The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips - (Publisher Summary: In a windowless building in a remote part of town, the newly employed Josephine inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as The Database. When one evening her husband Joseph disappears and then returns, offering no explanation as to his whereabouts, her creeping unease shifts decidedly to dread.) 

This bizarre book reads like a thriller with literary aspirations and I loved it. It’s short–you can read it in a long afternoon–and is surprisingly emotional besides.

Witches of America by Alex Mar - (Publisher Summary: Witches of America follows Mar on her immersive five-year trip into the occult, charting modern Paganism from its roots in 1950s England to its current American mecca in the San Francisco Bay Area; from a gathering of more than a thousand witches in the Illinois woods to the New Orleans branch of one of the world’s most influential magical societies.) 

Loved this so much. I read it slowly, savoring each page of a strange world I rarely get to glimpse. (I need to find some time to watch Mar’s Netflix documentary, American Mystic.) Mar takes the history of American witchcraft back to the source(s), and then gives us an inside look at how it operates in today’s modern world. It’s surprisingly calm, quiet–some of the rituals sound more like a candlelit yoga class than anything else, and the reader gets drawn in the same way Mar does. As humanity becomes more attuned to nature, to the appeal of emphasizing spirituality outside the bureaucracy and hypocrisy of organized religion, this type of belief system feels more right than other, more fascinating than scary. 

Stoned by Aja Raden - (Publisher Summary: What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire.) 

I think I realized a few years ago that I wasn’t really a jewelry person and that’s become more obvious since. I enjoy the occasional fun of an interesting ring, or a pair of small stud earrings, but that’s about it. The way to my heart is through cashmere or a nice bag, not sparkly things. However! After reading this book, maybe I need to rethink this life path. Stoned is absolute jewelry porn, talking about stones in the hundreds of carats and the lengths that humans have gone to in order to find, mine, acquire, steal precious gems. Far from a dry accounting of famous jewelry, Raden has a wry, jokey tone, like a friend telling you about Marie Antoinette’s relationship to an absolutely ridiculous diamond necklace. Such a fun read. 

Little Victories by Jason Gay - (Publisher Summary: The Wall Street Journal’s popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living.) 

A funny, sweet read, but there are many more memorable versions of this kind of book available right now. 

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill - (Publisher Summary: Velveteen Vargas is eleven years old, a Fresh Air Fund kid from Brooklyn. Her host family is a couple in upstate New York: Ginger, a failed artist and shakily recovered alcoholic, and her academic husband, Paul, who wonder what it will mean to “make a difference” in such a contrived situation. Gaitskill illuminates their shifting relationship with Velvet over several years, as well as Velvet’s  encounter with the horses at the stable down the road—especially with an abused, unruly mare called Fugly Girl.) 

This book is incredibly readable. I wanted to lose myself in it for hours and the back-and-forth POV made it hard to step away. The story itself could have gone a very stereotypical, treacly direction and I think Gaitskill managed to avoid that by believably embodying the 11-year-old Velvet and giving her a rich background, fascinating inner voice, and all the complex teenage emotions one could imagine she might be feeling. 

The Givenness of Things by Marilynne Robinson - (Publisher Summary: In The Givenness of Things, the incomparable Marilynne Robinson delivers an impassioned critique of our contemporary society while arguing that reverence must be given to who we are and what we are: creatures of singular interest and value, despite our errors and depredations.)

These essays are a lot to take in: very cerebral, existential, beautifully-written. Robinson’s intelligence is intimidating, but just when you think you can’t keep up with her brilliant, laser-sighted commentary, she brings it back down to a level the rest of us mortals can approach. The first essay (Humanism) was really beautiful. Fear, Theology, and Realism were my other favorites. 

Hi 2016. Good to see you. 

The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard - (Publisher Summary: Aron, the narrator, is an engaging if peculiar and unhappy young boy whose family is driven by the German onslaught from the Polish countryside into Warsaw and slowly battered by deprivation, disease, and persecution.) 

This book is beautiful, haunting, horrifying. Shepard fully embodies the young narrative voice in a heartbreaking, and occasionally wry way: Aron sees the crumbling world around him the way we’d expect a 9-year-old boy to. If I’d read this last year, it would have been one of my best books of 2015. It’s only January now, but it will be hard for me to forget this one over the next twelve months, if ever. Astonishingly visceral writing. Just try and get it out of your head (and heart). 

Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola - (Publisher Summary: A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure–the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle.)

