Lists
by Powell's Staff, October 12, 2021 9:24 AM
Have a book lover on your gift list, but no idea where to start? Let us help with 40 recommendations that suit all kinds
of readers. These are the books we're gifting, and, well, we have very good taste.
100 Things We've Lost to the Internet
by Pamela Paul
To: My adolescent children who’ve not known a world without the
Internet
From: A loving mother who desires balance between then and now
Atlas of Imagined Places
by Matt Brown and Rhys B. Davies
To: My urban planner best friend who loves maps and reading
From: An observant bestie who knows literary topography is your next big thing
Atlas of the Invisible
by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti
To: That bar trivia team member who always knows the answers to the
geography questions
From: Your spatially challenged teammate who wants to win that coveted $25 1st place gift card
Bathe the
Cat
by Alice B. McGinty and David Roberts
To: My niece, who would love to bathe the cat
From: Your aunt, who does not advise it
Beasts of a Little Land
by Juhea Kim
To: My best friend, who’s always looking for the perfect, all-consuming, sweeping, complex and beautiful epic to sink herself into
From: Your ride-or-die, who will be absolutely fine if you cancel our plans because you can’t put this book down
Collective Wisdom
by Grace Bonney
To: My aunt, who has always been a fount of wisdom
From: Your niece, who’s still listening
A Curious Collection of Dangerous Creatures
by Sami Bayly
To: My son’s best friend, who is fascinated by nature’s fiercest
From: Paul’s mom, who personally doesn’t care for claws
Dracula: Deluxe Edition
by Bram Stoker and Edward Gorey
To: Emily, who loves a grim tale made Gorey
From: Liza, who’s totally not listening to “Love Song for a Vampire” right now
Far
Sector
by N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell
To: My non-geeky friends: Here’s a superhero just for you, African
American and intergalactic, a truly bad-ass peacemaker
From: Doug
H of
H Playbook
by Anne Carson
To: My thesis advisor, who sat through my theatrical mash-up of
Euripedes’s Medea, Electra, and Hecuba
From: Rhianna (P.S. I love you, I’m sorry)
Harsh Times
by Mario Vargas Llosa (Trans. Adrian Nathan West)
To: My father, who’s seen much of the world, and reads the best
fiction it has to offer
From: Your son, who’s looking forward to traveling again soon (maybe)
Hero of Two Worlds
by Mike Duncan
To: My favorite armchair historian
From: Your podcast-obsessed friend who wants to get you hooked on Mike Duncan so we can talk about
Revolutions
The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes
by Zoë Playdon
To: My friend who knows there’s so much of our history that’s been
silenced
From: Your friend who loves to unearth secrets with you
Hooked
by Sutton Foster
To: My girlfriend, who often quotes Younger while knitting
From: Your partner, who preferred Bunheads
How
Do You Live?
by Genzaburo Yoshino
To: My nephew who's starting to think through the big existential
questions
From: Your aunt, who's still working it out
How to Suffer Outside
by Diana Helmuth and Latasha Dunston
To: My sister, whose idea of hiking is walking to the bakery down the block
From: Her older sibling who walks seven miles to run errands
The Korean Vegan Cookbook
by Joanne Lee Molinaro
To: My bulgogi-loving hubby, who doesn’t think it’s a
meal without meat
From: The doenchang-savvy wife excited to prove you wrong
Light From Uncommon Stars
by Ryka Aoki
To: My sci-fi obsessed dad, who's memorized all the Douglas Adams
books
From: Your donut-loving daughter
Major Labels
by Kelefa Sanneh
To: My friends who miss live shows and make the best
end-of-the-year playlists
From: The beneficiary of your impeccable music taste
Matrix
by Lauren Groff
To: Ben, who made me read The Monk
From: Gabrielle, who wants to you read medieval nuns done right
The
Morning Star
by Karl Ove Knausgaard
To: My coworker, who’s always reading big books or contemplatively
staring off into the middle distance
From: Your colleague, who keeps looking but has never seen anything over there
My Monticello
by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
To: My brother who loves great fiction when he’s not out marching
for justice
From: Your sister
Never
by Ken Follett
To: My thriller-loving friend who patiently answers my questions
about the news
From: Your nervous, doomscrolling buddy
Norse
Myths
by Matt Ralphs and Katie Ponder
To: Myself. Have you SEEN these illustrations? (Also, my niece,
who’s super into Rick Riordan’s oeuvre)
From: A Myth-tery Bookseller (with a delightfully terrible sense of humor)
Original Sisters
by Anita Kunz
To: My daughter: you may not have actual sisters, but you have so
many kinswomen in spirit
From: Your mother
Our Country Friends
by Gary Shteyngart
To: My husband, a reader who likes his fiction of-the-moment and
his satire cutting
From: Your husband, who is sticking with escapist sci-fi for now, but you do you
Pax, Journey Home
by Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen
To: My son, who obliterated Pax
From: Your dad, who wishes you’d go easier on this one. I might want to read it after you.
The Plague
by Albert Camus (Trans. Laura Marris)
To: My wonderful but pedantic philosophy-loving uncle
From: Your niece, who is looking forward to arguing about existentialism and allegorical
interpretations with you
Promise That You Will Sing About Me
by Miles Marshall Lewis
To: My friend who always knows more about the coolest musicians
From: Your friend, who has listened to your playlists exclusively for years
A Quick and Easy Bundle
by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson
To: A friend who’s a school counselor, well-meaning and curious
older relatives, and myself
From: The More You Know, the Kinder You Can Be
Such Color
by Tracy K. Smith
To: My wife, who appreciates beauty and wisdom
From: Your husband, who has always looked to you for both qualities
Upper Left Cities
by Hunter Shobe and David Banis
To: My Bay Area friends and sister in Seattle: let the best city debate begin
From: Your friend in Portland, where the airport is indisputably the best
Vespertine
by Margaret Rogerson
To: The DM of my D&D group, who loves the macabre mythos of revenants and reliquaries
From: My Character Is Gonna Get Possessed Now I Just Know It
Win Me Something
by Kyle Lucia Wu
To: My sister, because she'll be as enthralled with Willa's voice as I am
From: Your sister, who's dying to talk about it with you
Wish It Lasted Forever
by Dan Shaughnessy
To: My uncle, who still hasn’t learned the futility of trying to talk sports to me
From: Your nephew, who totally knows who Larry Bird is (he was in McDonald’s commercials)
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More Holiday 2021 Gift Ideas
• Powell's Picks of the Season
• Shopping Tips for
Booklovers
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