This week on Broke and the Bookish it’s all about Christmas! Recently, I’ve fallen in with a new genre and I can’t get enough! Science fiction often gets a bad rap for not having enough story, enough science, or even having too much science, but it’s simply not true. Like any genre, there are common elements. Science fiction is usually set in the future or in space (or both) and focused on advancements in technology, but they’re also about human nature. How will we respond when our technology out-grows its maker? When our technology defies humanity? When we’re pushed to our limits? A great novel changes the way you think, bringing forward questions you never imagined to ask – and here, you’ll find no different.

For more gift ideas check out previous gift guides for Mom and Dad!

Dark Matter Blake Crouch

One second Jason is out on an ice cream run for family night and the next he’s knocked unconscious by an eerily familiar voice asking him, of all things, “Are you happy with your life?” He wakes surrounded by doctors in hazmat suits, by a man claiming to be his colleague and friend, at a state of the art, top-secret lab HE built, but he’s just a college professor, how could any of this be true? Exploring the possibilities of parallel universes and the choices they’d present, Dark Matter is not one to miss!

Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

A brand new YA science fiction novel exploring the complicated boundaries between technology and religion. Nemesis is a diabolic, built by man to protect her charge Sidonia, the daughter of a galactic senator. But when the senator openly defies the Emperor by teaching science, they’ll find the only way to protect his daughter is by sending Nemesis in her place. With the Empire on the edge of rebellion and Sidonia’s life in her hands, Nemesis must find strength from within, an inner humanity she’s been told time and time again isn’t there.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Set in a world where disease has been entirely eradicated, death is dependent on random killings by professional reapers, or the scythes. Despite their contempt for the job, Citra and Rowan have been specially selected as future scythes, but as they learn its dark necessity, it’ll become clear the role is only meant for one of them. Pitted against each other in a fight for their lives, they’ll push the boundaries of the seemingly utopian society in which they live.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The year is 2575 and two mega-corporations have just waged war, starting with the mining planet of Karenza. Told through emails, ship schematics, military files, interview transcriptions and other documents, Illuminae follows Kady and Ezra after they escape the fallen planet, only to find the rescue ships under further attack. Full of action, technology, romance, and a renegade AI system, Illuminae is a total hit for YA and science fiction lovers alike.

Replica by Lauren Oliver

A two-book novel, Replica explores the horrifying secrets behind the mysterious research facility Haven, auspiciously located on a deserted island off the coast of Florida. Rumors have the facility experimenting on aliens and stealing children, but after Gemma’s parents are implicated by association, she’ll stop at nothing to find the truth. Meanwhile, Lyra has spent her entire life in Haven, kept as an animal, a research tool, one medical test after another. Making her escape, she’ll find life outside Haven very different from what she imagined, a life full of possibility and love.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Waking to find another sunny day in southern California, Julia and her family slowly tune into the news to find the world forever changed. The Earth’s rotation has mysteriously slowed, altering the pull in the gravitational fields and drastically changing climate patterns. Days turn long and the night short, solar flares threaten to destroy mankind by radiation, food is going to run out… In a world of such drastic change, how do you continue to live?

Super Extra Grande by Yoss

If your booklover is into weird, this is the story for them. An intergalactic space adventure following a veterinarian who specializes in treating enormous animals across the galaxy. From talking reptiles to amoebas that cover entire planets, Super Extra Grande is full of wild imagination and curiosity found at the heart of all beloved science fiction.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Kathy, Ruth and Tommy have grown up together at the exclusive Hailsham boarding school in the English countryside. Sheltered all their lives, they dream of a life outside its walls, but as they grow more desperate to escape, they’ll find out just how special they truly are.

Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin

Among the survivors of a city left devastated by an epidemic, Nell Crane struggles to find her place during the reclamation. Her father is a brilliant biomechanical scientist, but how could she possibly live up to his reputation? Salvaging along the beach, she finds a tattered mannequin and decides to build her own companion, but in a city that fears technology, she’ll push the boundary between humanity and technology once for all.

The Fireman by Joe Hill

A terrifying new plague is sweeping across the nation, spreading like wildfire not just across the U.S. but the entire world. Terror stricken and surrounded by fire, a new world order has emerged as crews begin hunting the infected, marked by golden scales. Harper, a young nurse, finds herself rescued by the Fireman, a mysterious Brit who’s learned to control the fire within, using it as a tool to rescue the weak and protect survivors. But, when an elder member is attacked, their community will tear itself apart during its own witch-hunt.

What are you gifting this Christmas?