Hello! My family does a long distance gift exchange every year and we like to give books. This year I got my aunt. She is late 70s but looks like she's 60. She's athletic, very intelligent and well read and very liberal. She's into all kinds of stuff and it seems like she's read all the books. I asked my cousin if she's read Colson Whitehead and of course she has. I know she's also read all of Barbara Kingsolver, for instance. I'd love some suggestions of a book that is smart, captivating and maybe not as well known. TIA!
by Ageofaquarius68
11 Comments
See if she read the my brilliant friend series. It is kind of popular but maybe she didn’t read all the books. Also see if she read the sympathizer.
Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. It’s a history of the women behind the founding fathers, and how they helped shape America’s beginnings.
You might also try something from someone in your generation or a book you’ve been wanting to read so that you can read it together and email about it. She sounds like the kind of person who would enjoy a new perspective.
Anything by Jocelyn Ward if she hasn’t already.
Ask if she has read Geraldine Brooks. I’d suggest her most recent, Horse. It’s on my wishlist and I have similar interests and demographics.
Nonfiction
The Missing Thread: A Women’s History of the Ancient World by Daisy Dunn
“Spanning 3,000 years, from the birth of Minoan Crete to the death of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in Rome, a magisterial new history of the ancient world told, for the very first time, through women.”
Fiction
Canoes by Maylis De Kerangal
“A colorful cast of female characters contends with UFOs, sonic waves, and the legend of Buffalo Bill in a spellbinding novella and 7 short stories about the mysteries of place and language.”
Hum: A Novel by Helen Phillips
“…a work of speculative fiction that unflinchingly explores marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement…”
Maybe have a look at the Booker prize shortlist 2024 to see if any seem like something she would enjoy. As they’re all nominated for a literary award and are written recently, you know they are well written, and she is unlikely to have read them all.
Honey: A Novel by Victor Lodato
I recently read Kaveh Akbar’s *Martyr*!, which was published this year, and I believe is his first novel (He previously published poems). It’s on many best of the year lists, so she may have read it. If not, it’s about an Iranian-American poet/writer, a recovering alcoholic and addict, fascinated with the meaning and meaninglessness of death and martyrdom. There’s also a lot about life, language, and communication. (Also, the protagonist and several other characters are in homosexual relationships, if you feel that will impact your aunt’s preference. There are not graphic scenes.)
Do you know if she likes Louise Erdrich’s novels? If so, she released a new one last October, *The Mighty Red*. I liked it, although not as much as some of her other novels. But a fun bonus is Erdrich signs her novels if bought from her store, Birchbark.
Brave the Wild River. Non fiction about female botanists who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon.
You can also choose wooden decorations. I believe that the wooden carvings here will definitely have a gift that can surprise her.
[https://ig1688.cc/collections/wooden-gift-ideas](https://ig1688.cc/collections/wooden-gift-ideas)
↑There are many unique and rare gift ideas here
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout