Snow is blowing in Toronto right now and frightful weather always makes for good reading. And good gift ordering. And good gift wrapping. Some of you have been asking for book suggestions for the holidays so here are my Top Ten Reads Of The Year. Below each I’ve included my attempt at (who they’re perfect for) to help with gift giving.
Enjoy and happy holidays!
10. The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performanceby W. Timothy Gallwey. This book is not about tennis! It’s a fascinating, plainspoken, beautifully vivid portrait of the inner “head game” we are always playing with ourselves. (If you play tennis that’s just a bonus.) Teaches you how to recognize, label, and strip away the inner voices. I would compare it to books by Steven Pressfield or Seth Godin. Can’t confirm but have heard this labeled as the original sports psychology book… was written a few decades ago but still reads nice and fresh. (Perfect for the self-help junkie who’s “read it all”, the thinking athlete, or the manager looking for a new lens on leadership)
9. Hyperbole and a Halfby Allie Brosch. That loveable bookworm Bill Gates tipped me off to this gem in the vein of David Sedaris or Jenny Lawson’s autobiographical hilarity. An evolution on those books with raw, edgy comedy written across Microsoft Paint-style cartoons. Despite the visual format the content can be deep and emotionally heavy. I could only read one or two stories at a time. Amazing introspection on the human condition especially topics such as mental illness, anxiety, and depression. (Perfect for self-aware and introspective millennials, graphic novel aficionados, and people who forward you absurdist YouTube sketch videos you’re not sure make any sense…)
8. Barney’s Versionby Mordecai Richler. I loved The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz when I was younger. That was the only other Mordecai Richler book I’d read until this… and this blows the roof off that one. It took me a couple tries to get in because the first person narration is so acidic and scorching. Very funny but almost too dark for me. But page by page Barney grows on you and this fictional “righting of wrongs” memoir reveals all kinds of hidden storylines, quiet love, and almost unbelievably beautiful writing as he shares his life story in three sections dedicated to his three wives. This is the only novel I can recall that just killed it across both Canada and US awards circuits (Giller / NYT Notable) and it’s easy to see why. An ultimately heartwarming comedic masterwork. Sad Richler wrote no novels a decade before this and no novels afterwards until his death so this gem stands on a lonely island. (Perfect for people who know what divorce feels like, fans of Mark Twain, or anyone who loved A Confederacy of Dunces)
7. The Reason I Jumpby Naoki Higashida and translated by David Mitchell. According to the introduction, this is the only book ever written about autism … by someone with autism. Japanese teenager Naoki Higashida wrote this book with a Japanese alphabet pad and an assistant, one character at a time, and you can feel that slow tenderness and passion as he answers question after question. Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly? Why don’t you make eye contact while talking? What’s the reason you jump? I said before I’ve loved David Mitchell since Cloud Atlas, so I originally found this book while searching for bibliographical scraps. I was in for a major surprise. In the introduction David Mitchell shares how his son has severe autism and he, like many, struggled to identify, relate, and support his child… until he read this book. He then worked with his wife to translate it at the request of friends and the book found a giant Western audience after Jon Stewart trumpeted it on The Daily Show and it hit The New York Times bestseller list. Completely expanded my perception of being human with an entirely new worldview. (Perfect for elementary school teachers, parents of children with special needs, and those with superhero levels of empathy or compassion)
6. The Buddha in the Atticby Julie Otsuka. Completely gripping, poetically written, powerfully provocative novel. I found myself stranded in the Minneapolis airport when I stumbled into a great indie bookstore and found this captivating historical fiction about Japanese “picture brides” shipped to Western California under false pretenses in the early twentieth century to live lives of servitude, neglect, and (very occasionally) beauty. I knew nothing about the background but the book was an eye-and-mind-opener and written in a really unique collective voice. This is one of those “you’ll be hooked in two pages” books. Slapped with all kinds of fancy awards on the back like “Pen/Faulkner Winner for Fiction” and “National Book Award Finalist”, if you’re into that. (Perfect for historical fiction lovers, poets, and native Californians)
5. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai. I used to edit a weekly comedy paper called Golden Words back at Queen’s University. It was built up over decades by a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from people before me. Elan Mastai was one of those people. He edited it in the 90s and graduated before I arrived but we connected when I became a fan of his Toronto comedy troupe maybe fifteen years back. We then lost touch until earlier this year when we reconnected online and I noticed he got a seven-figure book deal (!) … for his debut novel (!) … which just came out (!) I ordered it right away and it didn’t disappoint. A fast-paced, mindbending time-travel book (There’s even a glowing blurb by Martian author Andy Weir on the back.) The pace of the book goes faster and faster the deeper you go. I can’t recommend it enough. (Perfect for anyone who liked The Martian or Dark Matter, casual readers who like super short Dan-Brown-esque chapters and fast-paced plots, and those who like brain games or puzzles)
4. Wonderby R.J. Palacio. I love books that take place over one school year. Book opens in September, big climax around Christmas, and nicely finishes up just before summer break. I love reliving that roller coaster school calendar feeling from when I was a kid. This book follows that pattern and didn’t disappoint. Auggie is a ten-year-old with a rare facial abnormality who is entering school for the first time. The author pulls a Jaws-like stunt by never quite revealing what he looks like until much later. Sure, bit saccharine, bit over-the-top, but unpredictable enough, with unique storytelling angles, to create a beautiful and funny read I’m already excited to share with my kids in a few years. I may or may not have cried at the end. (Perfect for teenagers, RomCom fans, and anyone who loved The Fault In Our Stars)
3. Ready Player Oneby Ernest Cline. Do you remember the feeling of playing Super Mario 3 for the first time? Running through levels feeling overwhelmed and delighted by the smorgasbord of enemies, power-ups, and challenges endlessly scrolling onto the screen. This book gave me that exact feeling and the cover blurb says it best: “Willy Wonka meets The Matrix.” Wild, totally gripping page-turner about a dystopian future with everyone racing through an online treasure hunt packed with 80’s references. (Perfect for gamers, “that guy who doesn’t read anything except magazines and websites”, and anyone who came of age in the 80s.)
2. The Moth Presents… All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing The Unknown. Picture your closest friends going around the red-and-white checkered tablecloth over beers and late night chicken wings sharing their best true stories. That’s The Moth. There’s one from the woman who became David Bowie’s hair stylist. From an African child soldier asked to go to a paintball birthday party in the forest with his new classmates in New York. From an Indian guy standing at his white prom date’s door and being told by her parents they don’t want him in their family photos. The stories are gripping, insightful, addictive, and most of them end without any smarm or Full House-style group laughs … but rather with an honest emotional candid of what life felt like, for that person, at that time. Hard not to laugh or cry along with them. (Perfect for big-hearted souls, budding storytellers or filmmakers, or anyone really into enlightened toilet reading.)
1. East of Edenby John Steinbeck. I was sitting at a bar earlier this year and I started chatting with the guy next to me. The conversation turned to books and we learned we shared a taste for writers like David Mitchell and Haruki Murakami. I got excited and said “So, what’s your favorite novel of all time?” and, you know, it’s a tough question, but he peeled back the top of his shirt and revealed a gigantic tattoo of a tree branch. “What’s that?” I asked. And he said “East of Eden. John Steinbeck. This is a tattoo of the cover of the book.” I didn’t have a moment to really gather the fact that he had a book cover tattooed on his body before the bartender shouted “No way!” She came up to us and pulled up her shirt sleeve and revealed some indecipherable quote. “From East of Eden!” she said excitedly. “I got it on my arm.” I don’t quite remember what my reaction was but I think it was something like “If two random strangers who don’t know each other both have a book permanently tattooed on their body, then I really have to read that book.” I picked it up on my way home and started it as soon as I got home. It blew me away and I was honestly sobbing by the time I read the last page. The book is almost seventy years old but gave me the same feeling as reading a book like The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Long, fast-paced, biographical type narration with three dimensional characters all twisting and tying together over generations with giant themes of fatalism versus free will sitting on top. (Perfect for anyone who loves epics, crisp beautiful writing, and those unafraid at receiving a book the size of a dictionary.)
And as a bonus pick here’s my favorite kid’s book of the year…
The Street Beneath My Feetby Charlotte Guillain and Yuval Zommer. Earlier this year my three-year old was asking “Daddy, what’s under our house?” a lot so my wife Leslie picked up this perfect book to answer his questions. This is a gigantic hardcover that unfolds like an accordion and visually takes you all the way into the center of the Earth on one side of the pages and then back out again on the other. I’ve never seen a book like it. Water pipes, subway trains, archaeological treasures, gold mines, and the layers of the Earth are all explored in a real sumptuous visual feast. Nice to have some non-fiction on the very young reader’s bookshelf, too. (Perfect for curious three year-olds, budding archaeologists, or geography teachers)
