A book reco, please

WendyNYC · Nov 11, 2008

I've decided to support the publishing industry and get everyone on my Christmas list at least one book. My husband is easy--biography or history. Kids, done. My mom gets The Art of Racing in the Rain. My dad likes to argue politics all day long, so he's getting Obama's book. But my mother-in-law...hmmm...

She has a PhD and reads constantly, so it's possible that she's read just about anything I'd consider. She'd probably prefer fiction, VERY literary, maybe epic in theme. Nothing with a lot of cursing or raw scenes. I know she loved The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Anata Toer.

Any ideas?

Ken · Nov 11, 2008

...maybe compromise and get her bookends, instead.
Some hand-carved wooden ones, of lions or bears, would be neat.
And if she doesn't like 'em you can always send em over to me

WendyNYC · Nov 11, 2008

Oh yes, I forgot to mention: she reads a hidden message into all gifts. Cookbook? You think I can't cook. Gloves? You think I'm cold.

It's really fun.

So bookends? Could there possibly be a message there?

Ken · Nov 11, 2008

WendyNYC said:
Oh yes, I forgot to mention: she reads a hidden message into all gifts. Cookbook? You think I can't cook. Gloves? You think I'm cold.

It's really fun.

So bookends? Could there possibly be a message there?

"...you think I can't hug?"
"Here, let me prove you wrong..." :Hug2:

TerzaRima · Nov 11, 2008

Mr Timothy

By Louis Bayard. Faintly seasonal, definitely literary. Epic? Dunno.

Hidden messages? I guess she might get paranoid and accuse you of thinking that she's a small Victorian English boy heartrendingly crippled by tuberculosis. OOOH SNAP!

Clair Dickson · Nov 11, 2008

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. (Unless she's a Bible Thumper.) It's a book that reexamines how we perceive Mother Culture and our place in the world. It's kind of philosophical, but I didn't find it preachy-- and my bookthrowing arm is REALLY sensitive to that sort of thing. I found it very interesting.

katiemac · Nov 11, 2008

Ishmael is good. I wouldn't have thought to recommend that.

Pillars of the Earth? Anything by Michael Chabon or Ian McEwan. What about getting her a compilation of the classics--like a collected works of Austen or Shakespeare?

TerzaRima · Nov 11, 2008

I know. Get her Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon. Literary? Check. Epic? Check,ish.

Is she an Anglophile? Angela Thirkell's novels aren't really literary, but they're cozy little pieces of English nostalgia and generally well liked. You could also try the Nancy Mitford route--Love in a Cold Climate, Don't Tell Alfred, Wigs on the Green. All the biographies of the Mitfords are fascinating too, btw--I gave my (also hard to please) mom a copy of The Sisters and it was a huge win.

KTC · Nov 11, 2008

I love turning people on to Naguib Mahfouz. His Cairo Trilogy is wonderful. Frankly, I think he's one of the world's most gifted literary novelists. He doesn't do Hollywood endings. He has a unique voice.

The Trilogy is:

PALACE WALK
PALACE OF DESIRE
SUGAR STREET

They take place in Egypt from 1917-1944.

Other great Mahfouz's would be The Beginning and the End and The Thief and the Dogs.

KTC · Nov 11, 2008

I second Michael Chabon. I would go with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

WendyNYC · Nov 11, 2008

All good suggestions! She is most assuredly not a Bible thumper. She's more of a Francophile than an Anglophile, but those sound interesting.

Found some form my own (ever-growing) TBR list as well!

Thanks.

ETA: Okaaay. So I just ordered 17 books. The good news is I'm nearly finished Christmas shopping.

Adam Hammonds · Nov 13, 2008

WendyNYC said:
She'd probably prefer fiction, VERY literary, maybe epic in theme.

WendyNYC said:
She's more of a Francophile than an Anglophile

In Search of Lost Time. Done. Who's next?

A book reco, please

WendyNYC

fiddle-dee-dee

Ken

WendyNYC

fiddle-dee-dee

Ken

TerzaRima

Absinthe O'Malice

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

katiemac

Five by Five

TerzaRima

Absinthe O'Malice

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

WendyNYC

fiddle-dee-dee

Adam Hammonds