Holiday Gift Guide 2009: The Neiman Marcus Options

In honor of the annual celebration of decadence and (this year) host to the $200k "Algonquin round table experience."

The Complete Penguin Classics: "Only" $8,047 on Amazon (plus applicable storage charges) for 1,082 books encompassing the greatest works of Western literature. Fun fact: According to Amazon, the bestselling volume out of the bunch is John Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH, which I happen to own in Penguin edition.

Cormac McCarthy's typewriter: Of course, that depends on whether the anonymous buyer who just picked it up for $254,000 at Christie's is willing to sell. On the other hand, he wrote THE ROAD and BLOOD MERIDIAN on it. P.S. It doesn't work.

Tiffany & Co. silver bookmark: So much classier than my usual "envelope the ConEd bill came in" accessory.

Anthropologie's A Rather Novel Collection fragrances: They smell like tea, not books, but this inaugural collection ($48 for each of 6 scents) comes in book-shaped packaging. In other words, they'll look great on your existing shelves.

Tickets to "Gatz" at the American Rep in Cambridge, Mass.: Gather 'round, your weirdo aunt is going to tell you a theatre story. Once upon a time, a Brooklyn-based theatre company wrote a 6-hour play in which THE GREAT GATSBY is read verbatim in a modern office setting. And there was much rejoicing, because it was supposed to be awesome. Then the Fitzgerald estate stepped in and said they couldn't do it in New York, because they'd given the rights to someone else, and the little would-be theatre critic went home and felt pretty fucking angry actually, which passion surprised her a little but that is Art, friends. Anyway, that company, Elevator Repair Service, went on to do that play (called "Gatz") in Philadelphia in 2007 to raves all around, and now they are doing it in Cambridge at the American Repertory Theatre Jan. 7-Feb. 7. You can buy tickets in two parts or see both sections of the play on one weekend day (that's what the little would-be theatre critic would do).

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Six Reading-Related Gifts That Aren't Books

I know, I know, why would you want anything else? Well, maybe you might have too many books, or have a stocking to fill.

A witty T-shirt -- "Hyperbole..." and "Irony" are particular favorites.

A Moleskine -- I know it's the bookworm hipster douchebag medium of choice, and it's not worth the money to switch exclusively. But I like the pocket ones for trips.

A donation to a local public library or literacy-minded charity -- I like First Book and Donors Choose. Both got 4 stars (of 4) from Charity Navigator.

Bananagrams -- one of my college roommates just raved about this word game, saying her whole family played it together. I wanted to put Penguin Bookchase in this space, but I couldn't find it available stateside (why) -- UK and European readers, play a vicarious round for me.

Glommets or glittens -- The mythic reading mittens I always wanted are not only in style, they have their own name. Suitable for turning pages or operating your smartphone. I'm constantly losing gloves which is why Santa puts some in my stocking every year. (From what I can tell, glommets and glittens are the same, but men's outlets will use the former term, women's the latter.) Basic black or striped with a matching scarf.

A wine and book pairing -- Technically this is cheating since it involves books, but the guidebook company The Little Bookroom teamed up with a wine store here in New York called Le Dû's to put together wine-and-book pairings. I'm not a connoisseur, but I think it's a super idea, albeit not cheap and they don't ship everywhere even in the 50 states due to some bullshit regulation. (I believe it was the Some Bullshit No Fun No Wine Act of 1920.) Try At the Bistro (4 books, 3 bottles) or La Douceur de Vivre (6 books, 3 bottles).

FTC cover-assery: I was not given any of this stuff to review. I bought the Irony shirt, and worse, I wear it.

Photo: Travelin' Librarian

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Books for the Current Climate

Memoir, schmemoir: Here are some new (or newish) nonfiction books that caught my eye this year, all topical, mostly serious. Just like the dude at left, who is reading MASTER OF THE SENATE.

Jane Mayer, THE DARK SIDE. I've read some of Mayer's dispatches in the New Yorker, but this National Book Award Finalist account is supposed to be eye-opening. And now that it's not annoying me in the news every day, it's past time to confront the legacy of Dick Cheney.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY. This Washington Post reporter's work on contractors gone amok in L. Paul Bremer's Iraq has been developed into a Matt Damon-starring thriller in theatres early next year.

Nick Reding, METHLAND: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SMALL TOWN. Investigative reporter Reding had a hard time even finding a publisher for his report on middle American drug culture; then he got a cover review in the New York Times. Might not want to read it in front of your Sarah Palin-loving relatives but it's supposed to be excellent.

