed that he often hated tennis, had an unhappy marriage and abused drugs. The book is one of the most honest looks at the pressures of international tennis stardom from an early age.

"Pops: The Life of Louis Armstrong" by Terry Teachout

Take a look into the life of one of jazz's greatest artists, Louis Armstrong. in the new biography "Pops" by Terry Teachout.

"True Compass" by Edward Kennedy

Completed shortly before his death in August, Ted Kennedy's "True Compass" is a revealing look at the "Liberal Lion" of the Senate's long career and personal life -- from challenges and victories to tragedies and failings.

Mystery or Thrillers:

"True Blue" by David Baldacci

Bestselling author David Baldacci is back with another thriller about the inner workings of Washington, D.C., law enforcement. The two main characters are sisters, one a police chief and the other a disgraced cop. Pick up a copy to see how the siblings end up on a violent collision course.

Books Make Great Holiday Gifts!

"The Defector" by Daniel Silva

"The Defector" is a sequel to Silva's popular "Moscow Rules" and is all about double-agents, arms dealers and the Russian mob -- ingredients for a fast-paced thriller.

"Breathless" by Dean Koontz

Like most Koontz novels, it would take far more than a few sentences to explain the plot of "Breathless," so just take our word for it that characters from Las Vegas, Seattle and more will collide on a Colorado mountain where the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

'GMA' Honorable Mentions

"Too Much Money" by Dominick Dunne

"Juliet Naked" by Nick Hornby

"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kinsolver

Memoir or Biography:

"Thank Heaven: A Memoir" by Leslie Caron

"High Society: The Life & Times of Grace Kelly" by Donald Spoto

"How to Be a Movie Star : Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood" by William Mann

"U is for Undertow" by Sue Grafton

"Pursuit of Honor" by Vince Flynn

"The Monster in the Box" by Ruth Rendell

Parade Magazine Picks

Fiction:

"In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" by Daniyal Mueenduddin

"Too Much Happiness" by Alice Munro

"The Help" by Katheryn Setockett

Non Fiction:

"Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

"The Book of Basketball" by Bill Simmons

"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba

Memoir or Biography:

"Sweet Thunder: the Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson" by Wil Haygood

"The First Tycoon" by T.J. Stiles

"How to Be a Movie Star: Elisabeth Taylor In Hollywood" by William Mann

"Open" by Andre Agassi

"U is for Undertow" by Sue Grafton
"Putnam Breathless" by Dean Koontz

"Trial by Fire" by J.A. Jance

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