Need book ideas for "picky" reader

[WhatwouldCJdo]

One of my siblings loves reading diaries of people (fiction and non-fiction). She's not the sort dying to read the latest Booker prize nominees. More of a buy it from the supermarket type of reader. But not celebrity (she lived in a non-European country so the famous TV type celebrity passes her by). She is very well travelled.

Any suggestions for books as gifts?

Driving over lemons (and the sequels). I adore these books.

The Diaries of Adrian Mole? They’re very, very funny.

Samuel Pepys? There are nice, condensed versions which include the interesting (and sexy) stuff, without the minutiae.

Bridget Jones Diary, which is not my thing, but of course was hugely popular.

I’ve just read Diary of a Bookseller which I adored. He’s funny, grumpy and interesting - and still runs his bookshop in Scotland.

If letters rather than diaries appeal, 84 Charing Cross Road is a classic. For an enjoyable fantasy, also epistolary, Garth Nix’s Newts Emerald is like Georgette Heyer in fantasyland.

A favourite epistolary novel of mine is Emma Bull’s Freedom and Necessity. It’s dense and at times hard-going, but if your sister enjoys history it might work.