Welcome to the holidays. The end of the year is nigh and with it comes that special flavor of seasonal chaos. The only saving grace will be found in precious moments of solace, even if it means locking yourself in the bathroom.
Now more than ever a good book is a needed prescription for sanity. Here’s a selection of favorites I’ve read over the past year.
As always, it’s an eclectic mix. So find a quiet place (bathroom) and pour yourself a glass of strong water. Then, as my Mom used to say, sit down, shut up, and relax–with a good book.
Holiday Book Gift Recommendations 2025
The Beast That God Forgot to Invent, by Jim Harrison: The late Jim Harrison was the Rabelais of our time. No one enjoyed wretched excess in eating and drinking more, or was better at writing about it. The Beast That God Forgot to Invent is three short stories by the uber-ADHD master.
The Forgotten Sense: The New Science of Smell, by Jonas Olofsson: This one is for all my wine geek friends out there. Dr. Jonas Olofsson is a psychology professor at Stockholm University, who specializes in olfactory science. The Forgotten Sense breaks down the connections between the nose and the brain, how scent influences our other senses, and more. In particular, Olofsson details studies concerning anosmia, the loss of smell that many experienced because of the COVID virus during the pandemic. I also have to note that Jonas writes positively about olfactory and wine professionals. For once, somebody in science is on our side vs. the nimnod critics.
On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer, by Rick Steves: I used several of Rick Steves’ guides last year when I spent a week in Rome, and they made all the difference. Otherwise, Steves’s book is a journal of a trek from Istanbul to Kathmandu he made at age 23 with a friend. Even then, Rick was obsessed with travel and discovery. Kudos to him for following his passion. We are richer for it.
The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution: A good re-read for me after many years and appropriate now given the current domestic landscape.
Duck Season, by David MacAninch: In the same vein as A Year in Provence, but frankly better. MacAninch is a hell of a writer. Gers, the tiny hamlet in Gascony not far from the Pyrenees where he and his family made home base for a year, is anything but a designer place. The book is completely charming and a fun read.
Class Clown, by Dave Barry: An autobiography of sorts by the witty and always hilarious Dave Barry. The book details his childhood and decades-long career writing a column for the Miami Herald, and the books, screenplays, and shenanigans that have followed.
Fever Beach, by Carl Hiaasen. Two degrees of Kevin Bacon here in that Hiaasen and Dave Barry are good friends, even sometimes mistaken for one another. As always, Hiaasen’s latest novel is set in Florida with the usual f*ck nutty cast of characters and barely believable plot lines, this time embedded in white supremacy nation. As usual, Hiaasen manages to bring together a myriad of unrelated subplots in the chaotic and hilarious end.
The Sonnets, by William Shakespeare: Good friend Steve Jaqua is always trying to get me to read more poetry. Taking his cue, I decided to tackle the Shakespeare Sonnets for the first time last summer. In doing so, I finally figured out the strategy I needed to really get poetry. And that was simply to read it out loud. I know what you’re thinking. What a maroon. I won’t disagree. Beyond that, for several weeks running, I started my mornings in the office by reading 3-4 of the sonnets. I’d first read one of them aloud, then reread it silently, making sense of the language by using footnotes. Then I’d read it aloud a second time for clarity. After which, without fail, I’d put the book down, shake my head, and wonder how some guy over 400 years ago could write such remarkable poetry. If you haven’t read the Sonnets, you should. There’s also a series of YouTube videos with Patrick Stewart (make it so) reading them aloud. He recorded the videos during the pandemic. In many of them, he’s working on a cocktail as he reads. It’s not a bad idea.
Good things, by Samin Nosrat: Samin’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is one of my favorite cook books. Her second, long-awaited book is equally superb. Good Things offers tidbits about cooking and life, and has many easy-to-use recipes. It’s a good read and a cook book I’ll return to often.
Strong Water: Tales of a Master Sommelier’s Life in Food, Wine, and Restaurants, by Tim Gaiser: What would any holiday gift list be without the opportunity for shameless self-promotion? Seriously, if you haven’t read Strong Water, you should. It’s filled with tales of high adventure on the restaurant floor and the wine trail–and so much more. The book is an enjoyable light read and the perfect airplane book for that someone on your holiday list who travels for work.
Message in the Bottle: A Guide to Tasting Wine, by Tim Gaiser: Calling all wine students and vino geeks. This book has your name all over it. Message in the Bottle is a compendium of all my strategies for professional wine tasting, learned over a 35-year career. Regardless of where you are on the wine spectrum (there’s a phrase for you), the book is guaranteed to help you become a better taster.