“A gift that goes further.”
When you give someone a book, you’re giving them a reason to put down their phone and be in the present moment. It’s the gift of a break, of greater knowledge, of deeper connection. This holiday season, consider these tiles, from exploring pandemics past, the future of our planet, issues of race, collective healing, and more. Reading means more now than ever. Feeling connected to those we are missing means more, too. Shopping locally, or at bookshop.org, per passerby Courtney Preiss’ recommendation, means even more.
Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
Recommended by celine semaan, fatima jones, erin allweiss and georgie greville
Kimberly Drew and passerbuys-alumni, Jenna Wortham, have brought together this collection of work—images, photos, essays, memes, dialogues, recipes, tweets, poetry, and more—to tell the story of the radical, imaginative, provocative, and gorgeous world that Black creators are bringing forth today. A testimony, a reflection upon the dubious present and a possible bright future.
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Intimations by Zadie Smith
recommended by lindsey tramuta , nada alic and shawana grosvenor
Intimations is a collection of quarantine essays on writing and womanhood, elegantly written by Zadie Smith. Sounds like a warm winter companion, a moisturizing balm, to share with beloved ones.
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The Water Dancer by Ta Nehisi Coates
recommended by jasmyn story, fatima jones and folasade adeoso
From the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom. Featured also in our Best Books of 2019 guide.
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Like a Bird by Fariha Róisín
recommended by erin allweiss and mina alyeshmerni
Passerbuys-alumni Fariha Róisín finally brings us her debut novel (eighteen years in the making!), a powerful and moving read that follows Taylia and her journey through femininity, family and trauma. If you aren’t yet familiar with her poems with previous publication How to Cure a Ghost (also the most beautiful printed object to own and go through) her debut novel may be the right time to open the door with Fariha.
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Women Who Run With the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés
recommended by Rian Fossett and Beata Kanter
This manual book is really popular since some time, and yet it will never get old. Re-read and open in case of need. A must in every library, with myths related to women’s nature narrated by the renowned post-traumatic expert psychiatrist, poetess and cantadora.
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All About Love by bell hooks
recommended by Jenna Saraco, Folasade Adeoso
In All About Love, the most provocative, renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness. A favorite for many, something to re-read and re-gift every year.
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Getting to Center by Marlee Grace
recommended by courtney preiss and Fariha róisín
Getting to Center is an empathetic offering to those who are looking for a roadmap for finding their way back to equilibrium. Courtney Preiss adds ‘I fell in love with her work through her Instagram account and feel like her approach to self-care as an ongoing practice could be a balm for all the stress that’s collectively plaguing us this winter.’
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Take Care of Yourself by Sophie Calle
recommended by Melissa Flashman, Katy Hallowell
In this remarkable artist's book, French conceptual artist/provocateur Sophie Calle presents 107 outside interpretations of a "breakup" e-mail she received from her lover the day he ended their affair. A book to own, look into, and show to others. An artwork itself, a collector piece to preserve.
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All We Can Save by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
recommended by Celine Semaan, Erin Allweiss
There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. We are ready for the future, we are ready to build new solutions in order to create a better one.
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Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again by Dan Pfeiffer
Recommended by Liz Turrigiano
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Yes We (Still) Can and cohost of Pod Save America, a sharp political playbook for how Democrats can take on Trump, McConnell, Fox News, and the rest of the right-wing circus dominating American politics. Now that he’s out, what to do next?
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Glitch Feminism by Legacy Russell
Recommended by annika hansteen-izora
Glitch Feminism is a vital new chapter in cyberfeminism, one that explores the relationship between gender, technology and identity. In an urgent manifesto, Russell reveals the many ways that the glitch performs and transforms: how it refuses, throws shade, ghosts, encrypt, mobilises and survives. And most importantly: errors can create the revolution.
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Poilâne, the secrets of the world famous bread bakery by Apollonia Poilâne
recommended by lindsey tramuta
Baking is art, no one can disagrees. In this book for bread and baking geeks, recipes and secrets from the iconic boulangerie are revealed; as they say ‘a trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to Poilâne’, we may at least try to travel to Poilâne with our minds and flours. See more cookbooks recommendations here.
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Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Rey
recommended by natalie guevara
An unexpected pick, the debut poetry book by artist Lana del Rey. Natalie Guevara says that reading one of her poems in the morning is at once a meditative and energizing start to her day. ‘Unsurprisingly, Lana has a memorable way with words and knows how to tell a unique story about love, heartbreak, and California’, adds Natalie.
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Upstate by Lisa Przytup and Sarah Elliott
recommended by nicole najafi
Through two hundred newly commissioned photographs and engaging profiles of twelve unique, personal, and creative interiors on both sides of the Hudson, Upstate features a variety of spaces - from tranquil minimalist retreats to exuberant small-town residences. Pleasure for the eyes and soul, from passerbuys-alumni, Lisa Przytup.
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Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing
Recommended by Nada alic
In this remarkable, inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a brilliant case for why art matters, especially in the turbulent political weather of the twenty-first century. How times will be, we shall not now. But certainly they are funny enough and art is everywhere.
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Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
recommended by Amanda Ballerini
One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent; but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people. An urgent reading which addresses even more urgent action.
Words by Amanda Ballerini