It is the last weekend before Christmas, and perhaps you are still thinking about gift ideas for that special someone.
Books are excellent presents. I recently heard a report that described how many different areas of the human brain are activated while reading. The reading brain is literally lit up like a Christmas tree, with new ideas and connections, increased empathy, and imagination. So during this season of radiant sparkle, glitter and glow, give someone you love the chance to shine, too.
Choosing books for grown-ups can be a bit more challenging than selecting for children, who are often passionate in expressing their likes and dislikes when it comes to particular authors and topics. Adults have favourite writers and genres too, especially when it comes to fiction, but it can be frustrating for the gift-giver when they have “read everything” by their favourite novelist by the time holiday season rolls around. Non-fiction books can be a good option for voracious readers and those with inquisitive minds and a taste for true stories.
To help guide your gift-giving, below is a list of newly released, adult non-fiction books that our patrons at Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries are excited about and anxious to read. If these titles please our readers, they are sure to please the readers on your gift list, too.
Two of our most in-demand items are Malcolm Gladwell’s “Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know” and Lisa Taddeo’s “Three Women.”
Gladwell’s book explores the kinds of assumptions we make about people we don’t know, based on such things as appearance and body language, using examples from history and recent headlines to show how often we get it wrong and the social cost of those mistakes. Social commentary is at the heart of Maddeo’s book as well, which focuses on questions of gender inequality, sexuality and power in the age of #MeToo. Through the personal stories of three different American women, Maddeo exposes the shadow side of human desire.
Women’s bodies are the focus of another of our most popular new books, Jen Gunter’s, “The Vagina Bible.” Written by a Canadian OB/GYN, this book is all about health literacy: encouraging women to know and be advocates for their own bodies. Gunter presents scientific facts about female anatomy in a wise, inclusive, empowering way, including attention to trans men and women.
Another new health literacy title, Bill Bryson’s “The Body: A Guide for Occupants,” presents a tremendous amount of anatomical and physiological information about the workings of the human body, as well as medical history, in an engaging and humorous way.
Other good choices from among our new non-fiction books are Richard Kreitner’s “Booked: A Traveler’s Guide to Literary Locations around the World,” which tours the settings of beloved novels, poems and memoirs, offering real-life descriptions and photographs of spaces imagined in the minds of readers. For fans of the inspirational, choose Mitch Albom’s “Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family.”
Self-help devotees will enjoy Neil Pasricha’s “You Are Awesome: 9 Secrets to Building Resilience and Living an Intentional Life” while true crime enthusiasts will appreciate Kevin Donovan’s “Billionaire Murders : The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman.”
Biographies, autobiographies and memoirs of celebrities are always popular with public library patrons. They also make good gifts. Some of the hottest new titles this fall are Demi Moore’s “Inside Out: A Memoir” and Elton John’s “Me.” Many of us who lived in Newfoundland and Labrador during the 1980s will remember watching “The Sound of Music” on Boxing Day – it seems like it was broadcast each year on a local network – making Julie Andrews’ new book “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years” an especially appropriate holiday gift.
Two works by and about Canadian public figures are also in demand. Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin’s “Truth be Told: My Journey Through Life and the Law” is a timely defense of justice and the rule of law, while Ken Dryden’s “Scotty: A Hockey Life Like No Other” is a celebration of Scotty Bowman, considered the best coach in hockey history. In this book Dryden sets out to capture the hockey genius of Bowman, asking him to evaluate some of the game’s greatest players and teams, and to imagine himself as their coach.
Hot books make hot gifts.
While some of the most popular new non-fiction books at Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries offer explorations of important social themes, others teach readers how to care for themselves and understand and care for others. Some will inspire, some will entertain, all will inform.
This holiday season, with the gift of a great book, you can unplug the tree and light up instead the brain of someone you love.
Bonnie Morgan is Newfoundland and Labrador Collections and Reference Services Librarian with Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries.
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