When we enter the second half of December every year, gift-givers are coming down to the deadline. I operate on, or rather live by, deadlines and my love language is books so it’s natural that I’m giving books every year.
Most books, especially new books, are easy to order or pick up in any bookstore (my recommendation – support your local indie always!) and adding that book to someone’s bookshelf ensures they’ll think of me whenever they see it and eventually pick it up and finally thank me maybe years down the road.
So don’t think of this yet as my 2025 reading recap YET (I’m still racing to finish some short books to pump up my title count still – that will come closer to 2026), but here’s some GREAT reads you can gift without even having read them yourself (but you might think about picking up a second copy for some holiday reading so you can talk about it with the person you’re giving it to!)… so without further ado.
Playworld
by Adam Ross
WHAT: An epic coming-of-age story of a young man in 1980s Upper West Side New York, dealing with his eccentric and dramatic family as an up-and-coming stage and screen child actor, wrestler in boarding school, and sexual awakening stirred by an inappropriate friend of his parents, finding his way and figuring out what he really wants in life.
WHO: The person in your life that used to read every Jonathan Franzen novel, with cinema sensibilities akin to Wes Anderson meets Richard Linklater, that would enjoy living someone else’s boarding school life without any of the lasting consequences.
The Fish That Ate the Whale
by Rich Cohen
WHAT: A comprehensive, sprawling, and engaging non-fiction history of 1880-1980 told through one remarkable immigrant’s rise to become the ‘Banana King’ of the world… touching on everything from the biological and scientific deep dive into bananas, the economic and cultural changes brought about by the export and import processes of the fruit trade, and the political and revolutionary transformations that kept him in power.
WHO: Any Central/American history buffs, business and leadership readers, and those into incredible biographies of people you don’t know that shaped everything you take for granted today. I call this ‘The Power Broker’ of Central America, perfect for readers of Robert Caro and Erik Larson, probably your dad.
Perfection
by Vincenzo Latronico
WHAT: Modern day digital-nomad couple move to Berlin to live their best expat life, but eventually realizing they’re still the same people no matter where and how they live.
WHO: The post-college twenty year old considering who they want to be, the thirty-something rethinking their own identity, and the forty-some set that thinks they’re missing their twenties but wouldn’t really trade anything they have now to start over.
Full reviews for everything get posted on Goodreads. It’s where the real thoughts and reactions live, beyond just the quick recommendations.