An Evan Reads Holiday Gift Guide, 2024
A little something for every booklover in your life
Well, it’s that time of year again - time to stare down your gifting list, knock off a bunch of easy ones, and then get stuck on what to get your friend who loves books, given that books are absolutely out of the question. They certainly already have enough books at home, and chances are you do not know the one thing missing from their collection,1 the four or five books that reside on their “sure, I could order this edition online anytime, but I’m actually just going to wait until I see it in a store, till it finds me” list, or the hardcover book(s) they want but are just not in the mood to spend hardcover money on.
This is my first year not working the holidays as a bookseller since 2019, which means I’m actually going to get to enjoy them a little bit. All the Christmas music I’m hearing is voluntary, and all the gifts I’m wrapping are for myself, I don’t have to work the harried day before Christmas (“What do you mean you’re SOLD OUT of [most popular book of the season]??? What am I going to get now?!”) or the eerie day after (“What are you doing here?”), and best of all, I get to see my family. That also means there are a couple of actual books on my wishlist this year, even though I definitely do not need any more. But they’d be nice to have! And my employee discount is not quite as accessible anymore! (Thanks to all my old coworkers still taking a little off for me, but I can’t always swing the trip into Manhattan.) So if your recipient is simply asking for a book, well, go ahead and get that one. For everything else, I’ve got you covered.
As we’ve done the past couple years, I’m going to run down a bunch of things to get your well-read friend; past editions of the guide are linked below. I’ve been slowly but not completely edited out of The Strategist’s gift guide for bookworms, but there are some good picks in there too. I still stand by all my picks, though some of them aren’t available anymore, which is as good a reminder as any to get ‘em while they’re hot! You never know when a small literary magazine will stop selling shirts that say Don DeLillo in the Dunkin’ Donuts font on them.
The priority in this guide is on items that are not corny. Too much book stuff leans into the homey and cutesy; to paraphrase a John Waters quote that is overused on bad book merch, if you go back to someone’s house and see a “READING IS SEXY” tote, don’t fuck ‘em! We keep things dour and serious around here, or at least not too embarrassing. Nothing recommended here will suggest that reading is in itself virtuous, or promote introversion, or posit that reading might solve the world’s ills (except for one item, but it’s decidedly not cutesy.) Onwards, upwards, giftwards!
Checking In On Some Old Friends
I’ve recommended stuff from Book/shop, The Paris Review, and Minor Canon in previous gift guides, and like I said, I stand by those picks. (I was lucky enough to receive Book/shop’s Book Jacket last year, and it is a prized possession; I’m also the lucky owner of a WG Sebald hat. Take that, everyone who thought I’d never amount to anything.) But since last year, they’ve all added some new things that are worth at least a quick mention. Not much is new over at Book/shop, but this print ($85) is pretty nice and would give a wonderful pop of color to anyone’s home; this one (also $85) is a bit more austere, but I’m a sucker for text art. Over at The Paris Review, while a subscription ($60) is still a good gift for anyone, they’ve also added this nice tote ($55), this really nice pullover ($75, such a nice blue), this t-shirt with a good Jonathan Borofsky print on it ($50), this beautiful blanket ($175, your recipient will be the belle of whatever public park picnic they bring it to), and for a real big splurge, this Sam McKinnis print of Lana Del Rey reading The Paris Review ($4500, if you buy this for someone you are legally required to become my wealthy patron). Minor Canon has slowed down since last year, only slapping a couple of dead author’s stuff on hats, but there are a couple new good ones: how about a Marguerite Duras The Lover lid ($26)? Or, if you got your friend some Bolaño merch – as a good friend of mine did last year – why not complete the set with this 2666 style Bolaño hat (appropriately $26; in the right county it could come out to 26.66 altogether, which could set you down the trail of any number of unsolvable mysteries, including what does the number 2666 even mean? Great book, one of the best of the century, but boy did that guy like fucking with people.) The Calvino in Invisible Cities purple ($22) is quite fetching, too. Back to the well, folks - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, just gift it again, a little different this time.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
