I’m an obnoxious pedant about my Best of the Year list (I do so much more reading and watching at the end of December! Some of it is really good stuff! You just have to WAIT) but I am also a merciful god (ha ha) who understands that people like to use Best Of lists for gift shopping ideas. And people have of late been telling me how much they appreciate my recommendations, so I gather that some gift suggestions for books might also be appreciated. My philosophy behind gift recs is that it’s either stuff that I think is a safe bet that most people will like, and/or things that a person will enjoy but is unlikely to get themselves (a real sweet spot in the gift world, I think).
Obviously I would be remiss if I didn’t note that if you like reading my brief thoughts on books,you might enjoy reading a whole book of them, couched in some memoirish musings about being in bookclubs. Also, it’s such a cute, pretty little book, adorably pocket sized!
People like newish books, so here are two that will definitely be on my Best Of list that are really excellent and approachable:
BOY FROM THE SEA, Garrett Carr. I haven’t posted about it yet because I’ve been trying for months to write a review of it, but it’s just WONDERFUL. A family in an Irish fishing village takes in a baby who is washed to shore in a barrel. You won’t believe what happens next! jk. But you won’t, actually. There’s something persistently unexpected about where this novel goes, but the voice (fascinating collective narration, for my lit dorks) is so warm and engaging, it’s a book that just envelops you in the best way.
ENDLINGS, Maria Reva. Mail order brides and snail sex and meta-fictional tricks and war and diasporic identity. It’s quirky and smart and moving. Really excellent. Still think it’s the best of the Booker nominees, yet somehow it’s not the one on all the Best Of lists.
HOME FIRE, Kamila Shamsie. Not new, but still relevant! So utterly absorbing, but also packs a real punch, emotionally. It’s the kind of thing you can sink your teeth into intellectually, but it doesn’t feel effortful. Would be great for a book club. Also, extremely pink pastel cover, just makes me happy.
FURIOUS MINDS, Laura Field. I would never have picked this up on my own but my book club picked it and I’m really glad. It’s a Dad book, if you’re into stereotypes, though it’s actually not at all bro-y, except that the subjects are mostly awful toxic men. It’s an intellectual history of the New Right, and it’s impressively thorough and well-researched. Terrifying, but really helpful in understanding the bigger picture of the hellish ideological vision we’re up against.
COOL BEANS, JOE YONAN. Do you have a friend who inexplicably keeps signing up for a CSA share of beans “because it’s not like they go bad!” and now has over 20 lbs of beans in the house? Yes, you do! It’s me. But do you have ANOTHER such friend? Get them this book, it’s the lifeline they need to start cooking all those beans.
GENERATIONS, Lucille Clifton. This feels like cheating because I’ve posted about it many times but it’s so incredible. A slim, sparse memoir that’s so beautiful and powerful. You feel it in your bones.
AUG 9—FOG, Kathryn Scanlan. A pretty little book with the most wonderfully weird, funny, moving scraps of text. It’s a found diary and thus sort of eerie but also really delightful.
NATURE POEM, Tommy Pico. Another one I’ve talked about often in the past, because I used to teach it regularly when I was doing our Intro to Lit Theory, and so it’s partly on here because I miss reading it, and I’m living vicariously through the pleasures of the person you gift it to. It’s such an incredible play with the idea of a nature poem, and loneliness, and climate anxiety, and internet pop culture, and historical trauma. Lines resurface in my head all the time. I kind of want to drop everything and read it again right now.
IN THE ACT, Rachel Ingalls. I think pretty much any of the ND Storybooks is a great gift, they’re so pretty and pleasing, but this one, I suspect, is less likely to get the love that some of the other authors (rightfully) do, and it’s so wonderfully wicked and strange.
POLAND, A GREEN LAND. This is more niche but I’ve been recommending it to people a lot lately (and have been pretty much since I’ve read it) and some people want something a little bit heavier. This is the story of an Israeli Jew taking a trip to Poland to the village his family is from. It’s a really stunning grappling with the complexities of historical memory and politics. It’s just so much deeper and thornier than most of the stuff you see on this topic. Not for everyone, obviously, but if it’s a topic that interests you, I think it’s a must-read.
That’s it! I kept myself to 10, which was hard, but I can’t keep fidgeting with it. Of course I have SO MANY MORE things I could recommend, so if you’re looking for something specific (“What should I get the cool artistic college-aged punk in my life?” It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, by Zoe Thorogood, weird fun graphic novel about depression and drug-fueled adventure and art making) tell me and I’ll do my best to help.
Kasia Reads 