I love brutally honest memoirs, the laying out of the good, bad, and ugly, and this one certainly qualifies. Hepola spares nothing while describing her youthful love of stolen beer, leading up to the scary at best (and potentially life-threatening at worst) blackout drinking of her young adulthood. It’s a really powerful book: unflinching, discomfiting, and important. 

The Blondes by Emily Schultz - (Publisher Summary: Hazel Hayes is a grad student living in New York City. As the novel opens, she learns she is pregnant (from an affair with her married professor) at an apocalyptically bad time: random but deadly attacks on passers-by, all by blonde women, are terrorizing New Yorkers. Soon it becomes clear that the attacks are symptoms of a strange illness that is transforming blondes―whether CEOs, flight attendants, students or accountants―into rabid killers.) 

I wanted to love this–the premise is so insane–but it had no idea what kind of book it wanted to be and suffered for it. Is it dystopian? Satire? Is it about the confusion and complexity of interpersonal relationships? Is it a thriller? It tried to be all those things in varying degrees and though it succeeded occasionally, especially early on, I found it increasingly aimless as the story progressed. 

League of Denial by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru - (Publisher Summary: League of Denial reveals how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, sought to cover up and deny mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage.)

Though it was published about two years ago, there is no better time to read this than coming off this weekend’s near-decapitation of Antonio Brown. The book takes its time setting the scene, and this attention to detail can move slowly in certain portions. But, taken as a whole, this is a scathing view of a sport that even the authors’ employer (ESPN, of course) had trouble swallowing once the final transcript went to print. 

The Witches by Stacy Schiff - (Publisher Summary: It began in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister’s daughter began to scream and convulse. It ended less than a year later, but not before 19 men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death.) 

Hmm. Well, it’s comprehensive. That’s no surprise, if you read Schiff’s Cleopatra. (I reviewed it here.) It’s too bad that Schiff’s meticulous research falls prey to academic-paper-syndrome here. If there’s any story deserving a deep dive, it’s the insanity of the Salem Witch Trials, and Schiff tries–but does not succeed–to bring it to light in a way that toes the line between dry research and readable storytelling. The key here is providing theories, or summaries, or context in a way that allows the modern reader to engage with the past. In this area, Schiff fails by simply narrating events as they happened without providing the necessary touch points for us to connect with the people involved and their motives. 

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay - (Publisher Summary: The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.To her parents’ despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession.) 

This was good. Really good. It’s creepy, unrelenting, and scarier than most scary movies I’ve seen. There are some jaw-dropping twists. (Love.) This is suspenseful writing done almost perfectly. Tremblay drops tidbits of information all over the place and you can’t blink or you’ll miss them. Just when you settle into a paragraph you assume is mundane, there’s a new, tiny detail that shakes up the entire narrative. 

Dragonfish by Vu Tran - (Publisher Summary: Robert, an Oakland cop, still can’t let go of Suzy, the enigmatic Vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. Now she’s disappeared from her new husband, Sonny, a violent Vietnamese smuggler and gambler who’s blackmailing Robert into finding her for him.) 

It sounds like a standard airport mystery, but Dragonfish surprised me with its depth and characterization. While I never quite got the answers I wanted, it was still satisfying: sad and more emotionally provocative than I could have predicted it would be. 

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald - (Publisher Summary: When Helen Macdonald’s father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer—Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood—she’d never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk’s fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own.) 

This is a really special reading experience, like no memoir I’ve ever read, really. Macdonald’s writing is stark and beautiful. It’s not a book about training a goshawk so much as it is a book about attempting to manage grief, to make sense of a world gone mad, and to learn what it means to fly away–and what it means to be chained down. 

Bird by Noy Holland - (Publisher Summary: This is a novel about the persistence of longing in which the twin lives of the title character blur and overlap. Bird puts her child on the bus for school and passes the day with her baby. Interwoven into the passage of the day are phone calls from a promiscuous, unmarried friend, and Bird’s recollection of the feral, reckless love she knew as a young woman. It’s a day infused with fear and longing, an exploration of the ways the past shapes and dislodges the present.) 

This short book is an unexpected gut punch. I read it in the early morning hours: insomnia had taken over and the quiet darkness of the night combined with the semi-delirium of exhaustion lent it extra weight. I can’t begin to explain the writing: genius, heart-wrenching, every sentence a work of art. Bird, our protagonist, is a full-bodied character in the reader’s mind and soul within a matter of pages. The push and pull between Bird’s everyday and her imagination is so intense that it’s hard not to feel like you’re awake–but dreaming–while reading certain portions. This is as raw as reading gets. 

