Shelf Care: Holiday Gift Guide 2020

Welcome to Shelf Care, where I usually review three books related by a theme. These aren't necessarily the latest releases, but are hopefully books you can't believe you missed.This column's theme: The Best Of Shelf Care: Holiday Gift Guide 2020While I always think the books I review for Shelf Care worth reading (and trust me, there are way more  that I’ve read that would never make the cut) there have always been some that just stood out above the rest.  So for this month’s Shelf Care, I’ve gone back through the archives to pick out the books that really stood out. Desert island books that are good for a reread. Pop culture books that enable their readers to weigh in on a conversation, and those books that had such an interesting take on the subject matter that they were able to make unexpected premises interesting. These are the books that I can recommend without thinking about it. So if you’re looking to give something on the literary side this holiday season, see if your recipient matches up with my brutally short summary, and click through for a more thorough review.So, if your recipient likes:Science fiction/fantasy mash ups with a healthy dose of smart-assery and pop culture that absolutely shouldn’t work on paper, but do.Try: Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn MuirMy reviewScience, taken to ridiculous extremes, and explained at a funny, middle school level.Try: what if?, by Randall MunroeMy reviewNeil Gaiman’s dark and creative take on fairy tales, and demonstrating why letting eight year olds talk to genies is a bad idea.Try: Dreams and Shadows, by C. Robert CargillMy reviewFast paced dark military fantasy.Try: The Black Company, by Glen CookMy reviewDouglas Adams, but only if he’d downed five pots of coffee and written all of the Hitchhikers’ books in one go while watching the Eurovision song contest.Try: Space Opera by Catherynne M. ValenteMy review70’s rock and over the top games of Dungeons And Dragons.Try:  Kings of the Wyld, by Nicholas EamesMy reviewOur robot overlords finding out their problems are just beginning after the last human dies.Try: Sea of Rust, by C. Robert CargillMy reviewStand up comedy and Agatha Christie.Try: Ten Dead Comedians, by Fred Van Lente.My reviewInnovative far future science fiction with great ideas that holds up very well on a re-read.Try: Hyperion, by Dan SimmonsMy reviewFeels there’s a reality that’s just outside our own.Try: Neverwhere, by Neil GaimanMy reviewWishes there was something else like Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential.Try: Cooking Dirty, by Jason SheehanMy reviewRelentless science fiction suspense novels that have to be read in one sitting.Try: Dark Matter, by Blake CrouchMy reviewOne shot authors who can create believable super heroes.Try: Devil’s Cape, by Rob RodgersMy reviewThe Twilight Zone.Try: Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted ChiangMy reviewTrue crime with a dream team of cold case investigators.Try: The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases,  by Michael CapuzzoMy reviewComputers and 80’s nostalgia.Try: Ready Player One, by Ernest ClineMy reviewThe best book Stephen King never wrote.Try: American Elsewhere, by Robert Jackson BennettMy reviewWondering what happens after those child detectives and their dog grow up and have to face the one case they never really solved?Try: Meddling Kids, by Edgar CanteroMy reviewLiving in a suspiciously cheap apartment building, where the superintendent is probably Stephen King.Try: 14, by Peter ClinesMy reviewHaunted IKEAs.Try: Horrorstor, by Grady HendrixMy reviewAction movies, modern technology and the ancient profession of vampire hunting.Try: Vampire$, by John SteakleyMy reviewShort, funny stories around a protagonist who may be the greatest wizard of his generation, but just does not care.Try: A City Dreaming, by Daniel PolanskyMy reviewSo, what other books should be making the rounds this holiday season? Leave your thoughts in the comments and stay tuned for my next column.