Eve's Best-of-the-Year Arbitrary Gift Guide
that's right baby, Christmas comes early!
I know it’s early to put a bow on the year, but I’ve decided to give myself a little vacation, so this will be my last missive of the year. I am comfortable doing this—announcing (to much fanfare I’m sure) my best books of the year—now even though it means my December reading won’t be included. You wanna know why? I’m 62 pages into Doctor Zhivago and have no earthly idea what’s going on. There is no imaginable way that I finish this book before the end of the month, and if I end up figuring out what’s happening and really liking it, I’ll just have let you know in January.
Another point in favor of my prematurity is that this roundup can serve as your Official Something Eve Read Gift Guide for 2025 That’s Based Entirely on What Eve Read This Year Only and Therefore Excludes Lots of Really Amazing Books You Could Give as Gifts but If Eve Doesn’t Introduce Some Kind of Limiting Factor, Compiling a Gift Guide Becomes an Impossible and Un-Fun Task. No need to scramble at the last minute for Christmas books, start shopping now! Books make the best presents honestly, and as I outlined last year, everyone you buy a present for should also get a book.1
Without Further Ado ! ! In the order that I read them (mostly):
Potentially my favorite book of the year was the first one I read2—The Last Samurai. Helen Dewitt is a genius, and I will read anything she puts out with GLEE. Her new book (Your Name Here w/ Ilya Gridneff, which sounds absolutely absurd) is on my Christmas list. Give The Last Samurai to someone who is too clever for their own good.
The Queen’s Gambit is a good pick, even for someone who’s seen the Netflix adaptation. I’d already watched it myself and still really enjoyed/breezed through this novel. It’s pretty un-put-downable, and a good pick for a man if you’ve got one. Riders of the Purple Sage is also a good pick for the man in your life, particularly if he’s into the American West—OR, for the crossover no one saw coming, your friend who’s addicted to Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.3
In the spring I read One or Two thanks to the Mandylion Press girls and was delighted. It’s weird and weirdly prescient, and would be a diabolical present for the person in your life who’s on Ozempic even though they don’t need to be. If you don’t have one of those, anyone who likes ghost stories, body horror, or gothic vibes would enjoy this.
Honorable mention as well to this amazing shirt from Mandylion, which I ALREADY OWN don’t worry, so no one needs to buy it for me. It is 100000x cooler than whatever bookclub merch Kaia Gerber or whoever is putting out.
I read one (1) real non-fiction book this year, but luckily it was an absolute banger, so I can recommend it wholeheartedly! Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies will delight the conspiracy theorist in your life. It is, and I really mean this, such a fun read.
Lady Chatterly’s Lover was my sleeper hit of the year. I thought I would find it annoying, but instead I found it deeply moving. Every woman and frankly also every man should read this. Give a copy to your friend who is in an unhappy relationship and see what happens!
To celebrate Jane Austen’s 205th birthday (it’s on December 16th!), read Northanger Abbey and then buy 10 copies to give away. This was a reread for me, but I didn’t remember it very well, and it might be Austen’s most underrated novel. It is so funny and so sweet. Austen is the OG and possibly the reigning champ when it comes to a comedy of manners and a happy ending. Get this for anyone who likes that kind of thing (especially the person in your life who can’t stop reading romance novels).
East of Eden for everyone, seriously. I unapologetically/unabashedly think this is one of the greatest novels in the English language. I love Steinbeck so much, and I would love him even if he wasn’t so hot. My sister is reading it right now and texted me that she was sobbing crying halfway through, already dreading the end. My lover finally finished it this year after reading the first half and stopping in the middle 3 years ago (psycho behavior). He loved it, we loved it, East of Eden for everyone.
In the category of contemporary literary fiction, you cannot go wrong with On The Calculation of Volume (I-III). Solvej Balle is a beast. Every time I think I’m starting to worry that I might get bored, it’s like she reads my mind and makes something absolutely riveting happen. Queen of pacing! I think your mom might like them especially. Added advantage to giving these as gifts is that it presents an opportunity to make someone else suffer what you must suffer (the long wait until April when the fourth part comes out in English).
If you have a writer, or really any artist in your life, I highly, highly recommend The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. So beautiful, and so sticky. I read it with reading & writing friends Petya K. Grady & Regan earlier this fall, and I don’t think I’ll every get Dillard’s images out of my head.
And, lastly, for the person in your life who (a) wants something to really sink their teeth in, (2) digs WWI stories, (3) is ready to think existentially about memory and what it means to be a person, The Remembered Soldier is what you seek. This book was recommended to me by three (!) members of the Huffines family (my most trusted book recommenders), and it did not disappoint. It’s 600 something pages long and it’s too short.
But wait! Speaking of short, I haven’t forgotten! My favorite short books of the year were Fup by Jim Dodge and Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard (love her so much). Also honorable mention to the best short book ever (maybe) The English Understand Wool, which I reread this year too. Going to the bookstore and picking out a stack of skinny spines and tying them up with a ribbon is a wonderful idea. Other all time favorite shorties include The Cook by Maylis de Kerangal, Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, Foster by Claire Keegan, Bluets by Maggie Nelson & The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway.
Oh but wait! Don’t forget the poetry. Everyone should read more poetry; be the change that you want to see in the world and/or foist the change upon your loved ones. Two recently published collections that I have my eyes on are Dog Show by Billy Collins and Startlement by Ada Limón. Anthologies are always great as well like the new-ish Poetry Is Not a Luxury or something from Everyman’s Library (cute and small).
Hope this helps4, love you so much, thank you for reading, see you next year, Merry Christmas, bye <3
Readers may also remember my decree from earlier this year that every time you buy a book as a present, you should also get a book for yourself—I stand by this take.
I may have started this before the new year, but I can’t remember, so we’re counting it.
I loved this recap, and I have added most of these to my TBR. There a few that are moving up the list for 2026. Agree wholeheartedly that books are great gifts. I do stocking stuffer gifts each year, and this year, I grabbed $5 secondhand books for all of my stockings. It was probably the most fun I had shopping for gifts in a while!
Second the East of Eden as the best literature ever - you should read Grapes of Wrath next