The 30 Best Books for Holiday Gifting

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Which books make for good presents? Lordy, there’s nothing more vexing than gifting, because it’s all so subjective. A book can make a great gift strictly because of the content—you will be thrilled, for various reasons, reading David Grann’s The Wager or Mark Masters’ High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape. Other times, the book-as-object makes it worthy of gifting, such as an incredible book of Ralph Ellison’s photography, beautifully-designed by Steidl, or the whopping 1,000 Deadstock Sneakers: The Dream Collection, a drool-worthy volume sure to excite any sneakerhead in your life.

The key to a great gift book is not, “Will it reach the widest audience?” but rather, “Will it satisfy this specific recipient?” With that in mind, we pored over a wealth of impressive titles published this year, cherry-picking topics that run the gamut—from memoir to sports, music biography to photography, art to food to fiction—and we’ve pinpointed some gift ideas sure to bring delight and sustained pleasures. Happy shopping!

The World According to Joan Didion

For the Joan Didion fan in your life, this is a must. But it’s also just a wonderful appreciation for any literary-minded person, and certainly a fine introduction to the work and life of one of the most celebrated writers of the past 60 years. Smart and concise, it's a welcome and clarifying look at a hugely influential figure. “We live in an age of reckonings over who gets to tell stories and how and why,” writes McDonnell. “Didion faced this abyss as a young woman beginning a career and her family, and her transparency about this dissolution was her, and our, saving grace.”

The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story

Wasson’s getting pretty good at this, isn’t he? After entertaining us to no end in behind-the-scenes treats such as Fifth Avenue, Five A.M. (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and The Big Goodbye (Chinatown)—not to mention a massive Bob Fosse bio, and a fine oral history of Hollywood, co-authored with the great Jeanine Basinger—we get this: an inside look at Francis Ford Coppola and his independent studio, Zoetrope. With great access to Coppola, Wasson gives us a portrait of one of our most important directors just as Coppola continues production for Megalopolis, his longest and perhaps greatest cinematic obsession. This book is a movie-lover’s feast.

My Name Is Barbra

There were no shortage of big-name entertainment memoirs this year, but one stands out—Streisand’s long-awaited tell-all. The length of the book (it’s just under 1,000 pages) has been discussed no end. It is long, but what else would a Streisand fan want? Also, Streisand’s career merits it; she doesn’t have a peer in American cultural life (she won a Grammy, Emmy, Tony, and Oscar in the ’60s alone). The book is funny and self-aware with plenty of writerly voice—if you subscribe to Audible, consider listening to the book. What becomes a legend most? This whopper of a book explains.

Mat Hennek: Sounds of Spheres

For the nature-lover who can’t get enough of the natural world, here’s a book that you can judge by its beautiful, clothbound cover. This monograph of pictures by photographer Mat Hennek, his third with Steidl, takes us from Maine to the Alps, Tel Aviv to Sicily. At turns thrilling and meditative, Hennek’s exquisite photographs—of mountains, woods, sea, sky—shine in this beauty of a book.

Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears

Even before the infamous Will Smith / Chris Rock debacle, the Academy Awards was littered with controversies—the smaller and pettier, the better. Instead of a comprehensive, year-by-year history, Schulman cherry-picks the juiciest battles, such as the Best Actress race in 1950 or the Best Picture battle in 1999, between Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love. It’s a shrewd choice, and the book is a fine vehicle for Schulman’s considerable talents. Each chapter is told with narrative flair and grounded in excellent reporting. Hard to put down.

The Book of Cocktail Ratios

Leave it to Ruhlman, a relentlessly helpful and smart food writer, to give us a relentlessly smart and helpful primer for cocktails. This tidy volume, he writes, aims to “identify the classic ratios of our great cocktails and move forward from there with meaningful and delicious variations.” He continues, “I want to remove the complexities from our fundamental and beloved cocktails and offer a convenient reference for them.” Casual, but expert.

