The best gift books: 2021 edition

Taste: My Life Through Food, by Stanley Tucci

The scene-stealing Hunger Games and Devil Wears Prada actor spiced up lockdown when he made his wife ‘the perfect negroni’ on Instagram. Since then, his online cocktail and cookery tutorials have garnered a devoted following. His witty memoir chronicles a life centred around food: from growing up in an Italian American family in New Jersey to making the films Big Night and Julie & Julia; from authoring two cookbooks to losing his sense of taste to oral cancer, from which he is now recovered. With interwoven recipes, this affectionate celebration of food, friends and family is the literary equivalent of the perfect spaghetti alla carbonara – comforting, indulgent, and harder to pull off than it looks.

(Fig Tree, 7 October, £20)

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, by Ai Weiwei

From China’s most celebrated international artist comes a sweeping memoir that traces the history of his homeland over a hundred years. During the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei’s father, the poet Ai Qing, was branded a rightist and the family was banished to ‘Little Siberia’. Ai Weiwei then moved to New York to study art, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was influenced by Andy Warhol. Returning home, he rose to become a globally acclaimed artist and human rights activist. In this unflinching account, he explores his creative development, how his work has been shaped by growing up under a totalitarian regime, and his passionate belief in free expression. A must for art-lovers.

(Bodley Head, 2 November, £25)

A Cook’s Book, by Nigel Slater

A collection of recipes, techniques and memories from one of Britain’s best-loved cooks. Offering expert guidance on everything from baking bread to roasting a chicken, Nigel Slater takes us through over 200 failsafe dishes he makes in everyday home life, including: pumpkin laksa, grilled chicken with za’atar and tahini, linguine with ’nduja and tomatoes, and spiced plum crumble. As ever, his cooking draws on influences from all over the world, and his writing is intimate and evocative. Any book that includes both a meditation on ‘the stillness of cheesecake’ and a recipe for cheesy chips is clearly a must-have, in our view.

Vivienne Westwood Catwalk: The Complete Collections by Alexander Fury

‘The only reason I'm in fashion is to destroy the word “conformity”’, Vivienne Westwood once declared. Since she first exploded onto the scene designing clothes for Malcolm McLaren's King's Road boutique SEX, she has been pushing the boundaries of the fashion world. Published to coincide with Westwood’s eightieth birthday, this photographic celebration documents forty years of womenswear catwalk collections since her debut runway show in 1981. Introduced and edited by AnOther magazine Fashion Features Director and author Alexander Fury, the book charts the evolution of a pioneering fashion house, and an iconic British maverick.

(Thames & Hudson, 24 June, £55)

A Modern Way to Live: 5 Design Principles from The Modern House, by Matt Gibberd

In this gorgeously illustrated book, the co-founder of pioneering estate agency and lifestyle brand The Modern House introduces a design philosophy that can be successfully applied to any home, regardless of size or period. Drawing on architectural history, psychology and experience, Gibberd sets out his guiding principles in the five key areas of space, light, materials, nature and decoration. He takes us behind the Instagram feed into the most remarkable living spaces he’s encountered and tells the stories of their conception and creation. Simple, practical and elegant, this is interiors inspo like no other.

(Penguin Life, 28 October, £25)

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for an Endangered Planet, by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams

Eminent naturalist and conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, a UN Messenger of Peace, has been warning of our climate impact for over half a century, since she began her career studying chimpanzees in Tanzania. Now godmother to a new generation of activists (Greta Thunberg has called her ‘a true hero’), she has written a book explaining why she still has hope for nature and humanity. Drawing on her experiences of travel and environmental campaigning, she presents a new understanding of our situation and a compelling way forward. This manifesto for hope is an uplifting present for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the challenges we face (so everyone, then).

(Viking, 21 October, £16.99)

One Pot, Pan, Planet: A greener way to cook for you, your family and the planet, by Anna Jones

Anna Jones revolutionised vegetarian cuisine, and this is her most campaigning book yet: a ‘celebration of food, cooking and togetherness’ that encourages us to change our eating habits to do our bit for the planet’s future. Organised by receptacle (pot/pan/quick/tray) and focusing on seasonal British fruit and vegetables and low-impact grains, pulses, herbs and spices, these recipes are healthy, sustainable and delicious. Highlights include sweet potato, ginger and coconut stew; pea, mint and preserved lemon filo tart; and fig, thyme and goat’s cheese galette. Interspersed are chapters on food waste, supporting biodiversity, food miles, and seasonal cooking. A game-changing gift for a climate-conscious cook.

