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.