I love picking through tchotchkes, which means my museum trips always drag on a little beyond the exhibitions. You gotta hit the store! The MoMA Design Store takes the gift shop concept to its logical end, with a whole store devoted to things that are nice to look at, questionably useful, and not even necessarily connected to the museum besides a general vibe. Reading is one of those vibes, so there’s plenty on offer for bookish. One part rip-away-the-day calendar, another part Christian Marclay’s The Clock, this Author Clock ($199 in small, larger mountable edition also available) shows a different literary quote for every minute of the day. Think of how spooky things will get during witching hour, the pure pleasure of hitting snooze on Thackeray, or the fear that will take hold when Orwell’s clock strikes 13 (maybe he was a military time guy?) Speaking of a clock chiming, why not go the other way and give them this Walser’s Assistant-esque Bockoo Cuckoo Clock ($199)? It would make a welcome addition to anyone’s bookshelf, as long as they have the room for it – doubtful, but one or two culls would do the trick, so you’d be doing your recipient a favor. Anyone who’s into books is also at least on the edge of being precious about the moon, so lean in with a Phases of the Moon Calendar ($20) for your recipient so they can keep tabs on that wily bastard all year long. Finally, for your friend who loves Bright Lights Big City, New York, New York magazine, the MTA, public transit in general, and/or beside lamps, go ahead and get them this charming NYC Subway Table Lamp ($168). All of these are order-able online, but if you have the means to go in person and tiptoe through the veritable tulips, you’ll probably find two to three more good things and a stocking stuffer or two to boot.
(A bonus shoutout to The Frick, the best museum in New York - get this Vermeer puzzle ($25), or don’t, the collection will still be there, and will still be incredible.)
Small Press Spotlight
Spurl Editions are a “publisher of unusual literature,” and thus not something you’ll see a ton of in stores. (If you do see Spurl, you’re in a good bookstore.) That’s their loss, and your benefit, as you can get your friend something they’ve never seen, let alone read, by Bernhard (The Cheap Eaters), Guibert (Arthur’s Whims) or Pirandello (One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand) ($17.50-18 each). (And god, look at those covers! Designed within an inch of their life.) In times like these, now more than ever, it can’t hurt to give your friend a book like Death to the Fascist Insect ($18.50), a collection of writings from the militant leftist Symbionese Liberation Army (think Patti Hearst), and a matching t-shirt ($18, that’s a steal) to go with it. Here it is, the one piece of book merch that posits we can change the world: Death to the Fascist Insect. In a good world that phrase will be on Strand totes by 2026; instead it’ll be some quote from a Supreme Court Justice’s 24th doomed dissent of the year. Speaking of totes, Spurl’s ($10) is good, if somehow someone still needs a tote.
Bookstore Merch
I always like to take a gander around the merch for independent bookstores; if you’re going to rep a brand in public, it may as well be a good bookstore’s. Sweet Pickle Books is a store whose concept is based off the excellent film Crossing Delancey; it’ll feel good to give one of their mugs ($12), a t-shirt that correctly positions them as New York’s best pickle bookstore ($30), and/or a jar of pickles for the stocking ($12.95, or go in person and donate enough books for a free jar.) A gift card ($however generous you want to be) works too, and works well for every bookstore, and even Bookshop.org if you want to stay digital. Many more options abound for the physical gift, though. How about, for the rad cat and book lover, this 1977 Books shirt ($35)? My test for every bookstore, on an initial browse, is whether or not they stock Ayn Rand books (if they do, they’re in it for the money before quality), so this “Never Trust a Man Who Reads Ayn Rand” shirt ($28.50) from The Second Shelf is a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff.
It’s not quite a bookstore, but the stuff from Herman Melville’s Arrowhead house comes close enough; your friend, unless they are a first percentile Melville obsessive, has probably not taken the trip out to the Berkshires to see Arrowhead. So bring Arrowhead to them with an interesting mug ($30), a Bartleby pint glass ($12, more legit than Melville House Press’s stuff), or these ceramic whale ornaments ($10). It’s the best thing you can get them that isn’t a surviving manuscript of Isle of the Cross. (Bonus shout out to this drop-shipper that offers a Moby Dick rocks glass ($17.95, read a little about 1800s Manhattan while you sip a Manhattan.))
An Actually Good Book Light
Never really felt the need for a book light in my 20odd years of reading before my new colleagues tipped me off to the Glocusent Bookmark light ($19); on plane rides or in bed, it doesn’t bother my sleeping wife like an overhead light or bedside lamp does. It’s got adjustable brightness levels, different light colors you can switch between, a clip that works on both paperbacks and hardcovers, and you don’t have to worry about replacing any batteries. Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? Perfect addition to a stocking or something to bundle with…
Some Actually Pretty Good Books From This Year
No one can keep up with all the new books that are coming out, not when there’s still all that Proust or Edna O’Brien left to read, and you can barely trust the critics (save a couple, or at least one…), as soon as you get a handle on one new book to read the Hydra hype cycle has popped up three more to discourse on, and god, the last ten you read before now were so awful. But I swear, some good books came out this year, and if you ask your friend now for their list of this year’s best books – you know they’ve already started putting together that list, at least in their head – you can figure out some they haven’t read yet. All Fours and the National Book Award winning James, both on the New York Times’ year-end top 10 list, are probably too popular to safely gift, though you could always pick from Percival Everett’s voluminous backlist for any James fan. Not to give too much away from my own personal year-end list (coming later this month!), but it’s hard to go wrong giving someone Ghost Pains or Concerning The Future of Souls or Godwin or Headshot or Gretel and the Great War or Festival & Game of the Worlds or The Obscene Bird of Night or Herscht 07769 or Rejection or Praiseworthy. If they’ve really read all those, wow, what a cool friend! If they have no interest in any of them, well, that’s their problem. Both of those people, cool or otherwise, could always get the fallback gift card option; 40 bucks or so would cover one hardcover or two paperbacks. Heck, just give ‘em a wad of cash and be done with it. But if you want to tip them off to even more good stuff to read, there’s also this weekly literary newsletter that always delivers the goods ($5 bucks a month, $50 a year, isn’t that a steal?)
Companions, Tangential Relations, Ephemera
If you get your friend that NYC Subway lamp, pair it with this questionably legal Mets/MTA hat ($40). (Mariners/Frasier crossover for your West Coast friends.) … John Prine’s the best songwriter this country’s ever produced, celebrate his legacy with a pin or two ($4), a bag ($36, he was right), or even hoist a flag ($60) in his honor… If you’re stopping in at Sweet Pickle books, go down the block (or surf the web over to) and hit Coming Soon for some fun, expensive, and unique Memphis-style accoutrements: this funky butter dish ($62), this travel bottle cooler that’s the chic version of my grandma’s tennis ball tube flask ($145) the Gaetano Pesce (RIP) gift set ($190), this slightly surreal shirt tablecloth ($268), or, the ultimate in gifting, this Giant Hot Dog stool ($350, an absolute steal)…. It’s always good to eat more vegetarian meals, but you can only roast so many heads of cauliflower before you start to get a little bored; Anna Jones’ Easy Wins ($35) has enough plant-based recipes to save you from the doldrums… I got my wife one of these self-heating mugs sets ($98) because she likes to take a long time with her coffee, and it’s pretty nice! The heater can also charge your phone, so it can live on your desk… Speaking of coffee, the Atlas Coffee Club sends you coffee beans from a different country every month; maybe it’s just because I live in New York, but I actually save on beans compared to buying them at the store every week ($price varies by plan, but usually less than 15 dollars a bag and it scales up by volume)… When in doubt, go with booze: a bottle of Amaro Nonino ($price varies by location, but typically around fifty bucks) is like getting someone a bottle of good wine, but it lasts for months, good on its own, good in a cocktail (sub for Campari in a Boulevardier to really knock your socks off)…
That’s all for now, folks! Paid subscribers can feel free to contact me for personalized recommendations for anyone on their list; yes, I’ll even put on my old bookseller hat and pick out some books for your mom/dad/siblings/cousins/husband/wife/significant others/long lost lovers. Enjoy your holidays, shuffle recommended for the playlist:
Like my godmother who got me Cortazar’s Hopscotch - now that was a perfect gift!