Give This Book: Holiday Ideas 2014, Part 2

About a decade ago while out enjoying SXSW I received a phone call from my friend and then roommate that went something like this:

Me: Hello?

Friend: Hi. You have to come home; I think the house may have been robbed.

Me:  Why do you think the house may have been robbed?

Friend: Because the house was robbed.

Bless her heart; she was trying to do that thing where you break bad news in the most gentle of ways.

this song will now be
in your head

So, yeah my house was burgled and those little sons a bitches got a pretty good haul (relax book lovers, not one book was stolen so we can be pretty certain it wasn’t a gang of nerds). They took every ounce of booze in the house, my  old Minolta camera (which my mother tortured us with when were kids) and they cleared out over half my cd collection.  Like any civilized person my cds were alphabetized and A-O were stolen and yes, that included my Falco, Rock Me Amadeus extended mix single. Life just is not fair, I know that now.

hoodlums!

I tell you this horrifically sad story for two reasons. First, teenagers simply can not be trusted. If you do trust them (and you should not!), prepare yourself for disappointment and fewer musical choices. Second, a day or two after the unfortunate incident, I actually felt a bit lighter which intrigued me. A few weeks later I found  a few of my rare cds at a used music shop here in town (I was doing the equivalent of looking for a lost dog and checking the pound every day).  I was told that I could buy the cds back at the store’s cost (if I produced my police report). Huh, buy my stolen goods back? It was the most tempting, most American thing ever, but I thought maybe I liked having fewer things and walked away.

Marie Kondo

From that incident on, I have made an effort to acquire less and get rid of more but it wasn’t until reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo that I was able to begin to turn the process of having fewer things into a life practice. I got rid of what I got rid of, some of it was easy (so long acid washed jeans with a rip at the knee, we were so good together once), some things were hard (can we work this out acid washed jean overalls with a rip at the knee). Other things were off the table and I think you know what I am talking about…the books. All the books, so many books, the books the books the books. Why didn’t those kids take these books? Rotten kids leaving me with all these
books.

Marie Kondo prescribes holding each object in your hands, does this object, this thing, bring you joy? Obviously you cannot do this exercise if you’re drunk, holding a balled up pair of knee high striped socks with tears in your eyes and babbling something about Lollapalooza and 1998, it’s not helpful. And also, don’t ball up your socks anymore; there is a chapter on that in the book.

So, over a weeklong period I sat with a couple hundred books. I held each one, thanked the book, or in many cases wondered why I still had the book (lots of stinkers, let’s be honest), but I really had to meditate on what brought me joy. Was it the book, or was it the memory of the book, would I read the book again, did I need this physical book in my house? The answer was almost always, no and I began to purge nearly half my collection.

While there are certainly books that would painful for me to get rid of (my signed All Over But the Shoutin’ while not my favorite book, is very personal to me) and I know now that I can, I can get rid of any book in my house. Okay…that’s an overstatement but you see where I am going.

Most of us have too much, we do. We are drowning in it. So in this season of giving more stuff you can give the gift of letting go, having less, and moving on. This book helps you prioritize and rationalize why we keep things, why it’s so hard to let go, and why our lives are better with less clutter. And seriously, stop balling up those socks; they’ve been good to you.

Right now, both of my dogs are sitting at my feet and I just can’t help but think….is it one dog too many?

Give This Book: Holiday Ideas 2014, Part 1

It's about time for Gianna to begin thinking about what she wants to give me for Christmas. There's no reason you can't steal her ideas for your own gift giving needs. Also, remember to share your book giving ideas (or this blog) with the hashtag #GiveaBook. Penguin Random House is donating a children's book to Save the Children every time the hashtag is used on Twitter and Facebook (up to 25,000 books). Normally I avoid the children, but this is a cause even my Grinch-y heart can support.

Holiday Gift Ideas:

Fiction:

How to Be Both by Ali Smith.

