Tired of reading The Night Before Christmas every holiday season? Just can’t make it through another re-read of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? You’re in luck! We’ve put together our list of the 13 best books to buy pop-culture lovers this year. Whether it’s a comedy legend’s memoir or a film auteur’s art book, these are the tomes you’ll want to give—and get—this holiday season. And trust us: If nothing else, they’re much better reads than The Christmas Shoes.
All About Me! by Mel Brooks
If you’re a Mel Brooks fan, All About Me! is the book you’ve been waiting for. Brooks’ first memoir finds the 95-year-old filmmaker and producer looking back at his life and work. All About Me! chronicles Brooks’ journey from Catskills comedian to TV writer, and then onward into the Hollywood stratosphere. Along the way, Brooks offers anecdotes and insights, as well as stories about his friendships and relationships with Sid Caesar, Alfred Hitchcock, best friend Carl Reiner, and wife Anne Bancroft. Brooks’ life is a remarkable one, and even non-comedy fans—if those exist—will probably find something to enjoy in this book.
Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
Another book about a legendary funnyman, Mike Nichols: A Life tells the story of Nichols’ remarkable life. Born Igor Peschkowsky to a Jewish couple in Berlin in 1931, Nichols was put on a ship to America in 1939, where he was bullied and ostracized. Just 20-odd years later, Nichols would be so successful and popular that he was living in a three-storey Central Park West penthouse and hobnobbing with Jacqueline Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor. It’s an inspiring story, and one that should serve to make Nichols’ legendary life and achievements that much more awe-inducing.
The Boys: A Memoir Of Hollywood And Family by Ron and Clint Howard
Ron and Clint Howard grew up on TV. Not watching TV, but making it, with the pair starring in shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days, Gentle Ben, and Star Trek. Ron went on to become a wildly successful director and producer, and Clint an in-demand character actor, but how did they get there? The Boys: A Memoir Of Hollywood And Family shines a light on some of those questions, with the Howard brothers illuminating how they survived “child-actor syndrome” with the help of protective parents and a strong moral compass.
Read The A.V. Club’s Random Roles interview with Clint Howard
You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union
A sequel to 2017’s We’re Going To Need More Wine, You Got Anything Stronger? finds Gabrielle Union weighing in on the latest phase of her life. Vulnerable as ever, Union shares stories of becoming a mom, her surrogacy journey, her husband Dwayne Wade’s retirement, and her continued quest for justice and equality. Union is using her platform to call out racist institutions and practices, asking for accountability, while also letting fans in on her struggles and moments of weakness.
A Bathroom Book For People Not Pooping Or Peeing But Using The Bathroom As An Escape by Joe Pera
Over the past couple of years, Joe Pera has emerged as a voice for the gentle people, the ones who find joy and laughter in quiet eccentricities and simple truths. A Bathroom Book For People Not Pooping Or Peeing But Using The Bathroom As An Escape is a comedic but functional meditative guide for people who, like the title suggests, often escape to the bathroom, whether it’s because they have small bladders or are just looking for ways to end conversations. Meant to help those people relax, recharge, and then rejoin the world outside the bathroom, this book could be just the thing for anyone who feels a little awkward from time to time—or all the time.
It Never Ends: A Memoir With Nice Memories! by Tom Scharpling
Another memoir by a notably funny person, It Never Ends lets readers into the troubled and tumultuous life of comedy writer and radio host Tom Scharpling. In detailing his lifelong struggle with mental illness, Scharpling sheds a light on his eternal underdog status, as well as his continuing quest to lift himself out of darkness. Scharpling being Scharpling, though, there are also tangents about The New Monkees, Billy Joel, Sex And The City slot machines, and Patti Smith.
A Little Devil In America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
If you’re looking for an acclaimed book to gift this holiday season, A Little Devil In America is the one you want. It’s a National Book Award finalist, and was recently named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly. Author Hanif Abdurraqib, named a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow this year, also just happens to be a really amazing writer. A Little Devil In America is a series of essays looking at the legacy and resonance of Black performance in American culture, whether it’s Merry Clayton’s 27 seconds of wailing in Gimme Shelter or what goes on during a schoolyard brawl.
All Of The Marvels by Douglas Wolk
If your familiarity with the Marvel universe is limited to what you’ve seen on the big screen, then you might want to check out All Of The Marvels. In the book, writer Douglas Wolk details his herculean quest to read all 27,000+ comics released by Marvel since its inception in 1961, trying to make sense of the Marvel Universe, with all of its heroes and villains, plotlines and plot holes. Along the way, Wolk looks at how what’s on the page is reflective of American life and culture, reminding us that superhero stories aren’t always just tight suits and explosions.
When Women Invented Television by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
It’s easy to forget, but television wasn’t always viewed as a sure thing. Back during the Golden Age Of Radio, when television was first being bandied around, ad men and big wigs poo-pooed it, saying TV sets were just too expensive for the average family. But four women saw potential in the medium, and independently went about carving their own paths into the medium, affecting how we watch TV today. When Women Invented Television follows those four women—Irna Phillips, Gertrude Berg, Hazel Scott, and Betty White—as they rise to power in the industry, only to find themselves facing immense challenges once the men in power realized there was money to be made.
Tacky: Love Letters To The Worst Culture We Have To Offer by Rax King
Though much of today’s cultural criticism is looking back with a highbrow wistfulness at what’s gone by, Tacky chooses to embrace the least sensical and romanticized elements of pop culture. Writer Rax King fills the book with personal essays about coming of age in the 2000s, with its Hot Topic and Creed, as well as how her love of all things gauche has led to a deeper appreciation of everything from the Cheesecake Factory menu to Jersey Shore.
Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
An Australian musician who’s best known for his work in Dirty Three and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Warren Ellis is also, as it turns out, a talented writer. Nina Simone’s Gum tells the story of how, in 1999, Ellis grabbed from atop a piano, a piece of gum that Simone had chewed. He wrapped it in a towel and ended up keeping it for 20 years, thinking of it as a creative totem or odd muse, only revealing his keepsake when Cave asked him to contribute to an art exhibition. Nina Simone’s Gum is a look at just how much small, seemingly insignificant things can matter to people.
A Night At The Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, And Atlanta’s Gay Revolution by Martin Padgett
A Night At The Sweet Gum Head is writer Martin Padgett’s look inside 1970s gay Atlanta, with its drag clubs, disco nightlife, and underground current of activism. A mecca for gay people all over the South, Atlanta was home to the Sweet Gum Head, a drag club that queens had to pass through on their way to the top. If you’re a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, then you’re going to want to read this one.
Some Collages by Jim Jarmusch
An art book from one of the artiest directors working today, Some Collages is the public’s first look at Jarmusch’s years of collage work. Created by laying newsprint on cardstock, Jarmusch’s collages are only about notecard size, but they number in the hundreds. If you’re a fan of Jarmusch’s films, you’ll probably like his mixed media work as well. If nothing else, it’s an interesting glimpse inside Jarmusch’s mind and interests, which is more than enough.