Ahead of the holiday season, we've published guides for the best fly-fishing gifts, best gifts for hunters, and stocking stuffers among others—now it's time to recommend some gifts for book lovers. I’ve been told that I can be a difficult person to shop for around the holidays. I’m sure there’s some truth to that, but, when in doubt, there's one can't-miss category of gift ideas for me: books. I can never have enough.
Of all the books I read this year, the list below includes some of my favorites. If you know someone who loves to read, here are some ideas for gifts for book lovers—whether they're into hunting, fishing, cooking, or even some wild poetry.
For the Adventurer – The Last Wild Road: Adventures and Essays from a Sporting Life
The Last Wild Road is a collection of some of the best stories ever to appear in Field & Stream—all penned by one of the best storytellers ever to write for Field & Stream: T. Edward Nickens. Nickens excels at every kind of hunting and fishing story: how-to articles, adventure tales, gear reviews, personal essays, humor columns, and conservation reports. But if there’s one kind of Eddie Nickens story that I like best, it’s what we call a “come along story,” where the author and a buddy hit the road in search of wild thrills—and the reader gets to come along. This book is full of stories like that. Good luck putting it down once you start. The Last Wild Road is one hell of a ride.
For the Person Who Likes to Cook – The Wild Books
I first became aware of chef and outdoorsman Jesse Griffiths when his first cookbook, Afield, was published in 2012. Almost immediately, that cooking-and-butchering manual became my go-to resource for wild game recipes. (The chapter on D.I.Y. charcuterie is fantastic.) As great as Afield is, though, his two follow-up cookbooks—The Hog Book and The Turkey Book—might be even better. Each book has the killer recipes and practical butchering tips fans have come to expect from Griffths, but they also have great storytelling and gorgeous photography from the field. You can purchase each book individually, of course, but for a real showstopper of a gift, splurge for the signed box set.
For the Fly-Fishing Fanatic – Calling After Water: Dispatches from a Fishing Life
Shortly before this book came out, the author, Dave Karczynski, reached out to me and asked if could send me a copy. Boy, am I glad that I said yes. Calling After Water is a collection of essays, and I enjoyed them all for different reasons. The tales of his far-flung adventures inspired wanderlust. The story of his hardcore, hex-hatch-chasing marathon inspired me to want to fish harder next spring. And the essay where he imagines hearing the origins of his Polish ancestors' language in the soundtrack of a river as he takes a stream-side nap inspired me to up my own writing. This wonderful book belongs on the shelf of anyone who enjoys a good fishing tale.
For the Trout Bum – East Branch: Six Years on a Catskills Trout Stream
After A River Runs Through It, this might be my favorite fly-fishing book. In East Branch, the author, Mitch Keller, recounts his decision to move from New York City, where he worked as a newspaperman, to the Catskills region—a trout mecca—where he lived as a real-deal trout bum. What I love about this book is that there’s not a whiff of the romanticized bullshit that you encounter is so much fishing writing. Sure, we get to experience some amazing trout fishing alongside Keller, but we also get an honest picture of the financial hardships, unrelenting winters, and the moments of doubt, depression, and loneliness that come as a consequence of going into the woods and wishing to “live deliberately.” If A River Runs Through It is the best fly-fishing book everyone’s heard of, then East Branch is probably the best fly-fishing book that nobody’s heard of. Until now, I hope.
For the Nonfiction Fan – Valley So Low: One Lawyer’s Fight for Justice in the Wake of America’s Great Coal Catastrophe
Hands down, the best nonfiction book I read all year was Valley So Low, written by former F&S editor Jared Sullivan. This book reconstructs one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history—when a billion-gallon tidal wave of toxic coal-waste sludge ripped through Kingston, Tennessee, in 2008. As I mentioned in an interview I did with Sullivan shortly after Valley So Low was published, this book is many things: a gripping disaster story; a David-vs-Goliath courtroom drama; and a conservationist’s call to action to protect our lands and waters. This book is also remarkably reported and written.
For the Poetry Fan – Echolocation
Echolocation, another book by a former Field & Stream staffer, is Sage Marshall’s debut collection of poetry. Several of the poems in this collection come from Marshall’s first pursuits as an aspiring hunter, and it was fascinating to read his dispatches from those hunts in this form of prose. I’m far from an expert when it comes to poetry, but the poems that do move me often share a few common traits: They challenge my thinking. They let strong words breathe and flex. They put me in the outdoors. More than a few of the poems in this collection from Marshall—a caring, careful writer and observer of nature who I greatly admire—moved me to no end.
