It’s graduation season, and here at Book Beat we have a number of great gifts for grads of all ages. Come shop in the store, or order from our affiliate page at bookshop.org, a site that directly benefits local indie bookstores.
Here’s are some of our gift ideas, both new titles and classics!
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss’s wonderfully wise Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is the perfect gift to celebrate all of our special milestones—from graduations to birthdays and beyond!
From soaring to high heights and seeing great sights to being left in a Lurch on a prickle-ly perch, Dr. Seuss addresses life’s ups and downs with his trademark humorous verse and whimsical illustrations.
The inspiring and timeless message encourages readers to find the success that lies within, no matter what challenges they face. A perennial favorite and a perfect gift for anyone starting a new phase in their life!
Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman
Words of wisdom on making a good life and good art from the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author—the graduation speech he delivered to The University of the Arts in May 2012.
For more than three decades Neil Gaiman has “made good art” in nearly every available medium, from comics to novels to Tweets. In May 2012, he was asked to share his insights to the graduating class of the University of Arts in Philadelphia. Make Good Art is the text of Gaiman’s commencement speech, now available for every reader in this elegantly designed volume.
In this remarkable volume, Gaiman shares the motivating, joyful, sometimes frustrating, and always inspiring lessons he has learned throughout his groundbreaking career. He offers encouragement for anyone, no matter what age or stage of life, to go forth, be creative, and make good art.
Whether graduating from school, embarking on a new adventure, or simply looking for a little inspiration, Make Good Art is an antidote for complacency. Clever, funny, and profound, it encourages us to embrace uncertainty, break the rules, and nurture our unique individual vision, and reminds us of the limitless possibilities inherent in the creative process, and the delights that come from conjuring magic—making good art.
Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
Three months after George Saunders gave a graduation address at Syracuse University, a transcript of that speech was posted on the website of The New York Times, where its simple, uplifting message struck a deep chord. Within days, it had been shared more than one million times. Why? Because Saunders’s words tap into a desire in all of us to lead kinder, more fulfilling lives. Powerful, funny, and wise, Congratulations, by the way is an inspiring message from one of today’s most influential and original writers.
“As slender as a psalm, and as heavy.”—The New York Times
“The graduating college senior in your life probably just wants money. But if you want to impart some heartfelt, plainspoken wisdom in addition to a check, you can’t do much better than [Congratulations, by the way].”
—Entertainment Weekly
“The loving selflessness that [George Saunders] advises and the interconnectedness that he recognizes couldn’t be purer or simpler—or more challenging.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Warm and tender.”—Publishers Weekly
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
A special 25th anniversary edition of Paulo Coehlo’s extraordinary international bestselling phenomenon, The Alchemist—the inspiring spiritual tale of self-discovery that has touched millions of lives around the world
“A wise and inspiring fable about the pilgrimage that life should be.” —M. Scott Peck
” I love The Alchemist. It absolutely shows you that, if you have the desire, the universe will rise up to meet you exactly where you are. One of my favorite all time quotes.” -Oprah Winfrey
Combing magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.
Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith
“An anatomy of….an artist stepping into her own light, of a mother working out how to create a loving family on her own.”
—BOMB
“Smith’s prose is as warm and welcoming as her poetry.”
—Chicago Review of Books
In her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes. With the spirit of self-inquiry and empathy she’s known for, Smith interweaves snapshots of a life with meditations on secrets, anger, forgiveness, and narrative itself. The power of these pieces is cumulative: page after page, they build into a larger interrogation of family, work, and patriarchy.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful, like the work of Deborah Levy, Rachel Cusk, and Gina Frangello, is an unflinching look at what it means to live and write our own lives. It is a story about a mother’s fierce and constant love for her children, and a woman’s love and regard for herself. Above all, this memoir is an argument for possibility. With a poet’s attention to language and an innovative approach to the genre, Smith reveals how, in the aftermath of loss, we can discover our power and make something new. Something beautiful.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
“I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.” —Rick Rubin
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn’t, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone’s life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.
The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime’s work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments—and lifetimes—of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.
“A work of transcendent literature, one that suggests the universe still smiles upon us despite all indications to the contrary.” —The Wall Street Journal
“To Rubin, art is the ultimate form of self-actualization, a noble calling that enriches the soul . . . So, how does an artist move from conception to creation? Rubin methodically lays out the process, offering a mixture of encouragement, inspiration and tips . . . Rubin has written a fascinating book infused with deep thoughts, insight and, yes, lots and lots of creativity.” —Los Angeles Times
The Moth Presents: All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown edited by Catherine Burns
Some [stories] are heartbreakingly sad; some laugh-out-loud funny; some momentous and tragic; almost all of them resonant or surprising. They are stories that attest to the startling varieties and travails of human experience, and the shared threads of love, loss, fear and kindness that connect us.”
—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
“All These Wonders is replete with wondrous true stories of loves, losses, rerouted dreams, and existential crises of nearly every unsugarcoated flavor.”
—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth, and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of live storytelling, All These Wonders features voices both familiar and new. Alongside Meg Wolitzer, John Turturro, Tig Notaro, and Hasan Minhaj, readers will encounter: an astronomer gazing at the surface of Pluto for the first time, an Afghan refugee learning how much her father sacrificed to save their family, a hip-hop star coming to terms with being a “one-hit wonder,” a young female spy risking everything as part of Churchill’s “secret army” during World War II, and more.
High-school student and neuroscientist alike, the storytellers share their ventures into uncharted territory—and how their lives were changed indelibly by what they discovered there. With passion, and humor, they encourage us all to be more open, vulnerable, and alive.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving–every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.
Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Written in Greek by an intellectual Roman emperor without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a wide range of fascinating spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the leader struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. Spanning from doubt and despair to conviction and exaltation, they cover such diverse topics as the question of virtue, human rationality, the nature of the gods and the values of leadership. But while the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation, in developing his beliefs Marcus also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a series of wise and practical aphorisms that have been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers and ordinary readers for almost two thousand years.
To provide a full understanding of Aurelius’s seminal work, this edition includes explanatory notes, a general index, an index of quotations, an index of names, and an introduction by Diskin Clay putting the work in its biographical, historical, and literary context, a chronology of Marcus Aurelius’s life and career.
“Here, for our age, is [Marcus’s] great work presented in its entirety, strongly introduced and freshly, elegantly translated.” —Robert Fagles
Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life by Marie Kondo
Inspired by the Japanese concept of kurashi, or “way of life,” Kurashi at Home invites you to visualize your ideal life from the moment you wake up until the end of each day. By applying the time-tested query from Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up—”Does it spark joy?”—to your mindset and behaviors, you are invited to imagine what your life could look like free from any limitations. This vision then becomes a touchpoint that helps you make conscious, mindful choices—from how you use every corner of your living space to how you take advantage of every moment.
At its core, the KonMari philosophy focuses not on what to get rid of, but on what to keep. In this inspirational visual guide, beautiful photographs and Kondo’s unique suggestions empower you to embrace what you love about your life and then reflect it in your home, activities, and relationships, like creating a calm nook for writing, taking time each morning to review a to-do list, or having relaxing nighttime rituals that promote a restful sleep.
Your newfound clarity will inspire you to clear out the unneeded clutter so you can appreciate the inviting spaces, treasured belongings, and joy-sparking moments that remain.
Outliers: The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell
Explore what sets high achievers apart—from Bill Gates to the Beatles—in this seminal work from “a singular talent” (New York Times Book Review) Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of Blink and The Bomber Mafia and host of the podcast Revisionist History
In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”—the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?
His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
“In the vast world of nonfiction writing, Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today…Outliers is a pleasure to read and leaves you mulling over its inventive theories for days afterward.”—David Leonhardt, New York Times Book Review
Stop by Book Beat for more grad gift recommendations and self-development books that can broaden perspectives, inspire critical thinking, and provide insights into various aspects of life and the world. We hope to see you soon!