Last Minute Passionistas Gift Guide: Book Edition

If you're anything like us, you're always looking for last minute gifts for the holidays. Luckily there are lots of products from our Passionistas available on Amazon for last minute shipping. Here are some perfect selections for the book lovers in your life.

INSPIRATIONAL & MOTIVATIONAL

IMPERFECT COURAGE: LIVE A LIFE OF PURPOSE BY LEAVING COMFORT AND GOING SCARED by JESSICA HONEGGER

In Imperfect Courage, the founder of the popular fair trade jewelry brand Noonday Collection shares her story of starting the rapid-growing business that impacts over 4,500 artisans in vulnerable communities across the globe—and invites readers on a journey of transformation, challenging them to trade their comfort zones for a life of impact and adventure. (Affiliate links below).

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CONFIDENT YOU: SIMPLE HABITS TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE IMAGINED by JULIE DELUCCA-COLLINS

From an early age, Julie was always told she was a leader. Over the course of her business career, she continued to gain success. Despite her accomplishments, Julie found that she would second guess herself and feel insecure. Soon she found that she was not the only one that felt like this. As she began mentoring and coaching women in her job and philanthropy work, Julie found that women don't give themselves enough credit and are too afraid to leap. Unlike many women, Julie stepped out to chase her dreams, knowing that she would rather live with the lessons from a failed attempt than the regrets of a leap not taken. Julie learned that the secret to success was adopting the habits that built the skills to feel more confident. These habits allowed her to be more engaged and motivated to stay on track to go after her dreams and achieve them. In this book, she shares her secrets to become less overwhelmed, find purpose, and live her passions.

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SELF LOVE POETRY: FOR THINKERS & FEELERS by MELODY GODFRED

In Self Love Poetry, Godfred explores concepts like authenticity, surrender, resilience, gratitude, believing in yourself, and of course, love, through 100 pairs of poems, each dedicated to a central theme. On the left side of the book are "thinker" poems that light up the analytical, more literal, left side of the brain, and on the right side are companion "feeler" poems that speak to the creative, more emotional right side of the brain. Combined, the poems electrify the mind, body and soul through a completely unique poetry experience that inspires each of us to embrace all parts of ourselves. This empowering poetry book will not only engage you to think and feel, but will make you feel seen, show you how to love yourself, and encourage you to seek out the hope and beauty in the world … and in yourself. It’s the perfect gift for yourself or someone you love, especially after a most difficult year.

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LAUNCH X IDEA IN 30 DAYS by NEKEI LEWIS

Every idea requires a foundation to launch your idea into a real business. Take the challenge of how to launch any idea within 30 days with this hands on workbook planner. This workbook planner allows any idea to be launched in MVP version.

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FICTION

FOREVER 51 by PAMELA SKJOLSVIK

Full of vampires with spray tans and menopause trying to twelve step their way to salvation, Forever 51 takes vampire fiction into terrifying new territory: middle age. A very funny, very bloody book about growing older and getting dead. – Grady Hendrix, New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

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THE SPINSTER DIARIES: A NOVEL by GINA FATTORE

Our heroine, a moderately successful TV writer in L.A., wants her life to be as sunny and perfect as a Hollywood rom-com: a cool job, a wacky best friend, and lots of age-appropriate hot guys just dying to date her. Instead, she’s a self-described spinster who is swimming in anxiety and just might have a tiny little brain tumor. So she turns to an unlikely source for inspiration: the eighteenth-century novelist and diarist Frances Burney, who pretty much invented the chick-lit novel.

A semi-autobiographical unromantic comedy, The Spinster Diaries is a laugh-out-loud satire of both the TV business and the well-worn conventions of chick lit―as well as the true tale of the forgotten writer who inspired Jane Austen to greatness. It's an endearing and refreshingly honest testament to how one person’s life can reach out across the centuries to touch another’s.

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BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY

JANIS: HER LIFE AND MUSIC by HOLLY GEORGE-WARREN

This blazingly intimate biography of Janis Joplin establishes the Queen of Rock & Roll as the rule-breaking musical trailblazer and complicated, gender-bending rebel she was.