Chris Hedges, EMPIRE OF ILLUSION: THE END OF LITERACY AND THE TRIUMPH OF SPECTACLE. Not sure how this July release slid past me given my love of a good polemic. Hedges argues that in its quest to continually entertain, American society has become meaningless and morally bankrupt. Maybe I'll want to throw this book across the room when I'm finished, but it seems like a chance worth taking.

Liaquat Ahamed's LORDS OF FINANCE: THE BANKERS WHO BROKE THE WORLD won the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award, and even if you find the title a bit histrionic the subject sounds fascinating. It also comes out in paperback on the 29th, in case your recipient prefers that.

FTC cover-assery: I got IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY as a gift, but I can't remember from whom.

Photo: gwilmore

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Funny? Funny!

I love to laugh -- it's getting worse every year. All the books I singled out that make you laugh would make great gifts, but here are five more I read this year that made me laugh.

Jeff Martin, MY DOG ATE MY NOBEL PRIZE. Martin spoofs fatuous memoirs (other memoir mentioned in this post not included in this body of work) by making a series of bigger and bigger claims, describing a life chronically undisturbed by failure. And reviewing it this summer gave me the opportunity to quote my favorite H.L. Mencken passage of all time.

Hadley Freeman, THE MEANING OF SUNGLASSES. I'm not positive that this is the funniest book about fashion ever, but since I haven't read any others that even attempt to be funny, I will go ahead and so garland it. The Guardian writer's perspective in this book, organized as an A to Z list of various sartorial topics, is that you can follow fashion and want to dress well while acknowledging the inherent ridiculousness of trends and rules; an Amazon reviewer described its audience as people who "are more concerned with the perfect sentence than the perfect shoe." Get a sense of her tone by reading her columns -- a recent one on cankles I thought was pretty witty.

Alison Lurie, FOREIGN AFFAIRS. I took this book on vacation not fully remembering why I sought it out, but I knew it was about a woman who goes on a trip and I figured if it wasn't good I could just take a nap. It turned out to be a satire of Americans abroad through the misadventures of two professors on sabbatical in London, stewing in their own prejudices, falling in love with the wrong people and not getting any work done. Virginia Miner, one of the professors, is one of those characters who is so painfully true to life you hate her, and then you hate to leave her.

Nathan Rabin, THE BIG REWIND. I am fully compromised on this pick via the AV Club connection, but this was one of my favorite memoirs of the year. It's incredibly painful at times, but also incredibly funny, where the humor acts as a sort of balm to the reliving of uncomfortable experiences. As suggested by the subtitle "A Memoir Brought To You By Pop Culture," you may also pick up a good movie or album recommendation here too.

Andy Zaltzman, DOES ANYTHING EAT BANKERS? AND 53 OTHER INDISPENSABLE QUESTIONS FOR THE CREDIT CRUNCHED. Okay, I'm asking for this one for Christmas, so I can't guarantee that it will be hilarious. But Zaltzman cohosts my favorite podcast of the moment and his topical British humor can't be beat. Since he never does stand-up in the U.S., this will have to suffice.

FTC cover-assery: I got a copy of MY DOG ATE MY NOBEL PRIZE from Soft Skull to review. I think I got FOREIGN AFFAIRS and THE MEANING OF SUNGLASSES on BookMooch. I bought THE BIG REWIND.

Graphic: LOLerature

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Books for a Long Winter's Nap

Had we but world enough and time, we might spend the rest of the winter hibernating and racking up some substantial page counts. None of us have the time, I know, but you might enjoy a good thick book anyway. Consider it a vote of confidence in your recipient's reading abilities or a way to say, "I love you so much I don't want you to be bored, ever." I set the cut-off line for these completely arbitrarily at 500 pages, though your scale for what makes a long book long may be slightly different.

THE COLLECTED STORIES OF LYDIA DAVIS. This is on my list because after reading James Wood's essay on her I'd really like to get into her work. Despite tipping the scales at over 700 pages, the edition is as relatively compact as her stories.

Roberto Bolaño, 2666. Just in time for Infinite Summer's group read starting in January! I have come to terms with my shame that this book could not go on my best-of-the-noughties list (as commenters far and wide demanded). That it's in paperback now is a bonus for carrying it back from wherever you are spending your non-denominational holiday time.

Hilary Mantel's WOLF HALL (also a write-in from Wade Garrett) was named Time's top fiction book of the year and won the Booker Prize. I haven't read it yet but a common theme running through the reviews I've read is how immersive it is for a book about such well known figures as Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. And while we're making ill-informed judgments, I love its cover design.