The Awakening by Kate Chopin - (Publisher Summary: The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women’s issues without condescension.)

I made a New Year’s resolution to read the occasional classic this year and this one had always just slipped through the cracks. I’m so glad I finally read it. It feels incredibly modern (the writing is incisive and spot-on). It’s hard to believe it was written over 100 years ago. I cherished my time reading this, as evidenced by the many dog-eared pages, and I’ll hopefully revisit it again in the coming years. 

(Did you miss my best books of 2015? That post is here.) 

The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild - (Publisher Summary: Wickedly funny, this totally engaging, richly observed first novel by Hannah Rothschild is a tour de force. Its sweeping narrative and cast of wildly colorful characters takes you behind the scenes of a London auction house, into the secret operations of a powerful art dealer, to a flamboyant eighteenth-century-style dinner party, and into a modest living room in Berlin, among many other unexpected settings.) 

I loved this book. I found it occasionally sexy, evocative, and multi-layered with unexpected twists and turns. It might have benefited from some trimming (especially with a few ancillary characters). A really satisfactory read. 

Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt - (Publisher Summary: Lucien (Lucy) Minor is the resident odd duck in the bucolic hamlet of Bury. Friendless and loveless, young and aimless, Lucy is a compulsive liar, a sickly weakling in a town famous for producing brutish giants. Then Lucy accepts employment assisting the Majordomo of the remote, foreboding Castle Von Aux.While tending to his new post as Undermajordomo, Lucy soon discovers the place harbors many dark secrets […]) 

Hmm. How to talk about this? I can’t compare it to any book I’ve ever read. First, I loved it. Second, know that it’s completely set out of any discernible time and place and feels almost fairy tale-like, with a dark castle, beautiful maiden, and so on. Third, it’s just a great story. I enjoyed every second of its quirkiness. 

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit - (Publisher Summary: In her comic, scathing essay, “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.) 

Perfect. Really important. You should read it. 

Harriet Wolf’s Seventh Book of Wonders by Julianna Baggott - (Publisher Summary: The reclusive Harriet Wolf, revered author and family matriarch, has a final confession-a love story. Years after her death, as her family comes together one last time, the mystery of Harriet’s life hangs in the balance. Does the truth lie in the rumored final book of the series that made Harriet a world-famous writer, or will her final confession be lost forever?) 

This is a rich, rich novel: emotionally-charged, packed with unique, special characters and some truly moving sections. It was a dark horse for me. Did not expect to love it so much. 

You Don’t Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent - (Publisher Summary: Nugent is a proud feminist—and she’s not afraid to say it. From the “scarlet F” thrust upon you if you declare yourself a feminist at a party to how to handle judgmental store clerks when you buy Plan B, You Don’t Have to Like Me skewers a range of cultural issues, and confirms Nugent as a star on the rise.) 

This was so wry, modern, insightful. Compulsively readable and funny, with whip-smart passages that feel like your smartest friend is talking to you about everything from pregnancy scares to makeup. 

Not on Fire, but Burning by Greg Hrbek - (Publisher Summary: Twenty-year-old Skyler saw the incident out her window: Some sort of metallic object hovering over the Golden Gate Bridge just before it collapsed and a mushroom cloud lifted above the city. Like everyone, she ran, but she couldn’t outrun the radiation, with her last thoughts being of her beloved baby brother, Dorian, safe in her distant family home. Flash forward to a post-incident America, where the country has been broken up into territories and Muslims have been herded onto the old Indian reservations in the west.) 

Although this book is occasionally very smart and sets our country’s abhorrent xenophobic atmosphere into a fictional, dystopian United States, it’s also incredibly disjointed and difficult to read. As in, actually difficult: the POV can change every other paragraph, switching from first- to third-person and back again. Narrative threads are followed for a bit and summarily discarded at a dizzying rate. I’m intrigued by this book, even after finishing it. It wasn’t enjoyable or even entertaining, but it was worth reading. 

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter - (Publisher Summary: More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.) 

For a fast, suspenseful read, I don’t think you can do better than this right now. It’s a unique–if unrealistic–story in an almost tired genre (so many mediocre thrillers this year), and I appreciated that it surprised me multiple times. Be forewarned that it’s certainly darker than the big suspense novels, with numerous entries depicting sadistic, graphic sexual violence. (If we’re using Gone Girl as a control, this is at least twice as dark.) Still, I really couldn’t stop reading this once I started. Good momentum, satisfying conclusion. 

