EWED Recommends Gifts 2023

This is the 4^th year in a row that the crew has put together some recommendations on products or books that we actually use, for your consideration in holiday gift buying. I’m going to put things into categories of Stuff for Adults, Kid’s Toys, Books for Adults, and Kid’s Books

Stuff for Adults (Men can be hard to shop for, so this might save Christmas!)

Scott says these scissors are amazing: “Fiskars 9 Inch Serrated Titanium Nitride Shop Shears”, available from Amazon here. Unlike some thick, heavy, or stubby heavy-duty shears, these have the feel of regular scissors, with fairly long, narrow blades. The handles are fairly substantial, and very comfortably contoured to the hand/thumb. The real magic is in the blades. They are sharp, with a very hard titanium nitride coating. Also, they have fine serrations in the cutting edge, that tend to grip the material in place as you are cutting.

Zachary recommends 5 things that he really uses at home

#1: High Lumen Candelabra Bulbs (for lighting up rooms that require candelabra bulbs)

#2 Worm-Gear Clamp (It’s great for any project that needs a quick and secure solution. Probably would fit nicely in a giftwrapped box.)

#3 Hitch Rack (seems aimed at car trips with kids)

#4 Lawn-Mower Blade Sharpener (he says it’s worth it)

#5 Transplanting Spade (if you move plants in the yard, it’s worth it over a standard shovel)

The ever-practical Jeremy just wants to make sure you are Finding Deals on Food

Food makes great presents for adults. Just give me Doritos, thanks.

Kid’s Toys

A wonderful game that you might not already have is Protect the Penguin. It’s high-energy but much less work than something like Twister. I actually enjoy playing it, too.

I’ll re-up from last year that Spot It is incredible and fits in your coat pocket. Fun for all ages. Several versions of the game. Not everyone has to know how to read or add to play so good for events with lots of ages represented. LEGO sets are always fun. If you keep the difficulty level age-appropriate than your kid should be able to play independently for an hour. I’ll put up one link but of course there are many thousands to choose from that can be tailored to any interest. My son likes Minecraft-themed sets.

Books for Adults

If you want to see all the books we have read and reviewed, just click on the Books category or go to

https://economistwritingeveryday.com/category/books/

Not all of those posts are going to give you quick gift ideas, so if I had to pick out one from the last year it would be:

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale is a great book in my summer stack on fast fashion. I have always been interested in the combination problem-blessing of too much stuff. Adam Minter explains perfectly what many of us have been curious about.

You might have a relative who is very environmentally conscious or works hard to reuse and recycle. They might think it’s interesting to learn about the secondhand markets in America and beyond.

Kid’s Books

I’m reading The Hobbit aloud to my son right now and I highly recommend the experience. It’s going to take us months to get through it by reading a few pages at a time around bedtime.

Camp Out!: A Graphix Chapters Book (Bug Scouts #2) Funny graphic novel series about a group of friends in a scout troop. Probably especially fun for a kid who is in some kind of scouts program. Calvin and Hobbes is another comic series that my kid genuinely looks forward to reading.

Joke books can lead to great conversations. If the kid wants to know why something is funny, you can end up talking for a long time about the complex world.

See what we recommended in previous years. We have always had a mix of kid and adult items.