14 book recommendations for the Christmas holidays
By Jen Li (opens in a new window)
11 December
I initially wrote this as an email to a friend who had asked me for book recommendations for Christmas presents. I read a lot of books and I read a lot about books, partly because I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not love reading, and partly because I am currently doing a PhD on public libraries and reading habits.
In my personal reading life, I read very little literary fiction, a lot of crime fiction and chick lit, a lot of non-fiction on topics I am interested in (the obsession for 2013 was North Korea). The list below is somewhat reflective of this. Most of what I recommend are books I have read, but I also include a few titles I have read many good reviews of (particularly when it comes to literary fiction).
1. For someone who enjoys food, cooking, and being aware of where their food comes from:
- Cooked (opens in a new window)by Michael Pollan
- The Omnivore's Dilemma (opens in a new window)by Michael Pollan
- In Defence of Food (opens in a new window)by Michael Pollan
2. For someone with an interest in science and the way science is used and mis-reported:
- Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
- Bad Pharma: How Medicine is Broken and How We Can Fix It by Ben Goldacre
3. For someone interested in the human body, the brain or medicine:
- The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
- The Pen and the Stethoscope by Leah Kaminsky
- Trouble in Mind by Jenni Ogden
4. For anyone interested in the environment:
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson - amazing book that changed the world.
5. For someone who likes books about travel that are funny and easy to read:
- Bill Bryson! My favourite of his is Down Under, the one about Australia. He writes other non-fiction too, and my two favourites of his non-travel books are A Short History of Nearly Everything and At Home: A Short History of Private Life
- Brian Thacker's Rule No.5: No Sex on the Bus - Confessions of a Tour Leader is also a funny travel book
6. For someone who likes well-written but easy to read modern fiction about women:
Anything by Liane Moriarty or Nicola Moriarty – who are sisters from Sydney that write awesome books, not chicklit. Other authors in this vein I'd suggest are Emily Giffin and Melanie La'Brooy. For even lighter fiction (that I *would* classify as chicklit, anything by Lucy Dillon and Sophie Kinsella's standalone novels (but not the Shopaholic series).
- The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
- Free-Falling by Nicola Moriarty
- The Wish List (opens in a new window)by Melanie La'Brooy
7. For someone interested in development issues, charities, literacy and changing the world:
- Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children by John Wood
- Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy by John Wood
8. For someone with an interest in other countries (and in particular North Korea):
- Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Hardy
- Nothing to Envy: Love, Life & Death in North Korea by Barbara Demick
- The Impossible State: North Korea, Past & Future by Victor Cha
9. For someone who likes light-hearted, funny crime:
- The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz - first in a four-part series available in Australia
- One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
10. For someone who likes crime with depth and well-rounded characters:
- The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
- The October List by Jeffery Deaver
- The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
11. For someone who likes literary fiction:
- The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson - winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize
These ones I have not read but have read reviews of:
- The Luminaries (opens in a new window)by Eleanor Catton - won the Man Booker Prize this year, youngest winner and the first NZ winner for a long time
- Questions of Travel by Michelle de Krester
- The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith
- Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang
12. For someone who likes young adult literature:
-The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - I've heard great things about John Green, but not read anything by him.
13. For someone who likes reading about books and reading:
- The Library Book by Alan Bennett et al
- My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favourite Place to Browse, Read, and Shop by Ronald E. Rice
- Stop What You're Doing and Read This! by Mark Haddon et al
- Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
14. And finally, if you're after a humorous gift-style book
- I highly recommend Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half - she is a genius!
