“The Stacks” podcast host and creator Traci Thomas joins Here & Now’s Scott Tong to talk about book gifts. They share some of their favorites and talk about some of her suggestions.
Holiday gift guide for bookworms
For the person who knows everything about everything.
- “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World” by Henry Grabar
- “Wordslut: A Feminist’s Guide to Taking Back the English Language” by Amanda Montell
- “Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture” by Virginia Sole-Smith
Nonfiction for people who only like novels
- “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy” by Nathan Thrall
- “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland” by Patrick Radden Keefe
- “Heavy: An American Memoir” by Kiese Laymon
Fiction for people who only read nonfiction
- “Severance” by Ling Ma
- “There There” by Tommy Orange
- “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead
- “Exit West” by Mohsin Hamid
For the person who loves history (both history and historical fiction)
- “Let Us Descend” by Jesmyn Ward (f)
- “My Government Means to Kill Me” by Rasheed Newson (f)
- “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom” by Ilyon Woo (nf)
- “When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era” by Donovan X. Ramsey (nf)
- “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy” by Heather Ann Thompson (nf)
- “How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith (nf)
- “If You Leave Me” by Crystal Hana Kim (f)
For the at-home chef
- “Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook” by Sohla El-Waylly
- “Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling” by Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral
- “50 Pies, 50 States: An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the United States Through Pie” by Stacey Mei Yan Fong
- “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” by Samin Nosrat
- “Ad Hoc at Home” by Thomas Keller
For the pop culture lover in your life
- “The Woman in Me” by Britney Spears
- “Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet” by Taylor Lorenz
- “Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me” by Aisha Harris
- “S***, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema” by Lindy West
For the true-crime-obsessed
- “Columbine” by Dave Cullen
- “Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country” by Patricia Evangelista
- “Koresh: The True Story of David Koresh and the Tragedy at Waco” by Stephen Talty
For the person who just wants bite-sized reads (essays and short stories)
- “Thick And Other Essays” by Tressie McMillan Cottom
- “Ordinary Notes” by Christina Sharpe
- “Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America” by Julia Lee
- “Lot: Stories” by Bryan Washington
- “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice from Dear Sugar” by Cheryl Strayed
- “The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella and Stories” by Danielle Evans
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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