You've been pestering your relatives all year to record their life stories for posterity. So this holiday season, instead of another cookbook or golf shirt, why not present Mom, Granddad and Aunt Lu — even yourself — with a gift the whole family can appreciate? Bookstores are brimming with legacy books — tomes designed to help people put their memories on paper. Legacy books help with those “I don't know how to begin” and “my life isn't all that interesting” excuses you'll hear. Unlike a blank journal or an empty computer screen, they make life-story writing easy and enjoyable by giving guidance and prompts relevant to anyone's life experiences. And there's a type of legacy book for every personality, from the writing-shy to the super-creative. Look for books to fit your family members among these four categories:

Memory joggers

One category of legacy books is what I call “memory joggers.” This type of book doesn't provide space to write your answers, but it does offer you endless topic ideas for journal writing, oral history interviews or inspiration to write a life story. With memory joggers, your kin have the flexibility to write as little or as much as they want on each topic, in whatever format they choose.