Christmas books 2008

Reading that Gopnik essay made me realize that I hadn't read Boswell's "Life of Johnson," and how suddenly I really wanted to do so. (Did you know it's available for free download from Project Gutenberg? I've just downloaded it.) And this in turn made me wonder: which five books would I like to receive this Christmas? And which three books would I like to give this Christmas?

What do you think? I'll put only this condition on our lists: no holy books (which includes, for me, "A Confederacy of Dunces"). You also have to explain, briefly, what sort of person you'd give this book too, and why. My list:

BOOKS TO GIVE 2008:

1. "The Conservative Intellectual Movement in American Since 1945" by George H. Nash. This is the book every conservative, no matter what kind of conservative you are, should read, or re-read, as we try to figure out how to reinvigorate the Right. Nash's masterful history follows the intricacies of the competing schools of postwar conservatism, and offers a wealth of insights for how conservatism might renew itself. This really is a key volume for anyone seeking to understand where American conservatism came from, and where it might go.

2. "How To Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. I have a shelf groaning under the weight of many cookbooks, but none of our cookbooks even comes close in terms of how often we use it than Bittman's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink volume. Our poor copy, a 10-year-old first edition, is so battered and sauce-stained that it looks a scandal, but that's only testimony to how useful we have found it over the years. The recipes are clear, simple and really, really work. Bittman also teaches you how food works, enabling you to do variations on your own. Not long ago, he came out with a companion volume, "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," which we got in time for Great Lent this past year. It too is a terrific book. Two nights ago, I was helping Julie make stir-fried rice according to Bittman's recipe, and spilled soy sauce on the page. It was the book's baptism. You really can't go wrong with Bittman, and I would make this book a gift to any amateur cook, or to someone who would like to do more home cooking, but who finds the prospect intimidating. If you have only one cookbook on your shelf, make it "How to Cook Everything".

3. "The Mountain of Silence" by Kyriacos C. Markides. Markides' nonfiction volume is an absorbing, compulsively readable introduction to Orthodox spirituality (the mountain of the title is Mount Athos). This is not professional theology, or any kind of formal theology. Rather, it's basically a book-length interview with an Athonite master who explains the Orthodox Church's approach to spirituality and prayer. It is to my way of thinking the best introduction to Orthodoxy around, though any serious inquirer would want and need to find a more systematic presentation of the faith. I would give this book to anyone interested in Christian mysticism and monasticism who is curious about distinctly Eastern Christian practices.

4. Anything by Wendell Berry (link here to Amazon.com's Wendell Berry store). Berry's catalogue is so rich one hardly knows where to begin. I know people who are huge fans of his fiction (I sent my parents not long ago copies of his fiction and his non-fiction, and they became enthusiastic readers of his novels), but I'm not much of a fiction reader, so I'd be more inclined to give one of his essay collections. "Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community" is a good place to start, but it's hard to go wrong.

5. "The Deptford Trilogy" by Robertson Davies. Again, it's hard for me to get into fiction, but I absolutely adore Davies' Deptford and Cornish trilogies, though I'd give the edge to Deptford. Mysticism, the church, Jungian psychology, family drama, wealth, class, vengeance, magic, friendship, the force of destiny -- it's all there in Davies' sprawling Dickensian tale of the effect a single thoughtlessly thrown snowball had on the lives of a family. This is the kind of book -- three novels in one, actually -- that you curl up next to the fire with, and lose yourself. Davies is a superlative storyteller.

Read on for the books I would like to receive...