Holiday Gift Guide { Books }

While I haven’t had time to pull together a broad gift guide for the holidays, I have compiled a list of recommended books; my favorite gifts to give. I have not focused on new books (although there are a few), but those that make excellent gifts for virtually everyone on your list. They range in topic, genre and price.

Fashion, Design & Style

For the Style-Challenged – Nina Garcia’s Style Guides

• The Little Black Book of Style
• The One Hundred
• The Style Strategy

I rarely recommend style-guide books; they tend to regurgitate the same tired lines and never offer any earth-shattering advice. Garcia does repeat some of the tried and true mantras–splurge on great shoes and bags! Dress for your body!–but with more aplomb and more humor than you’d expect from the poker-faced Project Runway judge. Added bonus: Ruben Toledo provides the illustrations. Buy all three and tie them together with a bow. A great gift for the style-challenged, for under 50 bucks.

For the Consumer – The End of Fashion, How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever

Teri Agins’ book is a bit dated (published in 2000) but still incredibly relevant. My copy is dog-eared and filled with post-it notes and highlighting. It’s an interesting and accessible read for anyone interested or involved in fashion, marketing/branding or retail.

For the Model/Designer Fan – Fabulous Designer Biographies/Retrospectives & Fashion Photography

• Chanel & Her World
• Balenciaga
• Dior
• Valentino
• The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
• Nick Knight
• Avedon Fashion: 1944 – 2000

Taschen and Assouline are great publishers for fashion/designer-related books.  I own the Chanel book and was recently given a sample of the Nick Knight book at work, and it’s AMAZING.  For the Valentino fan, I also highly recommend the recent documentary on the designer.

For the Fashion Student – Fashion History

My ex-boss bought me this book and, as someone who studied textiles/apparel and loves fashion, it’s a wonderful resource. It’s like having the V&A Costume Gallery wrapped up in a book. It explores fashion from the 18th century to the present in beautiful detail.

For the Home Design Freak – Inspiration!

• Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy
• Tricia Guild Pattern: Using Pattern to Create Sophisticated, Show-Stopping Interiors

Don’t bother buying the Domino book for anyone who’s held onto all of his/her copies of the now defunct magazine; it’s basically a compilation of previous issues. However, if you have a friend or loved one who devours home design blogs and brings up how great Domino was, this is a perfect gift.  Tricia Guild is a master with color and pattern, and her books are insanely inspirational.  Her pattern book is my favorite.

For the Audrey Fan – The Little Black Dress

Forget yet another Audrey Hepburn book, give your Audrey-obsessed friend The Little Black Dress. Trust me, it will be right up her alley.

For the Magazine Lover – 20th Century Fashion: 100 Years of Apparel Ads

Because, after all, who doesn’t love retro apparel ads?

Fiction

• Push
• The School of Essential Ingredients
• The Exorcist
• The Bell Jar
• London: The Novel

Someone on Jezebel described Push as a “love letter to literacy,” and I could not agree more. Yes, the subject matter is tough, but the novel will lift its reader to a level of hopefulness that is both surprising and thought-provoking. The School of Essential Ingredients is one of those novels that will please almost everyone. It follows subjects who have signed up for a cooking class for any number of reasons and are explored through the lens of food, cooking and companionship.

The Exorcist is fairly self-explanatory, I think. I have not read it, but it seems like the perfect gift for someone who loves a good scare (such as myself). I tend to geek out about The Bell Jar. I fall into the category of women who were greatly impacted by the book, although I realize not everyone loves it. I do think it’s a great gift for someone in her late teens, early 20′s. Lastly, for the historical fiction addict in your life, London: The Novel is a real treat. It follows a cast of characters living in and around London beginning nearly 2000 years ago. It’s a monster at 800+ pages, but a fascinating read.

Non-Fiction

• When You Are Engulfed in Flames – I came to Sedaris late (I knew of his sister long before I knew much about him), and this was his first book that I read. His humor is totally intoxicating, and as I turned the last page I was dying for more.
• My Life in France – For anyone who has read (and seen) Julie and Julia, this book is an essential companion.
• Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! – Something you may not know about me…I’m a total physics nut. I LOVE physics. Richard Feynman is a fascinating character, he worked on the Manhattan Project, which saw the creation of the first atomic bomb. His books are a hilarious and totally accessible look at the physical world
• Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do – This is one of those books that you’d never think about reading, but if you received it you’d start flipping through it immediately. After all, who doesn’t want to know more about how and why we drive? Ideal for anyone who suffers a long commute to work.
• The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath – As I said above, I am a Plath fan. Her journals are really, really fascinating. Every time I read this I am just baffled by her talent and how she was able to tap into her sadness. It’s really breathtaking.
• The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – What can I say, I love her :-)
• Notes from a Small Island – Ah, Bill Bryson. I read this book before traveling abroad to live in London, and I got a huge kick out of it. He travels through the UK and talks about the culture and people in a fun, easy read.

Cooking

For the Drinker – Vintage Cocktails

For the New Cook – The Joy of Cooking

For the Wine Novice – Red, White & Drunk All Over

For the Home Chef – Larousse Gastronomique

For the Cookbook Lover – Sunday Suppers at Lucques & The Zuni Café Cookbook

For the Baker – The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

For the Foodie Reader – The Nasty Bits & How I Learned to Cook

For the Lover of Italian Food – The Classics

• The Essentials of Italian Cooking
• Biba’s Northern Italian Cooking
• Molto Italiano
• The Silver Spoon
  

Great Gift Books

• The Onion: Our Front Pages
• The Contact Sheet
• Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire
• The Elements of Style Illustrated

Tagged as: Books, Gifts, Holidays, Reading, Recommendations