I love audiobooks. If I ever wish my house was cleaner, I just put on a good audiobook, and because I don’t want to turn it off, in just an hour or so, I’ve done all the chores but the vacuuming—only because that’s so noisy it overrides the narrator. Anyway, I also love to give things that I personally love, especially when it’s a book, because then I get to have a special conversation, with someone I care about, regarding a book we both read and enjoyed. So, here are a few audiobooks I’ll be gifting this holiday season, and what type of reader I think might enjoy receiving them.
In tenth-century Ireland, a monk has a vision that he and two brethren found an island monastery to remove themselves from the temptations of the world. This book follows their voyage to a rocky, barren island full of birds, and the survival skills that go along with establishing a new place of worship. This book is a great choice of Christmas gift for the historical fiction lover who also wants to remember the “reason for the season.” Plus, one of my favorite things about audiobooks is that I learn to pronounce words I’ve only ever seen written down, and because this book has plenty of Gaelic terms and names, I particularly loved the audiobook version of it. Also… who doesn’t love hearing a book performed for them in an Irish accent?
It’s marketed as a historical memoir, but I’d argue that this book is almost an ethnography as well. Written by the co-founder of The Cure, and including some of his own personal anecdotes and favorite memories, the book chronicles the rise of the Goth movement in the 1980s and examines the works of literature that inspired the genre. This audiobook is the perfect gift for your cool, Gen X raver (former raver, maybe) sibling—or in my case, the first cousin who introduced me to good music. I can’t promise she’ll never pause it to go listen to some of the bands biographed within it, though!
I know I said my favorite thing was learning how to pronounce new words, but I also really love when books are narrated by familiar voices. You likely met Rainn Wilson when he co-starred as Dwight Schrute in The Office, or maybe from his media company SoulPancake, and though he’s performed in many other roles since then—most recently in Lessons in Chemistry, this book is something altogether different: it’s a book on philosophy. More specifically, it’s an argument in favor of spirituality, faith, and the sacred, and how they help to heal and problem solve. This gift is a good one for the deep-thinker of your family who also has a great sense of humor. (Note: If you like this pick, and you want another in a similar vein, try Michael Schurr’s audiobook, How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question, too. I truly adored that one.)
There’s truly nothing like a book read by the author—when the author is also a comedienne. Every line is delivered perfectly. This celebrity memoir is the ineffable Leslie Jones telling her own story. You know her comedy from SNL if nothing else, and you love her. Even the jacket copy sounds like her; listen: “Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed.” I’ll get this one for my uncle who knows every line of our favorite comedies, Friday and Bridesmaids. Last year, I gave him Bad Motherf–ker: The Life and Movies of Samuel L. Jackson, the Coolest Man in Hollywood, and although Mr. Jackson didn’t narrate or write it himself… you get the vibe. This book has a similar target audience.
This one time, I wore a tank top with a Lisa-Frank-esque unicorn on it that had “feminist killjoy” scrawled underneath, and this one cool girl at the gym said, “I like your shirt.” Five years later, we’re best friends, and this is the book I’ll be getting her this holiday season. In fact, it’s a good handbook for anyone you know who doesn’t laugh at offensive jokes, who doesn’t care if it ruins the vibe by pointing out a sexist comment, or who will look someone dead in the eye and ask, “Is that really something you want to have said?” This book—read by the author(!), queer feminist scholar—provides an intellectual guide on how to get in the way. Shake ‘em up, and Seasons Greetings, y’all!
Mary Kay McBrayer is the author of America’s First Female Serial Killer: Jane Toppan and the Making of a Monster. You can find her short works at Oxford American, Narratively, Mental Floss, and FANGORIA, among other publications. She co-hosts Everything Trying to Kill You, the comedy podcast that analyzes your favorite horror movies from the perspectives of women of color. Follow Mary Kay McBrayer on Instagram and Twitter, or check out her author site here.
