WINTER'S TALES

From Zadie Smith to Kathy Burke, the Indy's culture staff pick out the best books to give as presents this Christmas

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Finding the right gift can be tricky. Clothes are hard. Experiences are harder. And shipping times are long. But when all else fails, you can always count on a trusty book to do the trick. Obviously finding the right one is a challenge, and reading tastes vary from person to person, but succeed and you'll be forever remembered (and thanked) as the gift-giver who introduced someone to their new favourite, world-altering book.

To help you out, The Independent's culture team have revealed what books they will be gifting this year - from recent releases by recognisable names like Zadie Smith and Kathy Burke to timeless, transportive fiction and memoirs that'll have you cackling one minute and crying the next.

Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood

The book that I'd gift is also the one I'd request on my death bed. Patricia Lockwood's recollection of growing up in the Midwest, the daughter of a guitar-shredding, gun-toting, tighty-wightie-wearing priest, is the most fun I've had reading as an adult. Which isn't to say it's all laughs. Priestdaddy is shot through with revelations and poignancy as its author chronicles her childhood attending antiabortion rallies and moving back in with her parents to care for her ailing husband.

Lockwood's writing is pure delight: her dad is a "loose, lazy pile of carnality", a man who despises cats and "believes them to be Democrats". It's writing that rewards repeat reading - jokes within jokes, meaning within meaning. It's a Russian doll of a book, and a gift worth giving a hundred times over. Annabel Nugent

Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga