SEASON’S READINGS

We recommend presents for diehard readers in Part 1 of our Books Gift Guide,

Talking Points

SARAH MURDOCH

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

For the literary junkie who belongs to four different book clubs and will totally spoil the ending of any hot opus-du-jour for less rapacious readers. OUTLINE, BY RACHEL CUSK (HARPER PERENNIAL, $19.99) This is the book the chattering classes are chattering about, ever since Cusk told the Guardian she finds fiction “fake and embarrassing,” echoing Karl Ove Knausgaard. Outline has little plot and the narrator is almost invisible, mostly describing what she sees and hears on a trip to a writers’ convention in Greece. Strangely engrossing. BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, BY TA-NEHISI COATES (SPIEGEL & GRAU, $31) Coates, national correspondent for the Atlantic and America’s foremost African-American intellectual, presents his stimulating, awe-striking and inspiring statement of what it means to be black in America. Written as a letter to his son, he says that as long as there is that divisive word, race, true equality is impossible. THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS TRILOGY, BY JANE SMILEY (KNOPF, LATEST IS $34.95) In three volumes ( Some Luck, Early

Warning and the latest, Golden Age, for a total of 1,333 pages), Pulitzer Prize-winner Smiley follows the Langdon clan, beginning in 1920 on an Iowan farm, ending in 2020 with Langdon descendants sprinkled throughout the modern world. There’s one chapter for every year. (Here’s a challenge: read one chapter a day for the first 100 days of 2016.) 100 YEARS OF THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, BY LORRIE MOORE (HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT, $40) A fascinating gift for anyone who enjoys short stories, this collection, selected by the inimitable Lorrie Moore, among the best living shortstory writers, begins with Edna Ferber’s “The Gay Old Dog” in 1917 and ends with Lauren Groff’s “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners” in 2014. It’s a master class in how the form has evolved. CITY ON FIRE, BY GARTH RISK HALLBERG (BOND STREET BOOKS, $39.95) The season’s MIB (Most Important Book) award goes to Hallberg’s debut, a 944-page panoramic New York story with a huge cast of characters and plot lines. It is bookended by an apparently random shooting in Central Park on Dec. 31, 1976, and the blackout of July 13, 1977. Hallberg is being likened to Tom Wolfe and Charles Dickens for his magisterial focus on a city.

Tomes For Tots

DEIRDRE BAKER

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

For the precocious little ones in your life — and more importantly, for their parents, who already own 17 copies of Goodnight Moon and have had it up to here with Thomas and his fellow anthropomorphic locomotives. ELOISE: THE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY 60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, BY KAY THOMPSON, ILLUSTRATED BY HILARY KNIGHT (SIMON AND SCHUSTER, $25.99, AGES 4-7) Eloise’s hyperkinetic life at New York’s Plaza Hotel is into its seventh decade. Her irreverent perspective and insistence that “getting bored is not allowed” are ageless — as is her life of room service and “charge it please, thank you very much.” With extra material on Knight and Thompson. ALPHA, BY ISABELLE ARSENAULT (CANDLEWICK, $18.99, AGES 5-9) With clever, evocative images, Arsenault illustrates the NATO, or International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet used since 1956. From alpha (particle), bravo (hands clapping), charlie (bowler hat) to x-ray (spectacles), yankee (batcatcher) and zulu (mask), each image is rich with cultural allusions, a tantalizing puzzle to be decoded, mused over and enjoyed. CRENSHAW, BY KATHERINE APPLEGATE (FEIWEL, $19.50, AGES 7-12) Jackson is disturbed when his imaginary friend, Crenshaw the giant cat, reappears just as the family becomes homeless — again. Crenshaw’s acerbic comments offer a counterpoint to Jackson’s parents’ tenuous grasp on the dire practicalities of food and shelter. Gentle, funny, this treats a loving family’s financial vulnerability with compassion. THE MENINO, WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY ISOL (GROUNDWOOD, $19.95, AGES 4-7) Fun for adults and kids. Here’s a new baby with its functions — siren, pump, window-washers (crying, nursing, tears) . . . Scribbly, unsteady lines and subdued colours accentuate this mysterious, quirky being. Where does he come from? Where was he before? Why does he move as if swimming through air? Hilarious. Thoughtful. Informative. TOUGH GUYS (HAVE FEELINGS TOO), WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY KEITH NEGLEY (FLYING EYE, $24.95, AGES 2-5) Oh, how funny and elegant is this tale of wrestlers, knights, superheroes and all who can’t help but drop a tear or two in sorrow, fear, disappointment or loneliness. Minimal text, restrained expressiveness and bright, flat colours make this both buoyant and consoling. A delight.

Memoirs With A Message

MARCIA KAYE

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

For the brainy biography addict who’d stoop to B&E for a sneak peek at a dishy diary. OPEN HEART, OPEN MIND, BY CLARA HUGHES (TOUCHSTONE/SIMON & SCHUSTER, $32) Despite the sunny title, this compelling memoir by one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians is a brutally frank, often dark account of Hughes’s reality behind the billboard smile: struggles with an alcoholic father, a driven coach and her own addictions and debilitating depression. Personal, passionate and ultimately uplifting. THE REASON YOU WALK, BY WAB KINEW (VIKING, $32) During the last year of his father’s life, Winnipeg broadcaster Kinew works to restore their broken relationship in this powerful and moving account. As the father, a damaged survivor of residential schools, practises forgiveness, so does the son learn to reconcile with the man and with his Anishinaabe culture. WHY NOT ME?, BY MINDY KALING (CROWN, $32) Fans of Kaling, creator of TV’s The Mindy Project, will enjoy this second collection of personal essays on topics including body image, her “weird as hell” romantic relationships and her Harvard Law School speech. It’s often lightweight and self-obsessed, but also outrageous and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. MY LIFE ON THE ROAD, BY GLORIA STEINEM (RANDOM HOUSE, $36) This lively memoir by the noted American equal-rights advocate is Steinem’s first book in 20 years. Brimming with anecdotes from her itinerant feminist activism that contributed to changes in gender equality, the warm and engaging Steinem, 81, shows a sense of humour as robust as her sense of justice. HEMINGWAY IN LOVE: HIS OWN STORY, BY A.E. HOTCHNER (ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, $22.99) Using notes and tapes from conversations between 1948 and 1961 with literary icon Ernest Hemingway, close friend and travel companion Hotchner, now 95, creates an intimate, tender portrait of the man behind the legendary booze, broads and bullfighting. Engaging revelations, beautifully told, about Papa’s adventures, eccentricities and, tragically, regrets.

Yeah Yeah YA

DEIRDRE BAKER

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

For the budding bibliophile who tears through 900-page novels and takes her literature with a touch of fantasy, a sprinkling of magic and a jumbo-sized box of Kleenex. CARRY ON, BY RAINBOW ROWELL (ST MARTIN’S, $22.99, AGES 13 AND UP) Rowell confesses she’s always loved “magical Chosen One” stories, so here’s hers — based on Simon and Baz, subjects of fan fiction in her earlier Fangirl. A hefty, eccentric wizard school fantasy liberally spiked with expletives, romance and this-ain’t-Harry-Potter turns of plot that are both funny and original. Very readable. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING, BY NICOLA YOON, WITH DRAWINGS BY DAVID YOON (DOUBLEDAY, $21.99, AGES 12 AND UP) Romance through and through, reminiscent of The Fault in Our Stars but with its own wit and wisdom, if not probability. Maddy has an autoimmune disease that’s kept her cloistered in her air-locked house for years; when handsome, parkourpracticing Olly moves next door both heart and health seem under threat. CALVIN, BY MARTINE LEAVITT (GROUNDWOOD, $14.95, AGES 12 AND UP) Stricken with schizophrenia, Calvin thinks he and Hobbes, the giant tiger he hears talking to him, must cross frozen Lake Erie on foot to meet Calvin and Hobbes’ creator. Leavitt’s writing is sharp, intelligent, surprising; the surreal terrain, biting wit and serious consideration of mental illness make this exceptional. ASONG FOR ELLA GREY, BY DAVID ALMOND (DELACORTE, $23.99, AGES 13 AND UP) Almond’s brilliant take on doomed Orpheus and Eurydice (Ella) is set in northeast Britain, a contemporary love story of emotional and esthetic bliss told by Ella’s best friend and unrequited lover, Claire. Sensual, vivid with northern dialect, this captures the ecstasy and yearning music — and love — that rouses in teens.

Armchair Athletics

DEBORAH DUNDAS

BOOKS EDITOR

For the bandwagon-jumper who found himself watching the World Series even after the Jays lost, and for anyone who’s been chasing that elusive orange Trivial Pursuit pie slice since 1982. THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS ULTIMATE BOOK OF FACTS, BY ANDREW PODNIEKS, NHL (FENN-M&S, $45) For those who love their Maple Leafs — and those who love sports statistics — this book records the history of the club in all of its small details, from the first puck drop in 1917. There are lots of stories, trivia and pictures, photos and stats on every player who’s ever worn a Leafs jersey. THE GUY ON THE LEFT, BY JAMES DUTHIE (VIKING, $30) Award-winning TSN sportscaster Duthie scores again with his third book, a memoir chronicling his early career mishaps and highlighting memorable personalities, games and moments. Engagingly self-deprecating, Duthie offers an insider’s view that’s frequently hilarious and occasionally solemn (he was on air on 9/11). Would appeal even to nonsports fans. ASEASON TO REMEMBER (PENGUIN, $22) It had been more than 20 years since the Toronto Blue Jays had seen postseason play. This year they rallied a city and a country — and this book commemorates, with photos and exclusive content from the Toronto Star, a season that gave fans something to celebrate. THROWING ROCKS AT HOUSES: MY LIFE IN AND OUT OF CURLING, BY COLLEEN JONES (VIKING, $30) Some would argue it’s not hockey or lacrosse, but curling that is really Canada’s national sport. If so, the queen is Colleen Jones — the woman who became the youngest skip to win the Canadian championship, she went on to win the worlds, too. A memoir about how she made it and what’s important.