If your holiday plans include a roaring fire and maybe a warm drink, why not complete the picture with a great book? Greater Boston's Jared Bowen sat down with three local authors and the owner of Newtonville Books to talk over their favorite picks for the holiday season.
Boston-based writer EthanGilsdorf's recommendations:
Fiction: We Live in Water (short story collection) by Jess Walter
Non-fiction: Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN by Carter Alan
Children's Book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (specifically this new illustrated edition illustrated by Jemima Catlin)
Gift Book: 101 Things I Learned in Engineering Schoolby John Kuprenas, Matthew Frederick
And I have to admit, the book that first inspired me to write was a toss-up between some Dungeons & Dragons manual and this one, so let's go with the less geekier of the two: a beloved young adult chapter book- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Author Andre Dubus' recommendations:
Fiction: The Realm of Last Chances by Steve Yarbrough
Non-fiction: Son of a Gunby Justin St. Germain
Children's Book: On Linden Square by Kate Sullivan
Gift Book: Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting by Ann Hood
The book that first inspired me to write is: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Writer Marianne Leone's recommendations:
Fiction: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Non-fiction: Country Girl by Edna O'Brien
Children's: Einstein the Class Hamster by Janet Tashjian, illustrated by her son Jake Tashjian
Gift: Our Boston edited by Andrew Blauner
Book that inspired me: Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas.
Mary Cotton, of Newtonville Books, recommendations:
The Knitting Yarns edited by Ann Hood
Our Boston: Writers Celebrate the City they Love
Tenth of December by George Saunders
The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football by Nicholas Dawidoff
Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner
Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska
