This is another example of my reading a book strictly because I'm anxious to read something newer by the same author -- I'm dying to read Megan Abbott's The Fever, so I'm forcing myself to read her earlier novel in preparation. I also recently found out she's from Grosse Pointe and went to the same high school as my husband, so that really adds to her appeal.

I've always been kinda ambivalent about the teen girl novels -- maybe it's because I was one and couldn't wait to grow out of it -- but I just don't share the general titillation people get from it. I mean, I "get" it, but I find it uninteresting. They're young and virginal but also quite manipulative and generally evil, so to me, it seems like low-handing fruit. That said, I'm not going to pretend like I'm not engrossed by this very pulpy, macabre story about high school cheerleaders. It's a fun little noir that is just disturbing enough to be unique. Also, 'Bring It On' is celebrating its tenth anniversary, so obviously I'm going be watching it, and this has been a nice coincidence to read alongside MTV's oral history of the film.

Books are one of my favorite gifts. Besides being plentiful, easy to purchase, and very easy to wrap, you can make the gift of books as thoughtful and creative as you like. I like to pick out a few different books that are all loosely related; my mom's birthday gift last year was Julia Child's memoir My Year in France along with a copy of her classic cookbook and a new non-fiction book, Provence, 1970 -- the theme was French cuisine but each of the books was distinct and would entertain differently.

I've put together a few different bookish gift guides, which I'll be posting over the next few weeks. Today's list is the books I am desperate to get my hands on. I've read a lot this year, obviously, but these are the ones I missed and hope to unwrap on Christmas morning (friends and family take note) :

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel -- A short story collection from someone better-known for her historical fiction. I'm deeply embedded in Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies, so much so that I rush home from work to settle in with the novel and cup of tea, but I have mounting anxiety about finishing it and then becoming depressed, so I need more Mantel in my life.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel -- Another one from my personal short list, this National Book Award finalist follows a theater troupe in a post-Apocalyptic future as they travel through a now largely-empty Great Lakes region. It sounds like everything I've ever wanted in a novel.

The Fever by Megan Abbot -- Teenage girls, vaccination anxiety, and a dark, twisting thriller. I haven't read Megan Abbott yet, but she's always on my list of authors to check out, and everything about this sounds intense and amazing.

Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique -- A family epic spanning generations in the Virgin Islands, which has rings of A High Wind in Jamaica, one of my all-time favorites

How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman -- An immersive course in Victorian daily life. I enjoy reading history, and I especially appreciate any historian who finds a really unique structure or frame for their research and who is a truly great writer.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters -- I keep hearing amazing things about Waters, and I keep reading recommendations of her books by other authors and critics whom I really adore and admire, so I know I'm going to fall hard for her novels. Luckily there are many, with this being the latest. It is something of a historical romance in Britain between the wars, so also a good read as I binge on Downton Abbey, in preparation for the next season in January.