For more results from this survey, check out Holiday Books Survey Results and Book-Giving Etiquette Guide.
When asked to list the books they are giving as gifts this year (whether they’re schnorring, swiping from work, or buying), respondents were extremely forthcoming—ditto when asked to list the titles they hope to receive themselves. A * indicates that a title was mentioned the same number of times as the one above it.) You sure like your aging rockstars:
The Books Publishing Folk Are Giving
- Life, Keith Richards (Little, Brown)
- Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. I (University of California Press)
- Freedom, Jonathan Franzen (FSG)*
- Just Kids, Patti Smith (Ecco)
- Room, Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown)
- Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (Random House)
- Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
- Earth (The Book), Jon Stewart (Grand Central)
- At Home, Bill Bryson (Doubleday)
- Our Kind of Traitor, John le Carré (Viking)*
- The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner)*
- Finishing the Hat, Stephen Sondheim (Knopf)*
- The Boss Baby, Marla Frazee (S&S/Beach Lane). “Best ever for parents of all ages,” said one respondent at a large NYC house.
Runners Up:
- Cleopatra, Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown)
- Culinary Ephemera, William Woys Weaver (UC Press)
- Kansha, Elizabeth Andoh (Ten Speed)
- Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann (Random House)
- The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Amanda Hesser (Norton)
- Salted, Mark Bitterman (Ten Speed)
- Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris (Little, Brown)
- The Finkler Question, Howard Jacobson (Bloomsbury)
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (Crown)
- Great House, Nicole Krauss (Norton)
- Washington, Ron Chernow (Penguin)
The Books Publishing Folk Hope to Get
Once again, consensus on Keith Richards: Life tops most wishlists, with Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim and Freedom by Jonathan Franzen tied for second place. Several respondents also hoped to receive Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris and The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser. After that, though, responses were scattered all over the place. A selection:
- “Nobody gives me books because they assume I’ll have ready access to anything I want to read,” says an agent. Similarly, “No one ever gives me books because I work in the industry. :-(“ and “I’d love to get books, but everyone is afraid I will have them already.”
- On the other hand . . . “NONE. I have enough” and “Got ’em all already”
- “Would love to get the new Geoffrey Hill collection, but I’d have to go to London and buy it at the London Review Bookshop”—Editor in NYC
- “Obscure gift books which I cannot even imagine the existence of.”
- “Nora Ephron’s new book if I don’t read it before giving it!”
- “Unusual titles, such as Taschen illustrated books.”
- Built-Ins (Taunton Build Like a Pro series)—Editor in Alabama
- “Anything from Timber Press”—Marketing, large NYC house
- Stolen Daughters, Virgin Mothers: Anglican Sisterhoods in Victorian Britain, Susan Mumm (Leicester University Press, $135)
- The Food Stylist’s Handbook, Denise Vivaldo (Gibbs Smith, $50)
- “Surprise me!”—Publicist
- “Does an iPad count?”—Editor in NYC
