Good afternoon,

Tomorrow is the last shopping day before Christmas! If you are stuck for a gift to buy for anyone, here are my books of the year. Any or all of these would make a great gift for a friend, family member or – if you have not started your break yet – co-worker. Plus none of them were published this year, so any one of them is quite a thrifty option, or you could buy them all as a bundle if you are in need of a big present.

Fiction

Veronica – Mary Gaitskill

This is the best book I have read all year. It’s about the stories we tell about ourselves, the stories we tell about other people, and the stories we ultimately choose to believe. It delivers a series of fairly brutal punches in the gut while retaining an essential kindness – a belief in everyone’s capacity to care and to love far beyond what we can express. I cried several times while reading this book and was very grateful that I was on holiday and wearing sunglasses throughout.

We Have Always Lived In The Castle – Shirley Jackson

I also read this brilliant and horrible book on holiday. I didn't deadlock the door of our hotel room at night before I read it and I did so religiously after, occasionally waking to remember that the fear was not outside my door but inside my mind. If you – or the person for whom you have to buy a gift – is a fan of creeping dread and a sense of impending doom – do not delay your purchase of this ghastly little story.

The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters

Continuing the theme of creepy tat in a big house, The Little Stranger is a complete delight. Perhaps as you read Fem Friday you are thinking, “hmmm, I read Fingersmith in 2K5 and I don’t recall feeling it at the time”. I once felt as you feel. Ignore these thoughts! I’m on page 300-ish right now and I never want this book to end. Creeping dread in the 1950s, maybe with an unreliable narrator – I can’t think of a better book to take you through the ACANYNY* period.

Non-fiction

Ivory Vikings – Nancy Marie Brown

This is the story of the Lewis Chessmen and the woman, Margret The Adroit who (possible/likely) carved them. Because there’s not a lot of information about Margret The Adroit, this is also a book about Vikings, church history, and the history of chess. Obviously I was going to be all over it. I read this book on a trip to New York, and can confirm also that it goes incredibly well with room service mac and cheese.

The Comfort Of Things – Daniel Miller

As this is the second year running in which I’ve recommended a book by a man, maybe this is a tradition now? Anyway, I reread The Comfort Of Things this year and I think you’d really like it as well. It’s an ethnography, looking at people’s lives and loves through the lens of things they own. Like Veronica, this is an almost infinitely kind book – the author’s delight in and respect for his participants shines through every page. If you like people and looking through lighted windows, I hope you read and enjoy this book soon.

Happy Christmas!

Alex.

*After Christmas And Not Yet New Year