Ralph Ellison: Photographer

Another predictably remarkable edition from Steidl, the premiere photography publisher in the world, this monograph of photographs by the novelist Ralph Ellison is intimate and lovely. Ellison arrived in New York in the 1940s and worked professionally as a photographer for a spell, but mostly took photographs for pleasure—and as research for his fiction. “You know me,” he wrote in a letter to writer Albert Murray. “I have to have something between me and reality when I'm dealing with it most intensely.” This monograph, immersive but not overwhelming, features Ellison’s pictures from the ’40s through the ’90s. The images of street life, particularly of children, are brilliant, but the most captivating photographs in the book are of Ellison’s wife, Fanny.

Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time

In 1946, Georgia O’Keefe’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art marked the first time the museum devoted an entire show to a woman artist. In the years since, of course, O’Keeffe has been recognized as one of the most prominent American artists of the 20th century. Curiously, 1946 was the last time MoMA exhibited her work en masse until this year's recent show, featuring O’Keeffe’s works on paper. The exhibition (and this accompanying monograph) offer a different side of O’Keeffe than is commonly known. And it is thrilling. Beautiful show, beautiful book.

Lou Reed: The King of New York

Lou Reed is one of rock ’n’ roll’s most famous assholes—and that’s saying a lot. But anyone who once proclaimed Gray’s Papaya (the New York institution where for years you could buy two hot dogs and a papaya drink for a dollar) as the best restaurant in New York can’t be all bad. From longtime Rolling Stone writer Will Hermes comes an irresistible plunge into one of the seminal rock figures of the ’60s and ’70s. That person in your life who might want this is going to inhale it. This is a total no-brainer.

Marvel Comics Library. Silver Surfer. 1968-1970 (1)

Nobody does opulent coffee table books like Taschen, and this is no exception. But it’s not so much opulent as it is ridiculously cool. In this reprinting of the original eighteen issue run of The Silver Surfer (1968-’70)—form follows function, with a majority of the book printed on paper stock that feels something like the newsprint of the original comics, only a little better quality. Either way, the papers retain the same color of the original comics, without a souped-up modern varnish. Everything about this blown-up in ways the publisher never originally intended. But does it work? Yes, please! More please. Ridiculously so. Worth the splurge.

1,000 Deadstock Sneakers: The Dream Collection

There are no shortage of books devoted to sneaker culture and history, but this volume is something else entirely. A sneaker head’s paradise, almost too good to be true. Everything about this as a physical object, from the graphic design and photography to the curation and writing, is killer. Massive and great.

Crime Novels of the 1960s: Nine Classic Thrillers

Ah yes, more good things from The Library of America. This time, it's a nicely-packaged heaping of pulp fiction from the ’60s. Following up on previous crime sets—American Noir: 11 Classic Crime Novels of the 1930s, ’40s & ’50s and Elmore Leonard: The Classic Crime Novels—this two-volume banger offers a tasty array of nastiness from talents such as Chester Himes, Patricia Highsmith, Dorothy B. Hughes, and Ed McBain. And then there’s The Score, from Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake), featuring his remorseless hero, Parker—a predecessor to Jack Reacher, no doubt—where the satisfaction of watching a slick procedural, and professionals at work, is interrupted only by what happens when everything goes to hell.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

From David Grann (The Lost City of Z and Killers of the Flower Moon), one of the finest non-fiction writers we’ve got, comes this gripping tale of suspense on the high seas. Historical non-fiction rarely combines taut, suspenseful storytelling with reportorial authority. You won’t be able to put it down. (For further reading, check out Esquire’s interview with Grann.)

Pharrell: Carbon, Pressure & Time: A Book of Jewels

For an exquisite look at Pharrell Williams’ abiding love for jewelry, this handsome artifact is the treat you need. Featuring a trove of Pharrell’s most treasured pieces—a Super Mario pendant, a Gaby Elan grill, Tiffany sunglasses—this high-glam book, like its namesake, is svelte, tasteful, and full of style.

Forever Saul Leiter

There’s nothing like a big ol’ coffee table book to capture the substance of an artist’s work, but sometimes, smaller formats are just as cool and satisfying but quieter, more discreet ways. Forever Saul Leiter is just that kind of book. This compact presentation of Leiter’s pictures, mostly street scenes of New York City from the ’50s and ’60s (but also portraits), is irresistible. Sure, if you want to be extra, Thames & Hudson has a big Leiter book coming out next month to celebrate the occasion of Leiter’s centennial, but for something portable and whole unto itself, this volume’s a keeper.

High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape

Not just for the Gen X-ers on your list, but for anyone curious about the history, cultural and otherwise, of the humble cassette tape and how it changed the way we listened to and made music. This charmer of a book goes down fast and easy. Masters takes us from the early days of the cassette in the ’60s to the “home taping is killing music” scare of the ’80s, all the way through to the decline and resurgence of tapes. He does it all with narrative economy, academic rigor, a personal touch, and genial good humor. A gem.

A Very Chinese Cookbook: 100 Recipes from China and Not China (But Still Really Chinese)

If you’re unfamiliar with the charms of Kevin Pang, his father Jeffrey, and their highly enjoyable You Tube show for America’s Test Kitchen, Hunger Pangs, it’s all right there on every page of their new cookbook. Think of it as a useful primer for the home cook—one that helps dispel some age-old myths (like the bogus idea that MSG is bad) and guides readers through the sometimes overwhelming basics of how to stock your pantry. (The pictures of Kevin, lost in a supermarket aisle wondering which soy sauce to buy, are hilarious and spot-on.) The recipes are clear, sensible, and easy-to-follow in the ATK tradition, but Kevin Pang’s self-deprecating and welcoming voice, as well as his intelligence, make this book better than most. And for the super foodie in your life, consider Fuchsia Dunlop’s latest, Invitation to a a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food.

Hip Hop Family Tree: The Omnibus

There’s a slew of excellent books on hip hop this year as the genre celebrates its 50th anniversary— Do Remember! The Golden Age of NYC Mixtapes stands out for hardcore fan;, LL Cool J Presents The Streets Win is a good pick for a casual coffee table book. But one of our favorites comes from Ed Piskor, whose long-running series, Hip Hop Family Tree, gets the omnibus treatment. Piskor is a rigorous and reverent historian. This isn’t a breezy, glossed-over recap, but a granular celebration of rap’s early years through the glory years of the ’80s.

BALDWIN LEE

This powerful monograph by Baldwin Lee came seemingly out of nowhere when it was published in late 2022. Now in its third printing, this book of 88 photographs of Black Americans living in poverty in the South, taken between 1983-’89, is one that lingers in the imagination long after you put the book down. Born and raised in New York City’s Chinatown, Lee attended M.I.T with the expectation of being an engineer before getting sidetracked by photography. After graduating with a Master’s from Yale in photography (where Walker Evans was his teacher), Lee worked in academia and eventually moved to Tennessee in the early ’80s. He took more than 10,000 photographs during this seven-year period—mostly portraits in poor Black communities. This work, brilliantly edited by Barney Kulok, is an account of American life that engages us to look and feel. Unforgettable.

Father and Son: A Memoir

Jonathan Raban, the esteemed British travel writer, died earlier this year, months ahead of the publication of his final book. This is that book: the finely-observed and moving account of Raban’s recovery from a stroke at age 69, intertwined with his parents’ love story, largely conducted through correspondence during WWII. The sections involving Raban’s physical rehabilitation are especially gripping—understated, never self-pitying. This meditation on fatherhood and what it means to be a son is to be savored.

Breaking the Rules: Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown

The Bay Area figurative movement of the 1950s helped distinguish California painters such as David Park, Elmer Bischoff, and Richard Diebenkorn from the New York-based superstars such as Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning. While Diebenkorn et al. are properly revered, two of their contemporaries, Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown, are often lost in the shuffle. Longtime domestic partners, their work in the ’50s is aligned with their more famous contemporaries, from subject matter to composition and the use of light—all that California light! But by the ’60s and ’70s, both Wonner and Brown had their own concerns and interests, as is clear in this comprehensive monograph. A terrific addition to the story of American painting in the second half of the 20th century.