Sunday night PSA: these Yosi Samra flats (you already know I love them, I won’t rehash why) are 20% off on Bare Necessities and you can get an additional 25% off on top of that using code GET25. That brings the grand total to $46-ish from $77. They are worth it. (I got the black pair for a few upcoming trips.) 

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume - (Publisher Summary: In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling.) 

Unsure how I felt about this by the end. It wasn’t that it was bad (in fact, I thought it was very good), but it didn’t have the same magical Judy Blume spark that I–admittedly–may have idealized over the years. The ending fell a little flat for me and there is a ridiculous number of characters to keep track of. Good, not great. 

The Revenant by Michael Punke - (Publisher Summary: The year is 1823, and the trappers of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company live a brutal frontier life. Hugh Glass is among the Company’s finest men, an experienced frontiersman and an expert tracker. But when a scouting mission puts him face-to-face with a grizzly bear, he is viciously mauled and not expected to survive. Two Company men are dispatched to stay behind and tend to Glass before he dies. When the men abandon him instead, Glass is driven to survive by one desire: revenge.) 

Oh, this is very, very good. I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie–and the good news is that I can tell by the trailer that they’ve altered the movie storyline just enough so that reading this won’t necessarily spoil the film for you. This is a great companion book to Into the Savage Country by Shannon Burke, which I read earlier this year and loved. More so than that book, The Revenant is unceasingly visceral and provokes sensory overload over and over again–it’s incredibly violent and untamed. The elements are as much a main character as protagonist Hugh Glass. If the movie is even just half as good as the book, it will be well worth watching. 

Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot by Mark Vanhoenacker - (Publisher Summary: A poetic and nuanced exploration of the human experience of flight that reminds us of the full imaginative weight of our most ordinary journeys—and reawakens our capacity to be amazed.)  

I feel like I say this a lot, or maybe nonfiction is just that good these days, but Skyfaring is a nearly perfect entry in the genre. Nonfiction that engages the mind and pushes the boundaries of our knowledge and expectations, especially on topics that we feel we may know (like flight), is a really special gift. I enjoyed reading this so much. For anyone that’s ever flown, Skyfaring provides an almost poetic backdrop to the now almost routine experience. Vanhoenacker, who flies 747s for British Airways, is a talented writer, bringing us the retro or child-like awe of the magic of flight back into the modern day. 

Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts by Doug Merlino - (Publisher Summary: The first book to bring readers deep inside a top mixed martial arts gym, Beast shows exactly what it takes to reach the top of this exacting sport. Doug Merlino spent two years at Florida’s American Top Team, living, eating, and training alongside some of the world’s best fighters, and traveled with them to fights around the world.) 

I’ve tried to read more books this year about things I know absolutely nothing about and MMA certainly qualifies. This book was great–inclusive and technical enough for the superfan, but appropriately descriptive for someone like me too. Really compelling read. 

Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. - (Publisher Summary: Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a “pink pill” for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal clear, that pill will never be the answer—but as a result of the research that’s gone into it, scientists in the last few years have learned more about how women’s sexuality works than we ever thought possible, and Come as You Are explains it all.) 

This well-reviewed book is fascinating and empowering and important. It’s really a massive information dump, but told so frankly and accessibly, and with an unrelenting body-positive message. Raising a young daughter, I’m thankful for books like this–books that are such a stark and welcome departure from the kind of sex education that my generation typically received. It’s entirely factual, not relying on the kind of sensational (and subtly shaming) messages that you might see in women’s magazines. I also appreciated Nagoski addressing many incorrect cultural norms, typical false “scripts” women have about themselves and their sexuality, and how childhood experiences or trauma can have a resounding, lifelong effect. She provides realistic solutions too, rooted in proactive learning and healing. 

The First Bad Man by Miranda July - (Publisher Summary: Miranda July tells the story of Cheryl, a vulnerable, uptight woman in her early forties who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat, unable to cry. Cheryl is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six; she also believes she has a profound connection with Phillip, a philandering board member at Open Palm, the women’s self-defense studio where she has worked for twenty years. When Cheryl’s bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl’s eccentrically ordered world explodes.) 

My first thoughts when I closed the book: “What the fuck did I just read?” Then: “I think I liked it.” Then: “Am I supposed to like it?” This book is indescribably bizarre, with protagonist Cheryl as the strongest and weirdly likable character I’ve read in a long time. It’s not a book I loved–and like I said, I’m still not sure I even liked it–but it was unique and endearing in spite of itself, and had an incredibly satisfying conclusion that I loved. If you read Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh this year, give this book a try. 