Ali Smith is one of those writers that should be a mega-seller, a genius of the craft who never writes boring books. If you (or your special friend) likes Hilary Mantel, you'll like Smith. Like Mantel, she's a British writer who's been nominated for the Man Booker Prize multiple times, including for How to Be Both. Here's why this book is a great gift: 1. you don't have it yet. It just went on sale in the US, so you can be confident that it's something new. 2. It's the most inventive book of the year. This novel is actually two stories, one set in Renaissance Italy and one set in modern England. Some books are printed with the Italy story first, some with the contemporary story. It doesn't matter which way you read it, but how you read the one part influences your reading of the other. Allow me to quote Washington Post critic Ron Charles: "Playfully brilliant. . . . Fantastically complex and incredibly touching. . . . This gender-blending, genre-blurring story, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, bounces across centuries, tossing off profound reflections on art and grief, without getting tangled in its own postmodern wires. It’s the sort of death-defying storytelling acrobatics that don’t seem entirely possible. . . . [A] swirling, panoramic vision of two women’s lives, separated by more than 500 years, impossibly connected by their fascination with the mystery of existence." 3. While it's experimental fiction, it's also readable and funny and touching.

Pair this book with another book: Once you read one Ali Smith novel, there's the strong possibility that you'll want to read more. Check out Hotel World, a first rate ghost story about lost love. Another possibility is Virginia Woolf's Orlando, the benchmark for genre- and gender-bending fiction.

Pair this book with a treat: Stick with the half-and-half theme with some black-and-white cookies.

This book is perfect for: fans of literary fiction, the Man Booker Prize, and those who like to read books that aren't formulaic. Fans of art, as a Renaissance fresco is at the center of the novel.

Nonfiction:

All the Truth Is Out by Matt Bai.

Let's say that you have a politics junky on your list, but you don't really want to go there because nothing ruins Christmas dinner like your crotchety uncle expounding on Obama's administration. You can still make your politico pal happy. Just give him/her a book about a politician who's been out of the public eye for 25 years. Matt Bai's All the Truth Is Out is the Gary Hart politics book you never realized that you want to read. For those born after 1985 or so, Gary Hart was a front runner for the Democratic nomination in the 1988 election. During the campaign, though, it came out that he'd spent some quality sexy times with model Donna Rice (on a boat named "Monkey Business," no less). Hart's campaign was dead in a matter of weeks, Dukakis won the nomination, George H.W. Bush was elected President, and the nature of politics changed significantly. Obviously a ton of politicians had dabbled with the sexy ladies in the past. The difference with Gary Hart, though, was that with the advent of the 24 hour news channels, these stories moved from the grocery store checkout lane to network news. This book looks at that shift, telling the Gary Hart story like a thriller, with the reporters racing to pay phones every time Hart stepped outside, as well as the impact this shift has had on US politics since then. Can you say Lewinski? Think about it: can the country really get the leaders it needs to thrive if all politicians must live to standards that most people in positions of authority (and otherwise) don't maintain? The media freaks out over what the Obama girls are wearing for a photo op ceremony, and if this non-event is newsworthy, can you imagine how insane the Kennedy Presidency would have been in the age of nonstop media coverage? Or how about the Reagans and their fondness for consulting with psychics? This is juicy stuff, but with the benefit of some historical distance.

Pair this book with another book: Take a look at The American Vice Presidency by Jules Witcover. Is there a more entertaining political office that the Vice Presidency? From guys who were drunk at the inauguration to guys forced to resign to guys who shot other guys (sometimes accidentally), these guys are awesome.

Pair this book with a treat: If we're talking infidelities and politics, you need to stock up on the booze. Maybe you should sample some of the craft brews from Gary Hart's home state of Colorado. Here's a list to whet your whistle.

This book is perfect for: fans of The Daily Show, fans of Game Change, the people who don't complain about political rants on Facebook, the people who are endlessly fascinated by the circus of Fox News, etc.

Holiday Gift Picks 2013: Viva Tequila

Okay, I am about to make your holiday season perfectly stress free. Not possible? Oh but it is. All you have to do is serve your family a few recipes from Viva Tequila: Cocktails, Cooking, and other Agave Adventures. You may have been thinking that you could only get shit faced from slamming a few shots of  tequila, turns out....you can eat the stuff too.

So not only will you be able to maintain a nice holiday buzz, but you can mellow out the in-laws too! Viva Tequila offers recipes from appetizers to desserts, I mean  you can literally keep the kin liquored up for days on end for a mere $35!

Seriously, this is a truly interesting book that not only includes agave recipes, but the history of agave, and some fascinating stuff about tequila in general (like how to pick good brand, what the color means, and you know... sip it!).

Holiday Gift Picks 2013: One Summer

Here's why I like Bill Bryson: he can talk about anything and he's interesting, charming, rambling, funny. Anything. He's proved this point with his travel memoir-type books like A Walk in the Woods and his histories like A Short History of Nearly Everything and his memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. He's an American with an English accent who isn't afraid to make fun of himself for being an American with an English accent. The guy, at least based upon his books, is the person you want to be seated beside at the dinner party full of strangers.

Lucky Lindy

Bryson's latest book is One Summer, an effervescent romp through the summer of 1927. You might think "Why should I care about 1927?" and the answer is that it was the height of the Jazz Age and a ton of cool stuff occurred. Let's start with Charles Lindbergh. Here was a guy who was just a kid pilot who showed up in New York when several teams of pilots raced to be the first to fly from New York to Paris. While they were the most famous pilots of the day and the media hounded them for constant updates, Lindbergh planned to fly solo (the other planes held several man crews), in a plane that was stripped down to the bare essentials of food and fuel. When Lindbergh landed in Paris, he instantly became the most famous man in the world. His accomplishment eased American/French tensions after World War I. His victory tour of America led to airports springing up across the country and pushed America to the forefront of global aviation. Lindy was a pregnant Princess Kate mixed with twerking Miley mixed with Edward Snowden mixed with Pope Francis. Nothing was bigger.

The Babe

...Except maybe for Babe Ruth. 1927 was also the year that Ruth and Gehrig kicked off the first home run race in baseball history and Ruth eventually hit 60 dingers. Some whole teams didn't hit 60 home runs that season. Only one player since 1927--Roger Maris--has matched this feat without steroids. And you can't overlook the popularity of baseball in 1927. Radio broadcast games around the country, and in places where there weren't teams, actors would recreate the games in real time for crowds.

Bill Bryson

And the summer of 1927 was Al Capone's time to shine as a gangster and liquor distributor, keeping booze flowing freely into Prohibition America. It was the summer that anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were electrocuted. The Jazz Singer was filmed, forever changing movies by adding sound. Jack Dempsey popularized boxing, turning a tavern sport into one that could fill Madison Square Garden. Four bankers met and planned the financial strategies that would ultimately lead to the Great Depression.

On top of the events of 1927, Bryson is the master of the fascinating tangent, and One Summer is full of them. When writing about the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, Bryson takes the time to recount the story of the executioner who figured out the proper way to electrocute a human. If you read/watched The Green Mile, you will recall that barbecued convict is traumatizing for all and best avoided. The book is full of these fun moments that make cultural history interesting and relatable. It's pretty easy to see how a fad like a guy sitting on the top of a flagpole in 1927 morphs into David Blaine's stunts. I admit it: I watched Blaine almost drown to death on live TV. I would have gawked at Shipwreck Kelly perched on a flagpole.

One Summer is good stuff. It's a great gift choice for a wide variety of readers, from dads/uncles/brothers who only read nonfiction, to pop history readers who liked Eric Larson's books, to my friend Tracy's dad's special lady friend Maggie who likes smart but readable books, to people who miss their really interesting college lecturers. And for commuters, Bill Bryson is audiobook gold.

