To give
I found Gilead such a complete experience that I didn’t feel a need to know more about Lila, a secondary character in the book. But in Marilynne Robinson’s new book, Lila, her occupation of this young woman’s thoughts and experience is so musical and convincing that I’ve read the novel twice and recommend it far and wide.
To give
If you know anyone interested in history, religion, art, or travel, or who simply has an interest in superb writing, alert him to Patrick Leigh Fermor, arguably the finest English-language travel writer of the last century. His trilogy records his teenaged odyssey from England to Constantinople in the mid-1930s. An excellent way to get into his writings is through Artemis Cooper’s recent biography, Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure.
To give
Lev Grossman has written The Magician’s Land, the conclusion to his Magicians trilogy. Grossman’s take on fantasy and schools of magic is dark, smart, and atheistic in a heartbreaking way. Give the trilogy to someone who wants to hope but has lost that Narnia magic.
In Conversion, Katherine Howe has rewritten The Crucible for young adult readers, and the book has crossover appeal for adult readers. It’s about persuasion and pressure and mean girls, and it’s a fast, fun read.
To give
In On Immunity, Eula Biss writes about our fear of immunization in the manner of early Annie Dillard: boldly, philosophically, with a startlingly ambitious scope that in lesser hands would fast go off the rails. Biss’s prose exudes curiosity and wisdom, plus it’s a delight to read. Top of my gift list for anyone who loves big ideas, great writing, and not having to choose between the two.
To give
Sue Monk Kidd’s writing is as wonderful in The Invention of Wings as it was in the highly regarded The Secret Life of Bees, but this time she is using her literary skills to tell a story of freedom from slavery—freedom for both blacks and whites.
Donna Tartt’s novel The Goldfinch depicts the desperate need for art among those who’ve lost their way in life. But the book is a brick. I slogged through it, so one of my friends should have to.
To give
The most intriguing book I’ve read this year is The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone. Scott Samuelson, who teaches philosophy, has the gift of treating difficult subjects in an accessible manner. From the existence of God to good and evil, he not only connects with his students but also weaves some of their stories into his expositions.
To give
In The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton entwines rich characters into the stunning landscape of historic New Zealand. Catton constructed a fascinating view of vocations, economy, and culture, while employing a unique structure that waxes and wanes with the moon.
To give
I will be giving Brian Doyle’s A Shimmer of Something: Lean Stories of Spiritual Substance to several friends. Doyle, editor of Portland Magazine and author of many books, is also a poet popular with Century readers. His “box poems” are rectangular prose poems on subjects as varied as “Mrs. Job,” “What a Father Thinks While Driving His Daughter, Age Seventeen, to Rehab,” and “Choosing a Baseball Bat.” Doyle is a storyteller who points out the mystery of what appears to be the ordinary.
To give
René Steinke’s third novel, Friendswood, explores the effects of an environmental disaster on several families in a small Texas town and the ways religion shapes their fears, hopes, and responses. This is a novel about what we owe one another as neighbors and as human beings, and it reveals the sacredness of human attempts to repair what has been broken.
To give
Matthew Avery Sutton read just about everything that fundamentalists and evangelicals had to offer in preparation for his pointed argument in American Apocalypse: premillennial dispensationalism pushed conservative Protestants into public, political, national, and international action. If you want to wrestle with evangelicals, read this book.