The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table

Even if you’ve never been to one of JJ Johnson’s New York rice bowl eateries, you’re bound to be swept away by his approach to a grain that is used the world over. This book not only features approchable and elegant recipes, but rich context, both cultural and historical. It’s really an eye-opener and a happy edition to any self-respecting cookbook library.

Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection

Although Slim Aarons was an intrepid photographer during WWII, he moved away from documenting combat after the war ended. In his own words, Aarons wanted to take pictures of “attractive people who were doing attractive things in attractive places.” While this fabulously lush coffee table book indeed documents high society in the post-war years (Aarons’ work was featured in glossy magazines such as Holiday, Life, and Town & Country), it also includes a terrific sampling of Aarons’ lesser-known work. A comprehensive, handsome volume.

Film Noir Portraits

For the TCM nerd in your life: the one that can’t get enough of those sinister old black-and-white movies with Hollywood royalty such as Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, and Robert Mitchum. Sometimes, these kinds of books sound good and boast killer covers, but they’re often disappointing, shabby, and cheap. Not the case here, as the design and execution of the book—good for a coffee table, not too bulky for the shelf—is grade A. Superior, soup to nuts.

Game Changers: The Video Game Revolution

This big, fat, shiny book on game-changing video games, from Pac Man to Call of Duty, Donkey Kong to Fortnite and beyond, is big, fat, shiny fun. Informed writing, sharp design, printed on nice heavy paper, a fitting tribute to gaming’s Hall of Fame.

Rap Tees Volume 2

Another book that just feels good to hold. The format is small and rectangular, and the book is physically weighty in an appealing way. Then there's the content: a collection of hip hop t-shirts from 1980-2005, curated with taste and discretion by DJ Ross One. The book doesn’t just feature concert tees of your favorite old school rap artists—though there’s plenty of that—but shirts and hoodies and jackets affiliated with all things hip hop culture: Yo MTV Raps!, the Stop The Violence Movement, Ego Trip, and Kiss 98.7 FM. Incredibly satisfying.

When the Game Was War: The NBA's Greatest Season

Rich Cohen turns his attention to the baseball gods in his latest, a look into the 1987-’88 NBA season when Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Isaiah Thomas led their respective teams—and the entire league enjoyed previously untouched levels of success. Cohen’s gift for melding pop culture analysis, reporting, and first- person memoir is well-suited for this brisk, entertaining read. Pure candy.

Larry McMurtry: A Life

One of America’s beloved literary figures gets the biography he deserves. McMurtry wasn’t just the author of more than 40 books, including The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove, and Terms of Endearment (yes, Hollywood loved his material), or the co-author of the Oscar-winning screenplay for Brokeback Mountain—he operated Booked Up in Archer City, Texas, of the great bookstores in country. McMurtry is one of our most celebrated chroniclers of the West, and Daugherty, who has already written a great biography of Joan Didion, serves up his life with skill and affection.

Charles Portis: Collected Works

Famed as a cult writer, Portis, who began his career in journalism working alongside Jimmy Breslin and Tom Wolfe at The New York Herald Tribune, counted Nora Ephron and Ron Rosenbaum among his ardent admirers. Of course, True Grit, successfully adapted twice to the screen, is well-known, but his other four novels are all part of the canon of a true American original. Oh, did we mention he’s funny?

How to Be an Artist

Last, but certainly not least, this trim volume overflows with insight. clarity and wit about the creative mind. In the chapter titled “Look Hard. Look Openly,” Saltz writes, “Looking hard isn't just about looking long; it’s about allowing yourself to be rapt. Make yourself a seeing machine.” Really, this book is so damn good—the ideal so-called stocking stuffer for any creative person in your life.

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