I’m trying to think of another surprise book for my partner for Christmas. I’ve had solid success so far in my picks, but sometimes I'll choose something that sounds interesting conceptually but doesn't really strike the right chord. Some favorites that I've picked up for her were Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow and The Bee Sting, while other books like Richard Powers' last novel and The Biography of X didn't do much for her.
Recently, she enjoyed Alan Brennert’s Molo'kai and she’s always been a Gatsby and Murakami person. She was very into Murakami's last book (we have them all). Other books that I know she enjoyed were Klara and the Sun (Kazuo Ishiguro) and Inverted World (Christopher Priest).
I was tempted to get her something really good in the genre side of things, like an SF classic or a Fantasy one-off, though that might be a mistake. I’m just trying to pivot away from this NY TIMES best of the year list arena that sounds great on paper but either she’s not into it enough to ever open it, or I’m not passionate enough about it to really sell it since I haven't read it myself. But I also am well aware the genre things I like can be a little midcentury dude heavy in that Robert Silverberg/Harlan Ellison kind of way.
I have a few ideas percolating, but I know I've got gigantic blindspots too. Any new stones that can be unturned would be awesome.
by KylePinion