It’s that time of year! When you are tasked with buying things for what seems like more people than last year, and you might have no idea where to start. I say this all the time, and I’m sure most people would disagree with me, but a carefully selected book is a really good gift! It shows you put one second into thinking about what the person likes, or you want to share with them something that you really like. Plus, books are relatively cheap. It’s a no-brainer!
I obviously have a lot of ideas about which books you should buy for your loved ones, but if the person you’re shopping for doesn’t fit the mold of any of these please respond to this email and I will be your personal ~book stylist.
For your best girlies:
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donaghue
Reading this book is like listening to a really good story from one of your best friends. It’s filled with hilarious banter, juicy gossip, shocking affairs, will-they-won’t-they relationships, and indie bookstore drama. All set in Ireland! What fun!
For the thriller fan who’s read everything:
The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
This novel was published originally in the 80s in Japan but has just been translated into English for the first time this year. Lucky us! It’s a fast-paced whodunit that takes place in two separate timelines, one year apart, all within the confines of an architecturally interesting house owned by the son of a famous artist who hides his facial scars behind a mask. Need I say more!!!
For the true crime junkie:
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
I am not the kind of person who consumed every piece of Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer content that came out in the past five years, but I really enjoyed this fictionalized feminist retelling of serialized murders by a serial killer in the same vein. If you are that kind of person, you’ll probably like it even more!
For the nonfiction/history fan who should read more novels:
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
Another novel based on real people and events, this one is a little more introspective and scientific. It follows several intellectuals/scientists from the 1930s to now, through the dawn of the nuclear age and the boom of quantum mechanics (oppenheimer fans rise up) to the creation of AI. The main focus is John von Neumann, a Hungarian polymath who invented Game Theory and the first programable computer, and pioneered the field of AI. I’m reading it now and am loving it, especially since I would never pick up a biography of the guy.
For wildlife lovers, weird Florida freaks, and fans of crazy stories:
Gator Country by Rebecca Renner
A journalist goes underground into the mysterious world of gator poaching in the Everglades and all of her preconceived notions are turned upside down? Sign me up.
For the sci-fi sweeties:
Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park
I have this one on hold at the library, and this description is why: a wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present—loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media.
For all the former frat stars:
Among the Bros by Max Marshall
This book sounds WILD. It takes place at College of Charleston in 2018, when a young investigative journalist looks into what he thinks is a small-time Xanax trafficking ring that turns into a homicide, several student deaths, and millions of dollars circulating around the Deep South.
For anyone on your list:
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein is one of our best nonfiction writers and I’ll read/listen to anything she writes! Themes in this one: doppelgangers (duh), the wellness to QAnon pipeline, AI and the blurring of reality, and what is even true anymore.
For the voracious readers/English majors/doorstop carriers:
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
I just…I need someone to read this so I can talk about it with them. It’s 800 pages long and set during the gold rush in New Zealand, follows like 12 different characters as they unravel and discover the events that led to a murder, a theft, and seemingly supernatural occurrences. It is also outlined according to the Zodiac and where constellations appear overhead? I don’t know man but I think about it every day.
For the cinephile:
You Are What You Watch by Walter Hickey
This one is perfect for the movie or TV junkie in your life because it goes into detail why the things we watch are more than simply entertainment and effect our mindsets and actions and even brain chemistry and the air around us, all through interesting charts and diagrams.
Thanks for reading!