Moira: 2019 Gift Guide, Bookish Edition
Ah, the holidays. Equal parts stress and celebration. Avoiding Manhattan between 30th and 59th streets at all costs (I mean, this is me every day, but especially during the holidays), considering it moderation when you limit yourself to five cookies a day—this is truly a blessed season.
The best way for me to structure this gift guide was how I would buy for my family. It’s really important for me to acknowledge here that I come from what we consider a “normal” nuclear family (but I promise you, we are normal in family structure alone.) I have a mother and father who are married to each other, and two sisters who are married. I myself am married and my siblings have children, but I am keeping this to parents and siblings for brevity and my own sanity. At SFOL we respect the beautiful diversity of family structures, birth and chosen, so I wanted to acknowledge that I come from a very specific type of family.
I have consulted my own family for their advice here (last minute and texting them from my bathtub, like I do so many things in life), and so I hope this helps you when buying for your own loved ones.
Dad
My father is a mathematician who loves the New York Review of Books (commie). He enjoys baseball, gin, and riding his bike to work (like I said, commie).
For a dad who loves classic detective novels, he suggests these Ross MacDonald collections. Your dad will be wearing a fedora and trench and swilling scotch in no time!
Historical biographies are also great for dads. My father’s personal heroes are Hadrian, Wendell Willkie, and James Polk, and he loved these biographies of his favorite dudes.
Mom
My mother listens to Terri Gross, rents playaways from the library (I’ve offered to teach her how to download them to her phone to little avail), and enjoys BBC shows. She loves a good mystery or historical fiction novel—actually, I’m only not making fun of her because her reading tastes align most closely with mine of all my family members. Also, she scares me a little bit and she’s the one who buys my presents.
Recently, she’s enjoyed The Ninth Hour, about nursing nuns in Brooklyn in the early 20th century, Anything is Possible, a soothing book with intersecting stories, and Fates and Traitors (about John Wilkes Boothe’s romantic life, heyo!) An all-time favorite is Cokie Roberts’ (RIP) Capital Dames.
Sisters
Because I am a youngest child, I operate as the family’s IRL internet troll/court jester. Given this, I was tempted to tell you all that my sisters both requested Becoming Cliterate for Christmas, but that would just be mean and untrue. Because they already each have a copy.
My sisters are very different ladies, but equally wonderful. (Unless you buy each book using our affiliate links, then I’ll tell you which one I like more.) My eldest sister owns an exercise company for women with young children—she loves J. Crew (we often end up owning the same outfits accidentally), white wine, and country music (ugh, I know). My middle sister is an actuary who is an excellent triathlete. She loves craft beer, prestige television, and high-end athleisure (so also we often accidentally own the same clothes.)
J. Crew sister also has similar taste in books to me, and loves a good mystery. She’s looking forward to reading Nine Perfect Strangers, Then She Was Gone, and Educated. I own all three so I should be a good sister and media mail them to her this week.
Athleisure sister did not get back to me in time for this printing, which, frankly, is just cruel. She definitely prioritizes her child and career over my last minute whims. I think we can all agree that this is unacceptable. She’ll be getting coal this year. She did, however, like Fleishman is in Trouble (see my review here).
Brothers-in-Law
I have two very different brothers-in-law. One is a Navy helicopter pilot who drinks Crown Royal and votes Republican, and one is a California-born biomedical engineer who is an accomplished triathlete. They’re both great, but this will reflect their very different taste.
Navy bro suggests the Master and Commander series. Box sets are great, and they look wonderful on a shelf! This is a very important component to gift selection if you live with my eldest sister! He’s also a big fan of How Soccer Explains the World, which seems so interesting it could maybe make me almost read a book about sports!
Triathlete bro suggests a Stephen King classic, Pet Sematary. He wants you to know, as someone who has lived in Boston for fifteen years, that King’s portrayals of New England are very accurate. He also recently loved Shoe Dog, a biography of the founder of Nike.
//I hope that my family’s eclectic taste gives you some ideas for what to buy your family and friends! If you end up trying any of these, let me know. I also welcome suggestions in the comments!
Happy holidays, my friends! And as we (I) say in Brooklyn, Oy to the World!
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