Janis Joplin’s first transgressive act was to be a white girl who gained an early sense of the power of the blues, music you could only find on obscure records and in roadhouses along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. But even before that, she stood out in her conservative oil town. She was a tomboy who was also intellectually curious and artistic. By the time she reached high school, she had drawn the scorn of her peers for her embrace of the Beats and her racially progressive views. Her parents doted on her in many ways, but were ultimately put off by her repeated acts of defiance.

Janis Joplin has passed into legend as a brash, impassioned soul doomed by the pain that produced one of the most extraordinary voices in rock history. But in these pages, Holly George-Warren provides a revelatory and deeply satisfying portrait of a woman who wasn’t all about suffering. Janis was a perfectionist: a passionate, erudite musician who was born with talent but also worked exceptionally hard to develop it. She was a woman who pushed the boundaries of gender and sexuality long before it was socially acceptable. She was a sensitive seeker who wanted to marry and settle down—but couldn’t, or wouldn’t. She was a Texan who yearned to flee Texas but could never quite get away—even after becoming a countercultural icon in San Francisco.

Written by one of the most highly regarded chroniclers of American music history, and based on unprecedented access to Janis Joplin’s family, friends, band mates, archives, and long-lost interviews, Janis is a complex, rewarding portrait of a remarkable artist finally getting her due.

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HOW I MADE A HUGE MESS OF MY LIFE: (OR COUPLES THERAPY WITH A DEAD MAN) by BILLIE BEST

Billie Best’s memoir is a provocative, at times hilarious, account of her midlife mistakes and misadventures, and how they build her strength as she copes with her soul mate turned cheating husband who wants his death to be performance art, his doppelganger mistress who wants to steal her identity, and the financial collapse of the farm she loves.

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BOSTON BALLERINA: A DANCER, A COMPANY, AN ERA by LAURA YOUNG AND JANINE PARKER

As a charter member of Boston Ballet and its predecessor, New England Civic Ballet, Laura Young has been affiliated with the company longer than any other dancer in its history. This book is both a memoir of her personal journey and a fascinating account of Boston Ballet’s rise from a regional troupe to the internationally recognized company that it is today. It is interspersed with ruminations on the history of ballet, stories from the company’s Balanchine-influenced early years under founder E. Virginia Williams, and recollections from noteworthy tours, including those featuring the legendary Rudolf Nureyev, with whom Young was frequently paired. After retiring from the stage, Young has continued her affiliation with Boston Ballet, both as an administrator and a teacher. Working in collaboration with Janine Parker, Young has written a lively, informed, and entertaining memoir.

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THE OFFICER'S DAUGHTER: A MEMOIR OF FAMILY AND FORGIVENESS by ELLE JOHNSON

The Officer’s Daughter, by Elle Johnson, is a masterpiece. More than that, it's the perfect book for our troubled time. Johnson has written the deepest, most emotionally resonant understanding of forgiveness and justice I have ever read." -- Darin Strauss, bestselling author of Half a Life

Raised in Hollis, Queens and educated at Harvard, Elle got her first writing job on HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS. Her credits include everything from THE FOSTERS and FINDING CARTER to LAW & ORDER and THE GLADES. She is currently co-showrunning MADAM CJ WALKER at Netflix and has done everything from working in Cairo after graduation to riding a bike across country for a cause.

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HOMELESS TO THE WHITE HOUSE by TESS CACCIATORE

Tess Cacciatore’s life has been filled with adventure and adversity, passion and perils, heartbreak and hope. In her memoir, “Homeless to the White House,” she shares her riveting story, and perhaps more importantly, sets in motion her lifelong calling to help others.

Her saga begins in the heart of the Congo with a gun pointed at her head. It closes on the peaceful shores at the Sea of Cortez, healed from domestic violence and ready to give birth to the next chapter in her life.

The end of this book is truly a new beginning. It’s the launching point for the #Reveal2Heal cultural movement. Coinciding with today’s redefining social initiatives, such as #MeToo and #TimesUp, Tess brings her story to the world to encourage enlightened action.