Stieg Larsson, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO/ THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. The message of this pair of Swedish crime thrillers starring a disgraced journalist and the country's best hacker is, "I love you but I more or less don't want you to get any sleep until you finish these." Need to make it better? If your recipient once saved your life or something, try getting hold of a copy of the third book in this series, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST. It won't be published in the U.S. until May but can be had on Amazon for, as of this writing, $22 used. ETA: I was on the phone with my mom this morning and she revealed that she just bought HORNET'S NEST, confounding my good gift intentions for her but giving me yet another reason to look forward to coming home. I don't say this lightly, but: OMG.

Glen David Gold's SUNNYSIDE. Recently I had to name my top two books of 2009, and SUNNYSIDE (which I reviewed for the AV Club back in May) missed that bracket by a hair. Sprawling novels evoking the spirit of an age through a string of unrelated characters who are destined to somehow be connected are in vogue right now, but this one does it right, and gloriously.

David Foster Wallace, INFINITE JEST. How can I not recommend this after spending three months with it? I realize now I never wrote a concluding post on that experience, and I guess my only defense could be that in some way I feel as though I'm not finished with the book -- that its effect on me is still taking hold. I know it's daunting, but you're up to the challenge. It's not too late.

FTC cover-assery: With my work for the AV Club I received copies of SUNNYSIDE and the two published Larsson books from Knopf to review. I bought my copy of INFINITE JEST three years ago, even though I let it incubate on my shelf after that.

Photo: it's my own invention via fyeahreading

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Books About Reading, Writing And Writers

Let's kick this off with the books you're most likely to want to buy for yourself if you are reading this blog. Don't do it. Think about how surprised your reading-mad relatives and friends will be when you pull out something stellar like these five-plus entries.

Elizabeth Benedict, MENTORS, MUSES AND MONSTERS: 30 WRITERS ON THE PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES. I love a good thick biography but these anthologies scratch the same itch with their snapshot versions. I'd love to know what Jane Smiley found at the famed Iowa Writers Workshop, or what it was like for Joyce Carol Oates to meet her rival and actually like him. As with all books you want to give around this time of year, this is the kind of volume you'll want to keep around.

Haruki Murakami, WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING. This is not an accident, this book is as much about the Japanese author's career in letters as it is his penchant for marathons and triathlons. While occasionally self-contradictory, Murakami's startlingly personal memoir explores how his hobby feeds his work because, as he writes, "when we use writing to create a story a kind of toxin that lies deep down in all humanity rises to the surface. All writers have to come face-to-face with this toxin and, aware of the danger involved, discover a way to deal with it."

Shahriar Mandanipour, CENSORING AN IRANIAN LOVE STORY. This book, another James Wood-approved pick, presents itself as a novel written by a Tehran college student which has been pre-censored (but not indecipherably) by the authorities. I'm captivated by the unconventional form and the opportunity to get to know Mandanipour (an exiled Iranian film critic) through his first novel being translated into English.

Heidi Julavits, Ed Park and Vendela Vida (ed.), READ HARD: FIVE YEARS OF GREAT WRITING FROM THE BELIEVER. Collection of essays from everyone's favorite anti-snark McSweeney's project. **Bonus 2008 Re-Run** As long as a few people I know have not read them yet I will keep recommending and giving Nick Hornby's Believer essay collections. I only wish he'd kept up the column so they didn't have to end. (I finished the last one, SHAKESPEARE WROTE FOR MONEY, in January.)

THE PARIS REVIEW INTERVIEWS, VOLS. I-IV. Frankly, I haven't been that good this year; one volume a year for the next four Christmases would probably be fair. And I might need that long to absorb the wealth of interviews in this box set. Maud Newton writes for NPR that the collection "enables us to continue believing that the authors we revere are effortlessly wise and entertaining."

FTC cover-assery: I got the Murakami book from the library and I bought all the Nick Hornby books. Seriously: so good.

Photo: Detail from tofuttibreak

Holiday Gift Guide 2009 is coming...

Stuck on what to buy for your book-loving friends and family? Let me help you with that! I did a holiday gift guide last year and it was so fun I'm doing it again next week (although radio component is pending) combining books I have read and liked with books that generally intrigue me.

It's earlier than last year's not because of the inexorable march of holiday consumerism, but rather to motivate me to get my holiday shopping done earlier.

Know what you're giving already? Would love to hear your suggestions. Shameless plugs are welcome but (since we have now entered into the era of FTC cover-assery) only in the "I/ My friend/ employer/ Twitter follower wrote a book," not in the paid product placement sense.

Photo: witheyes