My 3rd Annual Holiday Gift Guide

Recommendations for Readers, Writers, Film Buffs, and Lovers of Family History

At my family’s Thanksgiving gathering last week, my sister led us in the ritual of having everyone go around the table and say what we were grateful for. I mentioned three things. The first was technology, like the group chat my wife and I have with our college-age daughters that allow us regular, if brief, moments of connection. The next was difficult conversations, the gift of being able to talk with those I love about matters about which we disagree. If you can’t have challenging discussions with those you like, how can you do it with those you don’t?

The final thing is one the greatest inventions of all time. It contains all knowledge. You can hold it in your hand. It holds photos, contacts, information, wisdom, maps, and games. And yet we take it for granted.  

It’s a book.

This holiday season, I’d like to recommend that you consider buying one for someone you love. To help out, here are some of my favorites over the last year, along with a wonderful movie about books, and a way to create a book of your own to preserve your family’s memories.

For History Lovers:

Named ‘Best Book of the Year’ by Kirkus, Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely is a fascinating, inventive retelling of the life of Denis Diderot, who’s most associated with editing the first Encyclopédie in France during the Enlightenment. But as this book makes clear, Diderot was so much more. Left frightened after being thrown in prison for his atheism in 1749, Diderot wrote essays, plays, and other works for decades that he never published but carefully preserved so that we could read them centuries later. Andrew Curran, a professor of history of Wesleyan, brings them to life and weaves a thoughtful, gossipy account of Diderot’s life that makes you feel like you’re walking the streets of Paris.

For Fiction Lovers:

Clearly the biggest story outside war and peace in Europe and the Middle East this year is the story about war and peace in Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and every classroom and workplace in the country over the impact of AI. Just as this conversation was ramping up this summer, I read Klara and the Sun by Japanese-British novelist, OBE, and winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature Sir Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara tells the story of an AI-enabled artificial friend with outstanding sensitivities and observational qualities who’s adopted into the family of a sickly girl. Like the other Ishiguro books that have most stayed with me, An Artist of the Floating World and The Remains of the Day, Klara shows the author’s unimaginable gift of communicating direction with the reader through a narrator that’s both unreliable and unaware that they are betraying their inner truth that only we can see.

For News Followers:

One privilege of being as close to the Middle East as I've been over the last three decades is meeting and befriending thoughtful, caring, and passionate people on all sides. No one fits this description better than Dan Senor. I first met Dan in one of Saddam's old palaces in Baghdad almost 20 years ago, where he was serving the American government and I was researching my book, Where God Was Born, in which I visited biblical sites in Israel, Iraq, and Iran. I’ve been honored and delighted to become close friends ever since. Dan and his co-author Saul Singer, authors of Start-up Nation, released a timely new book this month called The Genius of Israel that provides the answers to many questions people have about both how Israel came to thrive over recent decades and how it almost came apart in recent months. And he perfectly captures the sense of unity and resilience that's been on display since the events of October 7.

For Mourners:

I had a conversation with someone last week who’s suffering from the loss of a loved one this year. She’s a scientifically minded person who’s found comfort in a grief counselor. When she shared that she wanted to know the facts about grief and loss, I recommended one of my go-to books on this topic, The Other Side of Sadness by Columbia University professor George Bonanno.

For Leaders:

My friend Antonia Bowring is one of the more thoughtful and innovative executive coaches I know, who brings her decades of experience helping C-Suite executives find their voice and leadership style into one place. In Coach Yourself, she pulls back the curtain to give all of us the frameworks and tools to become more authentic and effective versions of ourselves.

For Anyone Who Loves Books:

Surely the most romantic film every made about writing, Turn Every Page is the behind-the-scenes story of two literary legends, writer Robert Caro and his longtime editor, Robert Gottlieb, who together created some of the greatest non-fiction books in history, from The Power Broker to the multivolume The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Caro, whom I’ve met once, is still writing in his late 80s; Gottlieb, whom I also met once, died earlier this year at age 92. This film would simply never have been possible if it weren’t made by Gottlieb’s daughter, Lizzie. It’s a complete gem.

For Anyone in a Family:

Do you long to capture your family’s memories but don’t have writers in your family? For the last few years I’ve become friendly with a wonderful young entrepreneur named Charlie Greene, who this fall launched what I believe is a potential game-changer in the space of family history. Charlie’s company, Remento, offers an AI-enabled service to help guide the collection and creation of family stories on mobile phones to ensure they’re preserved forever. The company then gathers those stories into a Remento Book that makes it easy to share and enjoy a grandparent’s memories. Charlie’s also a loyal follower of The Nonlinear Life and has offered readers a coupon for $10 off one of these books. Use the code: FRIENDOFBRUCE.

Finally, do you know someone who’s in a life transition, a work transition, or a family transition right now? Perhaps they might benefit from one of my books. I’m grateful to hear from readers every day who’ve been moved, touched, or helped in some way by a recent work of mine. I can assure you from past experience, that The Search, Life Is in the Transitions, and The Secrets of Happy Families all make wonderful gifts. I even heard from a reader recently who told after watching the news in the Middle East that they pulled out a copy of Walking the Bible. 

Thank you all for being readers and active supporters of this newsletter. I am definitely thankful for you!

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