The Books We Want for the Holidays: Reading Group Picks

Back before I had to drop out of the horrible pregnancy book group (as I didn't care to discuss sore nipples over dinner), I recall that we were always looking for good books for discussions.  Also, don't most groups break in December and then rejoin with vigor in January when all of those resolutions haven't been buried under a pile of chocolate chip cookies and work angst?  So, since it's the season of book giving, and more and more people are in book groups, and some of those groups might actually discuss the books, here's a way to kill two birds with one tome.  (See what I did there?  It's my token pun for 2012.  You're welcome.) These are some of my favorite reading group picks that came out in 2012.

For the fans of Cutting for Stone, allow me to recommend The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker.  The book starts in New York, the present day, when a happy family is suddenly thrown into turmoil when Julia's father, a Burmese native and lawyer, disappears one day.  Julia and her mother are at a loss, as nothing had occurred would suggest a sudden departure.  Julia goes in search of her father to his home country, and slowly the story of his childhood and the amazing relationship he shared with a girl emerge. This is a story of soul mates, enduring love, family, and acceptance that manages to be moving without being trite.

Simon Mawer's The Glass Room was one of my favorite books from a few years ago, and I loved his new book, Trapeze, too.  For Ian McEwan fans (and I'm thinking of his new novel, Sweet Tooth, and the classic Atonement, in particular), here's a World War II saga that begs for a sequel.  Marion works for the war effort as a receptionist until she's recruited to join a group of spies training to drop into Nazi-occupied France.  Marion speaks fluent French, and she used to spend summers with her older brother and his best friend, a man who was her teenage crush.  With the war threatening to destroy Europe and scientists all over the world racing to understand nuclear technology, Trapeze--which is the name of the mission--is a smart, literary thriller that blends fact and fiction.

As all of the Best of the Year lists roll out, I keep looking for Toni Morrison's new novel, Home, and wondering how it can continue to be overlooked.  This book is great, a return to the Toni Morrison who wrote Beloved and Sula, two of my favorite books.  Frank Money is a broken man, a soldier returning from the Korean War and suffering from the effects of combat trauma.  On top of the horrors he's witnessed, he's moving from an integrated society (the military) back into the segregated world of the 1950's United States.  Frank finds himself in the Pacific Northwest after he's discharged, but he has to find his way home to Georgia, to help his sister.  This is a tight novel that takes no wrong turns leaves plenty of space for discussion. (The paperback of Home goes on sale January 1st.)

The Books We Want for the Holidays: Heads in Beds

Gianna walked around Target today
with that tag stuck to her head.
Because she's CLASSY.

Here in Book Land we like to keep things classy.  You never know when you'll be having dinner in the White House, after all, and one must always maintain a certain level of decorum.  I can't tell you how often someone has approached me on the street and praised our blog's level of taste (still waiting for anyone to praise our taste....blog has been up for three years and no one has once mentioned our refined taste....).  What can I say?  We are the rock stars of the blogging world, and as such, it's important to behave like rock stars.  And for that reason, I was enthralled by Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky.

Jacob Tomsky has worked in just about every area of an upscale hotel, from valet parking dude to concierge to housekeeping manager.  He's seen it all, and he knows how to please guests with particular tastes.  Such as Gianna's fondness for hotel slippers.  Gianna loves footwear that could potentially have been worn by strangers.  She steals the slippers and keeps them in her freezer.  Jacob reveals in Heads in Beds that there are easy ways to steal slippers and robes and such from your upscale hotel room.  Check in. Place the item into your suitcase.  Call downstairs and complain irately that your room doesn't have said item.

Really, Heads in Beds is an instruction manual...in the sense that Kitchen Confidential is a manual to the restaurant industry.  Don't eat fish on Mondays, and don't drink from the glasses in the hotel rooms.  Want an upgrade?  Find out who to tip.  Want the dirt on the celebrity tantrums that don't involve writers for this blog?  Here you go.  Tomsky is crass, too, and you know we love a good expletive.  And what would you expect? The service industry is highly entertaining entirely because people are such turds.  You probably can't give your obnoxious aunt bedbugs, but you can give her a book about hotels and fantasize about the critters...not that I would wish bedbugs on (most of) my aunts.  Anyway, good times.  Classy book.

Books We Want for the Holidays: Old Time Politics

You know what people can’t get enough of this time of year? Politics. That’s right, politics. Okay maybe not today’s politics, or more precisely, the fiscal cliff dysfunction, but old timey politics. Here I will give you two examples of how you can make a history and politic loving son of a gun on your list very happy.

Thomas Jefferson

 Practically in love!

Jon Meacham’s Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Meacham presents Jefferson as very possibly the most successful leader in history. He had talents beyond most leaders. Not only was he strategically inclined but also a deep thinker. We are of course knee deep in Abe right now, and that’s fine (if you like tall people),but you will not read a more timely biography. From cultural wars to extreme partisanship, the comparisons are uncanny.   

Let the People In

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards by Jan Reid. This is just a really fantastic memoir about our beloved (and oh so missed) Ann Richards. She kicked ass and took names, and she was a progressive who could actually work with the other side. Richards paved a road that not only women in politics benefit from, but also gay and lesbian politicians. She truly believed that the government was meant to include all. She believed government should be transparent, that politicians should let the people in.

Books We Want for the Holidays: Mystery Addiction

Today I am going to talk addiction. I’m certainly not cool enough to have any sort of interesting addiction like oxy or shoplifting, or eating rocks (it’s a thing, I saw it on television), but I do know what it’s like to be addicted to a book series.  What do addicts like more than anything? Company. Here are a few series that you can get your loved ones addicted to this holiday season.

 

Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series will keep your loved one busy for quite a while.  And here is the great thing: close your eyes and pick any Jack Reacher novel, doesn’t matter, the man does not disappoint. It may be fun though, to go back to the beginning and get someone started properly. I have yet to hear one person say “Meh, I don’t really get the Lee Child fascination” (and don’t be a jerk and write in and say it now just to make us look bad!). The latest novel is Wanted Man, if you want to jump in that way, but I would recommend grabbing three paperbacks: Killing Floor, Die Trying, and Tripwire. These are the first three in the series. If you don’t care about starting at the beginning, I will offer my three favorite Lee Child books: Persuader, Nothing to Lose, and 61 Hours; those aren’t in order but I didn’t read him in order either.   You know what, just start anywhere, you’ll thank me.

Oh, and Tom Cruise IS Jack Reacher, watch! 

Janet Evanovich recently moved to Random House and it has seemed to reinvigorate her Stephanie Plumb books (and this is according to her most critical reader and her biggest fan, a woman who has read every single book …Gianna’s mom).  I suggest you start in the high teens: Smokin’ Seventeen (paper), Explosive Eighteen (paper), and her latest, Notorious Nineteen.

One of my favorite mystery writers I wish more people would read is Lisa Unger. She has a couple of different series and a few stand alone novels. I think I have probably read six or seven of her books, and I would define Unger as a literary mystery writer. Unger’s Lydia Strong series begins with Angel Fire, Darkness Gathers, Smoke, and finally Twice.  Unger has a new stand alone novel called Heartbroken which is garnering fantastic reviews, and is on my holiday list (hint hint).  

The Books We Want for the Holidays: The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Remember that book we talked about a couple of weeks ago, the untitled one by an unnamed author?  Today the mystery was revealed.  The great O, lover of books, selected Ayana Mathis's first novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.  Here's why I like this pick.  Because Oprah decided to name Hattie as the second book in her revitalized Oprah's Book Club 2.0, we're able to sell it now, before the holidays, instead of waiting until January.  Also, I really like this book, and I hope with Oprah's help that Ayana Mathis will be recognized as a significant new voice in literary fiction.

