Last Minute Gift Recommendations Based On What You Gave Them Last Year
I give out a lot of books as gifts. A lot. Pretty much, if I’m getting you a gift, expect it to be a book. If you are like me, that means that you gave out a lot of books last year and you are going to do the same this holiday.
Here are some quick 2015 book recommendations based on the 2014 books you gave to people. Assuming, of course, that they liked the book you gave them last year!
If last year you got them:
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
This year get them:
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Quick reason: Both hugely popular World War Two novels featuring tales of children.
If last year you got them:
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
This year get them:
You Don’t Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent
Quick reason: Excellent, accessible, fun essays about feminism.
If last year you got them:
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott
This year get them:
The Witches by Stacy Schiff
Quick reason: Hard-to-put down, thorough alternative histories of women in America.
If last year you got them:
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
This year get them:
Rain: A Cultural and Natural History by Cynthia Barnett
Quick reason: Great science writing that is concerned with the environment.
If last year you got them:
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
This year get them:
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
Quick reason: Imaginative speculative fiction about what happens when society as we know it collapses.
If last year you got them:
Euphoria by Lily King
This year get them:
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Quick reason: Both novels feature close, unflinching views of marriage and relationships.
If last year you got them:
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
This year get them:
In the Language of Miracles by Rajia Hassib
Quick reason: Both novels examine what happens in a family after the loss of a child and deal with issues of race.
If last year you got them:
Redeployment by Phil Klay
This year get them:
The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
Quick reason: Masterful short stories that deal with the impact of war.
If last year you got them:
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
This year get them:
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
Quick reason: Thoughtful writing on death and dying in our current medical system and our modern cultural approach to death.
If last year you got them:
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
This year get them:
Dear Mr. You by Mary Louise Parker
Quick reason: The best female celebrity memoirs of each year, in my professional opinion. Both are just excellent and reflect the women’s personalities.
If last year you got them:
The UnAmericans by Molly Antopol
This year get them:
In The Country by Mia Alvar
Quick reasons: Beautiful short stories from diverse perspectives.