Spinster by Kate Bolick - (Publisher Summary: “Whom to marry, and when will it happen—these two questions define every woman’s existence.” So begins Spinster, a revelatory and slyly erudite look at the pleasures and possibilities of remaining single. Using her own experiences as a starting point, journalist and cultural critic Kate Bolick invites us into her carefully considered, passionately lived life, weaving together the past and present. […])

This book, more of a collection of essays and musings on prominent historical figures (Edith Wharton, for example), is a well-researched and insightful feminist text and–while occasionally brilliant–it ultimately becomes too separate from Bolick’s personal perspective and loses momentum. 

Good news! Many of these items are on sale today so grab them while they’re still discounted. :) Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. 

1. GapFit Geometric Quarter-Zip Pullover, $60 - Get 40% off with code BESTCYBER.
   
2. Athleta + Derek Lam 10C Cashmere Pant, $228 - Take 20% off with code WORKIT.
   
3. Cory Vines Neighborhood Fly Cardigan, $68 - Buy two items, get 20% off; three items, get 30% off; four items, get 40% off. 
   
4. Sole Society Mason Bag, $56 (from $80)
   
5. Nike Roshe One Winter Wool Sneakers, $80
   
6. Manduka Prolite Mat Limited Edition, $73.50 (from $98)
   
7. Fitbit Charge HR, $119 (from $150)
   
8. Outdoor Voices Two-Tone Warmup Legging, $95 
   
9. Athleta + Derek Lam 10C Union Seamless Tank, $68 - Take 20% off with code WORKIT.
   
10. Hugger Mugger Recycled Yoga Blanket, about $36
    
11. Madewell & Saucony DXN Sneakers, $79.50 - Get 25% off your purchase with code SHOPATWORK.
    
12. ADAY Up in the Air Jacket, $125
    
13. Mira Bracelet, $169 
    
14. Lululemon Om the Day Bag, $128 
    
15. HidrateSpark Water Bottle, $60 - Ships January 2016.
    
16. GapFit Fleece Quilted Jacket, $65 - Get 40% off with code BESTCYBER.
    
17. Athleta Metro Legging, $59 (from $79) - Take 20% off with code WORKIT.
    
18. Misfit Shine, $50 (from $100)
    
19. Lululemon Fluffin Awesome Vest, $89 (from $168)
    
20. Cayman Fitness Jump Rope, $14
    
21. Lole Ina Bra, $40 (from $80)
    
22. Old Navy Active Compression Full-Zip Jacket, $39 (from $45) - Get 40% off with code BESTCYBER.
    
23. Yeti Yoga Mat, $60 - Take up to 25% off your order with code GOBIG15. 
    
24. Zella Live-In Leggings, $52 
    
25. Free People Movement Namaste Leggings, $108
    
26. Nike Flyknit Zoom Agility Sneakers, $150
    
27. Powerbeats 2 Wireless In-Ear Headphone, $139 (from $200)
    
28. Alo Moto Legging, $110
    
29. Thug Life World’s Okayest Runner Tee, $28
    
30. Shimano SH-WR82 Road Cycling Shoes, $120 (from $200)
    
31. Fabletics Daim Tank, $10-$25 - Also available in gray/black.
    
32. C9 by Champion Workout Gloves, $13 - Get an extra 15% off with code CYBER15.
    
33. S'well Water Bottle, $45
    
34. Adidas by Stella McCartney Gym Bag, $140
    
35. Lou & Grey Cold Weather Seamed Leggings, $59.50 - Get 50% off with code CYBER50.
    
36. Zella Power Fleece Leggings, $58
    
37. Lululemon Seva Sweater, $59 (from $108)
    
38. Withings Smart Body Analyzer, $112 (from $150)
    
39. Ballet Beautiful Satin Ballet Slippers, $120
    
40. Toesox Holiday Gift Set, $40
    
41. Under Armour Stripe Duffel Bag, $80
    
42. Alo Cuffed Studio Joggers, $72
    
43. LNA Open Elbow Pullover, $151
    
44. Puma Remix Carryall Bag, $70
    
45. C9 by Champion Tech Fleece Jacket, $24.50 (from $35) - Get an extra 15% off with code CYBER15.
    
46. Fabletics Ko Jogger, $19 (from $45) - Also available in 3 other colors.
    
47. Nike Air Max Thea Leather Sneakers, $84 (from $120)
    

See the 2014 Activewear guide here.

See the 2015 Home guide here, Kids guide here, Beauty guide here, and the For Him guide here.

See all previous gift guides here.

[twinkle light clip art by Kelly Jane Creative]