13 Books to Gift This Christmas

A list of recommended gifting for lovers of literature, food, art and more

The best thing about Christmas is that it’s the season of giving — and what better gift than a really good book? The end of a year, nay, a decade, is an ideal time to slow down, unwind, and reflect — best accomplished, we believe, while steadily working your way through a great story.

We bring you books that will make for wonderful gifts — for yourself or your loved ones — this Christmas. We’ve got you covered with an array of interests too. From literature and food to nature and art, our curated list has something for just about everyone. So skim through, splurge a little, and bask in the warm glow of a great book.

Asymmetry (2018) by Lisa Halliday

Christmas Stories (2007) by Everyman’s Library Pocket Classics Series

Colour (2017) by Marion Deuchars

The Family Table (2019) by Aysha Tanya

Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London (2016) by Lauren Elkin

Hidden Kingdom (2019) by Nirupa Rao

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate (2016) by Peter Wohlleben

Christmas-books-The-hidden-life-of-trees

Hokusai: A Life in Drawing (2016) by Henri-Alexis Baatsch

The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons (2000), edited by Bob Mankoff

Pictures from Italy (2012) by Charles Dickens, Art by Livia Signorini

Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels through Japan’s Food Culture (2015) by Matt Goulding

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir (2019) by Ruth Reichl

A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader (2018), edited by Maria Popova and Claudia Bedrick

(Note: When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small affiliate commission.)

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BOOKS & READING

Asymmetry (2018) by Lisa Halliday

Christmas Stories (2007) by Everyman’s Library Pocket Classics Series

Colour (2017) by Marion Deuchars

The Family Table (2019) by Aysha Tanya

Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London (2016) by Lauren Elkin

Hidden Kingdom (2019) by Nirupa Rao

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate (2016) by Peter Wohlleben

Hokusai: A Life in Drawing (2016) by Henri-Alexis Baatsch

The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons (2000), edited by Bob Mankoff

Pictures from Italy (2012) by Charles Dickens, Art by Livia Signorini

Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels through Japan’s Food Culture (2015) by Matt Goulding

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir (2019) by Ruth Reichl

A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader (2018), edited by Maria Popova and Claudia Bedrick

MORE

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Magazine of the Month: Wallpaper*

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A Peek at Meera Ganapathi’s Bookshelf

Magazine of the Month: Little White Lies

Things To Read: On Community Kitchens, Feral Cats & More

Magazine Of The Month: Monocle Forecast 2020

Further Reading Via Rachna Books, Gangtok

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Magazine of the Month: Apartamento

Things to Read: On Home Delivery Habits, Overtourism & More

Further Reading: On Cooking and Eating

Magazine of the Month: Fantastic Man

Things to Read: On Culinary Distresses, Art Vandalism & More

Magazine of the Month: The Gentlewoman

Things to Read: On Chairs, Cup Noodles & More

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Things to Read: On Anti-Anxiety Apps, Climate Change & More

Things to Read: Peppa Pig, Typing in All Caps & More

Further Reading via Champaca Bookstore, Library and Café

Further Reading: For the Rains

A Peek at Tarq’s Bookshelf

Further Reading: On Nature

Further Reading via Purbasha Sarkar

Further Reading: On Love

A Peek at Pooja Dhingra’s Bookshelf

Further Reading via Rajni Malhotra, Bahrisons Booksellers

Scaling Fear

Illustrated Books for All!

An Ode to the Anthology

IN PRAISE OF FLOWERS

THE TALE OF THE ITINERANT CANOPY

Travelling through time at Baradari

Further Reading via Virat Chandhok

2017 Christmas Playlist

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