Here's what you should know about The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.  If you like the early Toni Morrison novels--The Bluest Eye, Sula, Jazz--you will like Hattie.  This is a story about a young African-American woman who moves from the South to Philadelphia in search of greater opportunities.  Hattie is fifteen when she moves, and without a couple of years she is married to August and giving birth to twins, Philadelphia and Jubilee.  She is looking forward, escaping Jim Crow racism, in love.  Hattie's, though, is a tale of struggle and loss.  And this is an Oprah pick, so it shouldn't be much of a shock to hear that her twins catch pneumonia and die as infants.  Hattie and August press on, though, and the reader learns about Hattie's life through the stories of her children and grandchild--her twelve tribes.

Ayana Mathis

This isn't a mammy tale of a loving, happy, African-American woman.  This is struggle and heartbreak.  Hattie suffers a terrible loss early, and she is a mother aware that she is raising children who will encounter great difficulty.  She doesn't coddle her babies.  She will fight for them and work herself to exhaustion and care for them when they are sick, even as August drifts to other women.  Her children long for Hattie's love, but she guards her heart.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie will not be the feel good book of the year, but it might be one of the most audacious fiction debuts.  Ayana Mathis can WRITE.  And in spite of the emotional hell Hattie suffers and then inflicts, she's a flawed character about whom I still care.  Her children, likewise, are remarkable characters.  Not every story needs a happy ending.

Oprah

Books We Want for the Holidays: Lonesome Dove

Author of Terms of Endearment!

I know that I have failed to meet Liz’s expectations over and over, but her greatest disappointment in me remains that I have never read Lonesome Dove.  Her disgust grows with the fact that I haven’t seen the mini-series either.

The thing is, I want to make amends, I want to do the right thing. But also, I don’t really want to read Lonesome Dove. Have you looked at that book? My God, it's like one thousand million pages long! And the font size, are you kidding me?

Does it not matter that I read Terms of Endearment and The Evening Star? I guess it just doesn’t matter to precious Liz that I not only read The Last Picture Show, but then went on to read Texasville!

Cary White's trail map

Does it not matter that I just finished reading cover-to-cover A Book on the Making of Loneseome Dove? Does that not count toward not only reading the novel, but also seeing the movie? It should; it is packed with interviews from about forty people involved with the movie: Peter Bogdanovich, Chris Cooper, Robert Duvall, Frederck Forrest, Stephen Harrigan, Bill Wittliff, Diane Lane and of course the man himself, Larry McMurtry.

Also included are several very cool candid Polaroid shots from the set, photographs of iconic props (such as trail maps), costumes, set designs, and shooting scripts. Of course the book is also packed with gorgeous on set photographs, both during shooting and candid.

It’s a gorgeous book, the perfect gift for a fan of the film, novel, or anyone who ever set foot in Texas. 

The gorgeous Robert Urich

I know, I know…I guess it doesn’t matter how much of McMurtry I read if it doesn’t include the one that won the Pulitzer.  2013 will be the year of Lonesome Dove. 

[That's it--we are watching the mini-series before January 1st.  We're not going to debate this.]

The Books We Want for the Holidays: Angelmaker

The paperback
is available now.

So sometimes you want to read a book that's just bad ass in the best ways.  You want some adventure, you want some sexy times, you want some gangsters, and you want, say, a doomsday machine that a hapless hero accidentally activates and must figure out how to destroy before it destroys the world.  If you can throw in some killer elephants, a serial killer, a geriatric granny spy, and an army of militant monks standing in the hero's path, all the better.

The hardcover jacket
has a hidden code to
decipher, because it's
cool like that.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway.  Nick is spy novel master John LeCarre's son (daddy wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, among many other books), and his exposure to great thriller plotting is evident.  What I love about Harkaway's writing, though, is that he's hilarious, he's outrageous, and yet he's completely engrossing.  Sometimes I'm reminded of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club and Choke, and sometimes I'm reminded of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, and sometimes I'm reminded of the new wave of snarky movie heroes like Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man.  But really, Nick Harkaway is a riot, and an original.  No one is writing books quite so entertaining right now.  

Come on--clockwork bees are going to destroy the world?  How can you resist?