(4th Estate, 4 March, £26)

Ripe Figs, by Yasmin Khan

Yasmin Khan, author of The Saffron Tales and Zaitoun, journeys through Greece, Turkey and Cyprus gathering flavours, techniques and stories. East meets West in this region, a birthplace of empires. Contemplating the meaning of borders and identity, Khan – previously a human rights campaigner focused on the Middle East – traces the heritage of dishes dating from the Ottoman era, and others that arrived with the recent influx of refugees. Stunningly illustrated, Ripe Figs features over eighty vibrant recipes in which vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices and nuts play a starring role, including spiced cornbread with feta, Afghan spiced pumpkin, and pomegranate and sumac chicken.

(Bloomsbury, 1 April, £26)

A Year Full of Flowers: Gardening for all seasons by Sarah Raven

Renowned gardener and cook Sarah Raven is here to inspire you to fill your garden with floral scents and colours all year round, from tulips to roses, dahlias to alliums. Tracing the gardener’s year from January to December, this bestselling illustrated guide offers planting ideas and advice on pruning, staking and cuttings, to ensure your flowerbeds never have an off-season. She brings expertise developed over years spent creating the acclaimed garden at her East Sussex home, Perch Hill, to explain what to plant when, and where. Both practical and beautiful, this is a go-to gift for the green-fingered.

(Bloomsbury, 4 March, £25)

The Spirits: A Guide to Modern Cocktailing, by Richard Godwin

During lockdown, while most of us were experiencing a sharp decline in productivity, Evening Standard journalist and cocktail fanatic Richard Godwin launched The Spirits on Substack, a weekly newsletter containing a cocktail recipe, a matched playlist and an essay. It quickly garnered thousands of subscribers. He’s also the author of this witty, debonair guide to home mixology featuring over 200 highly quaffable recipes – such as an English Breakfast Martini, a Pink Rabbit and a Charlie Chaplin – alongside practical tips and historical nuggets. Godwin’s prose sparkles like a Gin Fizz, making this an essential gift to others, or yourself.

(Square Peg, 30 September, £16.99)

Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner

This New York Times-bestselling memoir by the Grammy-nominated indie rock star Japanese Breakfast is the kind of book you want to press into everyone’s hands. At school in Oregon, Michelle Zauner was the only Asian-American kid. Her close relationship with her mother was fraught with pressures, but at her grandmother’s Seoul apartment, they bonded over steaming bowls of food. When Zauner went away to college, worked in restaurants and began performing in her band, she lost touch with her roots. It was her mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis that made her reconnect, aged twenty-five, with Korean flavours, language and history. A powerful memoir of family, food, identity and loss.

(Picador, 5 August, £16.99)

Cook As You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks and Messy Kitchens, by Ruby Tandoh

Author and Bake Off finalist Ruby Tandoh’s new book is about putting the pleasure back into cooking. You don’t need to be a chef-in-training, or have a fancy kitchen – everyone can cook deliciously, even with a limited budget and time. This is an inclusive cookbook for real, busy people who want to eat joyfully and healthily. From one-pot dinners to no-chop meals, Tandoh’s accessible recipes include salted malted magic ice cream, one-tin smashed potatoes with lemony sardines and pesto, and plantain, black beans and eden rice. Resist the diets, and the guilt, we need to enjoy and fuel our lives, she says. We’ll eat to that!

(Serpent’s Tail, 7 October, £19.99)

Renegades: Born in the USA, by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen

Two old friends – who just happen to be a former US President and one of the world’s most feted rock stars – discuss marriage, fatherhood, race, masculinity, and their own careers. Along the way, they consider the widening gap between the American dream and the American reality, and how their splintered nation might find its way back towards unity. These illuminating, entertaining conversations form the basis of this lavish coffee table book, which expands on their Higher Ground podcast. It also features original introductions by both authors, exclusive photographs from their personal archives, Obama’s annotated speeches and Springsteen’s handwritten lyrics.

(Viking, 26 October, £35)