I was extremely excited by this exchange, I love everything about reading. On the fiction side it promotes empathy with others, gives you perspectives to see new ideas or thinking processes and spurs creativity by making your mind travel to places real or imagined. On the non-fiction side it allows you to grow in knowledge and wisdom, it helps you find your place in this giant living tapestry or it takes you deep into the streets and alleys of other people's lives that have existed on this Earth with you.

My santa hit this one out of the ballpark, no question about it. I have a deep soft spot for world building sci-fi/fantasy and Neil Gaiman and China Mieville are the top two representatives of the genre that I enjoy. /u/Jxf found me a Mieville that I don't own and I'm looking forward to getting to it but it'll have to go to the end of the line because of the other gifts I received.

I'm exploring new hobbies now. The busy bounce around younger me has made way for a more settled and introspective older me. I want to improve, build things both internal and external that both inspire me to go further and impress me with the hard fought results. I've got a rudimentary woodworking set but no skill, no knowledge of the craft just a desire to build. /u/Jxf gifted me a book on the proper maintenance and repair of small engines, something I am highly interested in doing nowadays in order to keep things running for a good long time. He also imparted to me a book on the basics of woodworking using both hand and power tools. I feel this book in particular is going to be my go to. It will walk me through everything I need to know for my new hobby and provide a basis for future craftsmanship. I've signed myself up for a woodworking 101 class at a local store and I plan on devouring this book a few times as preparation.

I really enjoyed the gift, I was leaning this way on my own and you have heartily given me a shove forward into the direction I was willing but hesitant to go. No excuses now, creativity awaits. Thanks /u/jxf