15 brilliant books to gift your friend who has ‘read everything’

1.
Counter Editions

For its 25th anniversary, art-book publisher Counter Editions has released a monograph cataloguing its key works. The design – including a screen-printed cover – mirrors the imprint’s exacting approach to printmaking.

2.
A Room of One’s Own
Virginia Woolf

This centenary edition of Virginia Woolf’s classic essay harks back to the original Hogarth Editions. It’s rebound with the same woodcut prints that her sister designed some 100 years ago.

3.
Mother Mary Comes to Me
Arundhati Roy

In her first memoir, Indian novelist Arundhati Roy describes her formidable mother as “my shelter and my storm”. That complicated relationship forms a central part of the book, told with raw honesty in Roy’s inimitable prose style.

4.
Paul Thek and Peter Hujar: Stay Away from Nothing
Edited by Francis Schichtel

Photographer Peter Hujar and painter and sculptor Paul Thek shared an intimate relationship as friends and lovers. Through photos, postcards, letters and the occasional doodle, Stay Away from Nothing captures the complex and tender nature of their bond.

5.
Nova Scotia House
Charlie Porter

This debut novel from Charlie Porter, the prolific fashion journalist and author of What Artists Wear, is a thought-provoking, emotional work on love and pain during the AIDS crisis.

6.
Shosa: Meditations in Japanese Handwork
Ringo Gomez-Jorge

The Japanese concept of shosa can be summarised as a respectful attitude, a mindful way of moving or a repeated action. This calming book features interviews with craftspeople, teachers and even a high-ranking Zen monk who discuss why shosa is important to them.

7.
Cooking with Scorsese and Others
Hato Press

Cinemas might be more closely associated with mindless consumption of buckets of popcorn than fine dining but food and film have long enjoyed a nourishing relationship. This slim edition features photography that centres on food from films as varied as the Charlie Chaplin classic The Gold Rush and Hayao Miyazaki’s anime Ponyo.

8.
Remixed
Michel Gaubert

Sound designer Michel Gaubert has been responsible for some of the most memorable fashion-show soundtracks of the past 50 years. His new autobiography is for those who appreciate boundary-pushing fashion and music with a little French flair.

9.
How to End a Story: Collected Diaries
Helen Garner

Australian novelist Helen Garner’s diaries were collected into a single volume for the first time this year. Her exacting eye makes this record of the minutiae of her life – including the unravelling of her marriage – a propulsive, generous read.

10.
Squeeze Me: Lemon Recipes & Art
Ruthie Rogers & Ed Ruscha

This unusual cookbook focuses solely on dishes that incorporate the humble lemon. The recipes come from Ruthie Rogers’ London institution The River Café, while the art and design are handled by US artist Ed Ruscha.

11.
Perfection
Vincenzo Latronico

This timely, ennui-laden depiction of an expat couple in Berlin who are attempting to live a perfect life was a literary standout this summer, with its bold, blue Fitzcarraldo Editions cover seen poking out of tote bags on beaches across Europe.

12.
Killing Time
Alan Bennett

This special edition of a new novella from Alan Bennett is the ideal size to slip into a stocking. Though the story – set in a care home during the coronavirus pandemic – is far from cheerful, it’ll be a fine, darkly comic accompaniment for winter nights.

13.
Lessons for Young Artists
David Gentleman

For the creatives in your life, there are few better presents than the no-nonsense words of British artist David Gentleman. While there are no short cuts to success, the 95-year-old’s fatherly advice is sure to help put you on the right track.

14.
Spotlights
Habibi Funk

The musical catalogue of Berlin-based label Habibi Funk Records showcases the best sounds from the Arab world. This smart new publication from the Habibi team continues that mission and features interviews with Arab music legends, retro album designs and new studio photography.

15.
At Home in London
Ellis Woodman

Though London’s mews were built in the 18th and 19th centuries as stables and servants’ lodgings for smart houses, they have since become desirable as bijoux homes and artists’ studios. This book captures their many contemporary functions and varied designs.