Shannon: 2019 Gift Guide, Bookish Edition

I always love getting books as gifts—in fact, I just sent a list to my dad yesterday. I prefer to pick out my own clothes, have very specific taste for my apartment decor, and I prioritize experiences (primarily traveling) over things. But books are the perfect gift because you can never have too many (at least, I can’t), and they are the one category of objects that needs constant replenishment as you go through them! Plus, books are thoughtful—there’s something personal about thinking critically about the type of book someone you love will love.

So, for my gift guide this year (don’t forget to check out Elizabeth’s and Moira’s), I’ve put together some recs for a few different people in my life, and likely yours too.

For your girlfriend who wants to read more

It can be hard for some people to prioritize reading, but if you have a girlfriend whose New Year’s resolution is to read more, I’d start with some lighter novels hat are quick reads:

• any of Jasmine Guillory’s fun, frothy romances (I liked “The Wedding Date” and “The Proposal” best)

• “Necessary People” by Anna Pitoniak (my review here)

• “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert (Elizabeth’s review here)

• “The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren (Moira’s review here)

• “Mrs. Everything” by Jennifer Weiner

• “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid (my review here)

For your man-friend (or brother, male cousin, work husband, and so on)

Depending on how woke they (think they) are, you could go in a few directions…

• “Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape” by Jessica Luther: a bit of an aggressive choice, but I do consider it a must-read for college football fans.

• “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace” by Jeff Hobbs: a literal tear-jerker but an excellent read and commentary on poverty in America.

• “The World as It Is” by Ben Rhodes: a dense and comprehensive look at foreign policy in the Obama era

• “The Nix” by Nathan Hill: a dense literary fiction novel but I’d only recommend it to someone who is already super into reading–it weighs in at more than 600 pages. (My review here)

• “Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul” by Jeremiah Moss: a great read for New Yorkers, and a quick one despite its length.

• Any of Anthony Bourdain’s books, particularly “Kitchen Confidential” and “A Cook’s Tour”

• “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by John Carreyrou: the definitive look at the rise and downfall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos

For your historically minded, feminist friend

Assuming she’s read most of the books on my list of Intro to Feminist Nonfiction, I’d go with any of the following, which take in-depth looks at some of the untold stories of women in history:

• “The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women” by Kate Moore

• “The Women Who Flew for Hitler: A True Story of Soaring Ambition and Searing Rivalry” by Clare Mulley

• “Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of WWII” by Liza Mundy

• “Of Fortunes and War: Clare Hollingworth, First of the Female War Correspondents” by Patrick Garrett

• “A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II” by Sonia Purnell

• “Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy": Four Women Undercover in the Civil War” by Karen Abbott

For your dad who has a small library of history books (…asking for a friend)

“The Last Lion” trilogy by William Manchester is a universally-acclaimed biography of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and this box set will be a crowd (er, or dad) -pleaser.

If you want to make conversation without reading along, check out Season 1 of “The Crown” on Netflix.

Some other picks:

• “America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines” by Gail Collins

• “Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History” by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio (yes, the Oscar-winning movie is based on this)

• “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11” by Lawrence Wright (there’s also a Hulu series which begins around page 300 of the book)

• “The Witches: Salem 1692” by Stacy Schiff

For your friend with the most unique taste

I have a few friends who have such different taste in books than mine, which I love because it exposes me to books I probably otherwise wouldn’t be aware of. (And I like to think I read everything!) These are all thought-provoking in their own way, largely focused on philosophy, traveling, and race.

• “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy” by Jenny Odell

• “The Architecture of Happiness” by Alain De Botton

• “Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit

• “The Fire This Time: A Generation Speaks About Race” edited by Jesmyn Ward

• “Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World” by Suzy Hansen

For your niece or nephew

At the age of 32, I finally have a few close friends who have started having kids. I’ve loved buying books for them and thinking about some of my favorites growing up. It’s never too early to start a child’s library! Below, a few of my current favorites for different ages.

• Board book: “A is for Awesome” by Eva Chen

• Picture book: any of the “Little People, Big Dreams” series—my favorite is the David Bowie one.

• Picture book: “Paper Son” by Julie Leung, which tells the story of Chinese immigrant Tyrus Wong, who went on to become the head illustrator for Disney’s “Bambi” (full disclosure: I am close friends with Julie)

• Middle grade: “Mice of the Round Table” trilogy (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3) by Julie Leung (see disclosure above)

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