Alone For the Holidays? Here Are The Best Books To Read

If you’re feeling lonely this holiday season, don’t just binge watch shows and swipe at dating apps, read a book. As Ernest Hemingway says, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” And 2017 has given the world more than its fair share of faithful friends. From Gucci Mane’s page-turning autobiography to an eye-opening expose about murderous greed, there’s plenty of committed chums to hang out with over the holidays. To find out about seven of the most compelling titles that were published this year, keep reading!

Lincoln in the Bardos — George Saunders

After years of charming the world with his quirky short stories and eccentric essays, George Saunders brought out his first novel in 2017. At its most basic, Lincoln in the Bardos is a father-son story starring Abraham Lincoln and his recently deceased son. But Saunders is anything but basic. Far from your typical, straight-forward novel, Lincoln in the Bardos is more like a chopped and screwed mixtape featuring ghosts, grief, religion, and terror.

The Autobiography of Gucci Mane — Gucci Mane

For years, the prolific Gucci Mane has been showing off his way with words on his remarkable mixtapes and albums. Now, the godfather of trap music brings his wordsmith skills to the literary world. In his autobiography, Gucci (with assistance from fromer XXL editor Neil Martinez-Belkin) pulls back the curtain on his sensational, resilient life. Whether it’s selling weed in middle school or feuding with Juvenile, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane is filled with fascinating revelations about one of today’s most influential rappers.

Killers of the Flower Moon — David Grann

If you couldn’t stop listening to the Serial podcast or its S-Town spinoff, then you should probably read David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon as soon as possible. Grann’s book concerns the Osage nation in Oklahoma. In the 1920s, the Osage tribe found oil on their land and became some of the richest people in the world. Soon, Osage members were turning into murder victims. As the killings increased, the FBI stepped in. With much mastery, Grann exposes what it took to get to the heart of one of America’s most ruthless mysteries.

Sour Heart — Jenny Zhang

Named one of Nylon’s 2017 “it” girls, Jenny Zhang is a rare literary talent who publishes poetry, personal essays, and, as Sour Heart shows, mesmerizing short stories. The stars of Sour Heart are immigrant girls, and these young females are not your regular goody two shoes. Steeped in sadism, slimy food, and roach-infested New York City apartments, Zhang’s heroines are gross, mean marvels that make the South Park boys look like Boy Scouts.

This Book Has Balls: Sports Rants From the MVP of Trash Talking — Michael Rapaport

Michael Rapaport does a little bit of everything. Not only has he acted in over 100 movies and TV shows, but he also has his own podcast where he issues his entertainingly bombastic opinions about sports. Now, you can do more than listen to Rapaport, you can read him, too. In This Books Has Balls, Rapaport sounds off on why MJ will always be better than LeBron, Tiger Woods’ sex life, and how all the practice in the world can’t transform a sluggish white boy into an NBA superstar.

There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé — Morgan Parker

Poetry suffers from a bad reputation. Many people would rather go through airport security twice than read one single poem. But Morgan Parker proves that not all poetry is dull and tedious. Sharp and lucid, Parker’s second collection of poems look gracefully and unflinchingly at the relationship between sexuality, race, and consumer culture. Some of these pulsating poems are so personal that they read like diary entries. Others function as both a love letter to Beyonce and a hate letter to celebrity worship. Overall, after reading Parker’s book, you won’t think poetry’s stale anymore.

Pachinko — Min Jin Lee

It took Min Jin Lee almost 20 years to complete Pachinko. Published at last, Lee’s epic has earned tons of critical acclaim and was even a National Book Award Finalist. Lee’s novel starts off in Korea. Sunja, a teen girl, falls in love with a very wealthy and mysterious man. The affair falls apart and Sunja soon finds herself far away from home, married to a humble minister. From here, Lee builds a textured tale that digs deep into the struggles of family, love, and keeping your life together in the face of colonization and prejudice.