2018 Holiday Book Recommendations

There are so many books published each year that it is hard to even know where to start when choosing a book for a close friend or family member.

It is always a challenge to find books that the men on your gift list would be interested in. I compiled a few recommendations that I think are perfectly suited for your brother, boyfriend, father, or son. Most of these titles can be found at your local bookshop, or you can click the links to purchase online through my favorite independent bookshop The King’s English in Salt Lake City, Utah. They will have any of these shipped to you within just a few days.

For the guy who loves fishing:

Back Cast: Fly-Fishing and Other Such Matters
A collection of short essays and personal stories from Author Jeff Metcalf collected over 40 years. These are entertaining and meaningful, and I am not a fisherman by any means.
For the guy who loves motorcycles and/or philosophy:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
Part road trip and muscle, Part mental struggle against insanity. This book combines the tangible metal and dirt of a cross country drive on a motorcycle with a man’s struggle to find meaning in life, while attempting to avoid deep thoughts that threaten to destroy his mind.
A book that will make even tough guys cry:

When Breath Becomes Air
A brilliant neurosurgeon is confronted with a brain tumor that threatens his life. This memoir asks us to confront the question of what matters most. Would you continue to work toward the goals you have struggled to achieve, or discard all of that and just enjoy the time you have left?
A creepy book that they wont be able to put down:

The Shining
Trapped in a hotel high in the mountains, a man slowly loses his mind and becomes a threat to his wife and their young son. Will they survive the dangers of this troubled writer’s crumbling mind? This book kept me up until the early morning hours several nights in a row. I couldn’t stop reading.
A book about brothers:

Three Weeks with My Brother
Nicholas Sparks? This book was a huge surprise for me, and one of the few books that I have read more than once. A true story of Sparks’ travels with his brother over the course of three weeks, intertwined with the much larger story of his family life and his personal journey to become a writer. This book is packed with meaning and emotion (but a manly kind of emotion).
A book for the guy who thinks about thinking:

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Duhigg explains some powerful principles of the way our brains work in a may that is both beneficial and easy to understand. Learn how your brain is connected and important practices that you can implement to either break bad habits, or to form beneficial habits. This was an engaging read, and packed with insight.

 

Published by Italic Bookmarks

I LOVE spending time with my wife and three kids. We work to play. We love the outdoors and being able to travel. Some of our favorite trips have been to Chicago, Boston, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.

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