Bookist: Gifts for Readers

Here are a few books Houstonist thinks your friends and family won't use for doorstops (that's the fruitcake, right?). Everyone likes a good read, or at least a smart-looking book to sit on the nightstand. Give these a try. And shop at your local independent bookstore -- they can give you even more recommendations, and probably a good cup of coffee as well.

Fun, mostly fiction books for people who are...

Houstonians and/or architecture fans:
Houston. It’s Worth It. by ttweak
Booming Houston and the Modern House: The Residential Architecture of Neuhaus & Taylor, 1955-1960 by Ben Koush
The Country Houses of John F. Staub by Stephen Fox
Cinema Houston by David Welling
Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide by Robin Goldstein
The Metropolis of Tomorrow by Hugh Ferriss

New York lovers and lovers of New York:
Maynard and Jennica by Rudolph Delson
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud

Work-obsessed and get a high from “The Office,” Red Lobster, or professional conventions in pancake houses (respectively):
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
The Verificationist by Donald Antrim

Looking for an alternative to Joel Osteen, aspiring Machiavellians, or working in “communications”:
It’s Not How Good Your Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be:
The world’s best-selling book by Paul Arden (available at Domy Books)

Intrigued by international mafioso fiction:
Dancing to “Almendra” by Mayra Montero (Cuban/Amercian mafia)
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra (Indian mafia)

Ready for a damn good read:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao By Junot Díaz

Like to laugh when they read poetry:
What Narcissism Means to Me by Tony Hoagland

Wanting an intimate look into other people’s marriages, or just their wedding nights:
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Writers or those want to read about them:
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas

ADD or really short on time:
Twenty Grand: And Other Tales of Love and Money by Rebecca Curtis
Varieties of Disturbance: Stories by Lydia Davis
The View from Castle Rock: Stories by Alice Munro
Sunstroke: And Other Stories by Tessa Hadley
Like You’d Understand, Anyway: Stories by Jim Shepard

New Wave Fabulists:
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly LInk

Deep thinkers with a sense of humor:
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Way into bodies:
Body Worlds by Dr. Gunther von Hagens

What good books have you read lately? Let us know.