Great Books to Give on THE POINT

Book titles from today’s BOOKS TO GIVE show on THE POINT. You can listen online!

Jill’s Picks

Soup for Syria: recipes to celebrate our shared humanity. Collected & Photographed by Barbara Abdeni Massaad

Selected Poems by John Updike, edited by Christopher Carduff with an introduction by Brad Leithauser. Poem read was “Not Cancelled Yet” on page 161. You can read The New Yorker review here.

The Theater of War: what ancient Greek tragedies can teach us today by Bryan Doerries. And if you would like to see what happened on the library lawn when Bryan was here, check out our Flickr page!

The Typewriter Revolution: a typist’s companion for the 21st Century by Richard Polt

Typewriter Art: a modern anthology by Barrie Tullett

The Typewriter: a graphic history of the beloved machine by Janine Vanpool.

The Typewriter (in the 21st century): a film about a machine and the people who love it, use it and repair it. Directed by Christopher Lockett

The Dogist: photographic encounters with 1,000 dogs by Elias Weiss Friedman

The Fairy Tale Girl by Susan Branch (& A Fine Romance: falling in love with the English countryside)

Dear Santa: children’s Christmas letters and wish lists, 1870 – 1920 Letters selected by Mary Harrell-Sesniak, Commentary by J. Harmon Flagstone

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George

Vicky’s Picks

Adult Fiction

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

Felicity by Mary Oliver

100 Years of the Best American Short Stories edited by Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor

Adult Nonfiction

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf

Natural World of Winnie the Pooh: A Walk through the forest that inspired the Hundred Acre Wood by Kathryn Aalto – Ashdown Forest in SE England

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting

The Living Bird: 100 Years of Listening to Nature – Foreword by Barbara Kingsolver

Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe

Lost Ocean: an Inky Adventure and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford

50 Greatest Players in New England Patriots Football History by Robert W. Cohen

50 Years, 50 Moments: The Most Unforgettable Plays in Super Bowl History by Jerry Rice

Rowdy by Christopher Madsen – story of a Herreshoff yacht – its restoration and history

Children’s Picture Books

Grandma’s House – Alice Melvin

Toys Meet Snow: Being the Wintertime Adventures of a Curious Stuffed Buffalo, a Sensitive Plush Stingray, and a Book-Loving Rubber Ball by Emily Jenkins

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

The best books to give children are often the ones you loved yourself!! 

Listener Picks

Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt

Being Mortal: medicine and what matters in the end by Atul Gawande

Poems from the Pond: 107 years of words and wisdom, the writing of Peggy Freydberg edited by Laurie David

The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming’s James Bond Letters by Fergus Fleming

My Kitchen Year: 136 recipes that saved my life by Ruth Reichl

The Writer’s Desk by Jill Kremenitz; introduction by John Updike (Very sadly, out of print.)

Boys in the Trees: a memoir by Carly Simon

Dog Medicine: how my dog saved me from myself by Julie Barton

2 comments on “Great Books to Give on THE POINT


  1. Betsy Smith says:

    I have just made Soup for Syria my holiday gift for a bunch of friends and relatives.  It’s gorgeous, I can’t wait to experiment with the recipes, but best of all, it has enabled me to make a concrete difference in alleviating the horrible food short conditions in Syria.  Thank you for making me aware of this treasure.

  2. Jill says:

    Thanks so much for sharing your comment with us Betsy! I am so glad you were listening (or reading) & that you are sharing the book!

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