Through her powerful narrative, Tess demonstrates that everyone’s story has value. With this book and her ongoing efforts to drive change, Tess hopes to inspire women and men from around the world to join forces and have their voices heard. By sharing, we overcome personal adversities and abuses to find self-love, self-reliance and self-empowerment. By collaborating, we bring to life powerful energies that drive widespread, positive change.

“Homeless to the White House” is a story that motivates community-driven activism to advance humanity and enhance life quality. Reveal, heal, and be part of a powerful cultural transformation.

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COOKING

SUSAN FENIGER'S STREET FOOD: IRRESISTIBLY CRISPY, CREAMY, CRUNCHY, SPICY, STICKY, SWEET RECIPES by SUSAN FENIGER, KAJSA ALGER AND LIZ LACHMAN

Over her thirty-year food career—from being one of the original Food Network stars and opening Border Grill to appearing on Top Chef Masters and creating STREET—celebrity chef Susan Feniger has continually found inspiration for her renowned cooking in street food carts around the world. In Susan Feniger’s Street Food, she shares 83 of her favorite recipes with home cooks, giving them a taste of these unexpected, tantalizing dishes.

On her globe-trotting adventures, with cooking and eating as the only shared language, Susan has forged friendships with rice farmers in Vietnam, women baking flatbread in Turkey, and nomadic cheesemakers in Mongolia. She’s become an expert on combining spices and ingredients to re-create authentic mind-blowing flavors back home. One bite of Artichokes with Lemon Za’atar Dipping Sauce confirms that they should never be eaten another way, and dinner should always be as enticing as crunchy and refreshing Saigon Chicken Salad, delicious Thai Drunken Shrimp with Rice Noodles, or sweet-savory Korean Glazed Short Ribs with Sesame and Asian Pear. Drinks, condiments, and sweets—such as indulgent and alluring Turkish Doughnuts with Rose Hip Jam—round out the recipe collection.

Susan’s personal travel stories and vacation snapshots inspire at every turn. Her expert tips on ingredients and easy substitutions, along with more than 100 color photographs, make Susan Feniger’s Street Food the perfect guide for home cooks looking to shake up their cooking repertoires with exciting new flavors.

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KATIE CHIN'S GLOBAL FAMILY COOKBOOK: INTERNATIONALLY-INSPIRED RECIPES YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WILL LOVE! by KATIE CHIN

Professional chef, TV personality and working mom of three kids, Katie Chin shows you how easy it is to prepare new and exciting meals from many cultures. Discover comfort food from around the world, and add some international flair to your dinner table.

In addition to providing simple recipes for every meal and occasion, Katie includes sidebars explaining how her recipes can be adapted for vegetarians, vegans and those with food allergies—and how to add fresh new flavors to kids' lunches. From "meatless Mondays" to "taco Tuesdays," the recipes in this book include something for everyone!

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COOLHAUS ICE CREAM BOOK: CUSTOM-BUILT SANDWICHES WITH CRAZY-GOOD COMBOS OF COOKIES, ICE CREAMS, GELATOS, AND SORBETS by NATASHA CASE AND FREYA ESTRELLER

From a beat-up postal van turned food truck, Coolhaus has rocketed to a national brand. Yahoo! called it “the best ice cream in America.” The inventive sandwiches, named after famous architects, are sold in supermarkets across the country, as well as from trucks in Los Angeles, New York, Austin, and Dallas. Coolhaus has drawn accolades from the New York Times, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Time, and Good Morning America, to name a few, and from such celebrities as Will Ferrell, Jimmy Kimmel, and Alex Guarnaschelli.

Now the owners part with the recipes for their coolest creations, like the BuckMINTster Fuller (Dirty Mint Chip Ice Cream with Chocolate Chip Cookies) and the Frank Behry (Strawberry Gelato with Snickerdoodles). Daring flavors range from classic (Cookies and Sweet Cream), to boozy (Bourbon Manhattan), to vegan (Lychee Martini), and even savory (Fried Chicken and Waffle).

Sandwiched among the treats are tips on ice cream making, profiles of major and up-and-coming architects, and amusing tales of the owners’ forays into the ice cream business.

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