As recommended by readers of Electric Speed. Compiled in fall 2023.

• One of the books I recommend most is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. He says resistance keeps us from being our best and doing our best in artistic pursuits, in all things. I call resistance excuses. Check yourself and see how true this is. The War of Art is a good book to help combat the excuses that keep you from your best self. —Sunjack
• A specific book I love to give people for gifts is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I love giving children’s books as gifts in general, but this is one that suits all occasions and everyone should have on their shelves. ❤️🌲🌳 —Jennifer Addison
• I like to gift the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Most people today could benefit from reading it, especially the section on children. —Antaeus Balevre
• A book I like to gift is Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc. Based on the true story of Mel Blanc, the voice of over 1,000 Looney Tune characters, it calls out that weird and quirky can turn out to be your best assets. The illustrations are beyond amazing. Fun for all ages! —Debby Putman
• Book gifts: Stoner by John Williams, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, and Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke —Roy Mason
• I find myself recommending Susan Tweit’s Walking Nature Home to anyone who is having issues with illness—which is a lot of us. It’s very positive, while remaining clear-eyed. In her 20s, Susan was given a fuzzy diagnosis and an expected additional lifespan of a few years. She’s still with us decades later, still working and writing with zest. And—for joy—Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. —Deborah Robson
• A Broken Heart Still Beats: After Your Child Dies by Anne McCracken and Mary Semel. I have given this book to friends who are suffering the most grievous loss imaginable. The authors, a psychotherapist and literature professor, have both lost children. Together they have assembled the works of notable writers and thinkers such as Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Isabel Allende and others, many of them bereaved parents. —Ellen Kirschman
• I often gift StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath to good friends. The very idea we should develop our strengths rather than work on our weaknesses, while both simple and intuitive, is revolutionary. This may be why StrengthsFinder 2.0 has remained on the WSJ Best Selling Books now for years. It includes access to a web-based assessment tool to identify the readers top five strengths. Invaluable. —William Ramshaw
• As a bereaved mom with a lifelong history of trauma & loss, I provide lots of book recommendations on grief, healing, and resilience. One of my favorite books to gift is a slim volume that addresses grief more broadly (including divorce, for example) titled Grieving Mindfully: A Compassionate and Spiritual Guide to Coping with Loss by Sameet Kumar. And on the writing front, I offer Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues by Kavita Das. —Rebekah S.
• I read fiction and I’m a bike racer, and until recently, there wasn’t any other book but Tim Krabbé’s The Rider that brought the two together. It follows a single day-long bike race from a racer’s perspective in a tight 150 or so pages. I’ve given it to many bike riders because they’ll find the obsessing and vanity true to life, and also to people who think bike people are crazy, maybe to prove them right. —Damien Dabrowski
• My go-to gift book is Risk Forward by Victoria Labalme. It's in hardback and paperback, and either version provides beauty as well as genuinely helpful thoughts to guide you through common dilemmas and to encourage you to be creative in how you think about the challenges and decisions you face. —Mary Rosewood
• The Joy of Doing Things Badly by Veronica Chambers; Communion and Sisters of the Yam, both by bell hooks; The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker; Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See; the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brian for those looking to get very lost; anything by Colson Whitehead or Ann Patchett; and Nolo's Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To. —Yvie Jones
• While serving in the US Navy in the 1980s, a close friend and shipmate suffered some mental health issues during a long deployment. Rather than receiving help, he was accused of trying to shirk his duty to get a ticket home; some of his supervisors even started riding him hard. Eventually, I (an atheist) went to the ship’s chaplain to see if he could help. The chaplain was older, was Mormon, and a career military minded person, but he didn’t hesitate. He took immediate and effective action, got my friend the help he needed. As a result, the Chaplain and I spent some time talking together – I think he wanted to make sure I was ok, too – and eventually I gifted him my copy of The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse right before the deployment ended. About six months later, I received a letter from the Chaplain letting me know he’d received a letter of reprimand for some of his words used while trying to get my friend help, and that he absolutely loved The Glass Bead Game, even though he admitted that when I’d given it to him, he had been sure he wouldn’t. —Viktor Sirin
• For my literary friends, I give The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig. For my peers in their 60s, I give Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Tricks about Aging by Dick Van Dyke. For my science fiction friends, I give Anathem by Neal Stephenson. —David Reim
• My current favorite for women friends is a book that was gifted to me called The Creative Doer by Anna Lovind. I also like giving anything by Ross Gay, especially The Book of Delights. —Randall Van Nostrand
• One of the books that I have both given as a gift and recommended a lot is Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill by the late Jeremy Taylor. It's the PERFECT book for anyone who is interested in their night-time dreams. Jeremy Taylor worked with dreams for over 60 years, and he was an amazing man who used dreams to show how we are all interconnected. He led dream groups that were catalysts for social change and worked in places like the San Quentin prison. Whenever I tell people that I play/work with my dreams and they ask for a recommendation, this is the book that I suggest. And I give it to anyone who is interested in the inner life. It is rich, yet accessible! My one regret that I never reached out and told Mr. Taylor how much his book had meant to me. This is a beautiful book for just about anyone, and an amazing book specifically for writers and creatives because dreamwork taps into the very bedrock of where creative images come from. It is a direct connection to our unconscious. Love, love, love this book! —Ritu Kaushal
• This is Happiness by Niall Williams is an epic love story, beautifully crafted, set in the West of Ireland in the mid-20th century. A lyrically written, uplifting book. This year I'm giving: Answering Alaska's Call, my memoir/biography of Alaska's first EENT specialist and bush pilot Milo Fritz who devoted his life to bringing modern medical care to Alaska Natives in neglected bush communities. An inspiring, modern-day hero story. —Linda Fritz
• The Artist’s Way. Gifted many times over the years. —Jean
• 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know: The Fascinating Stories Behind Great Works of Art, Literature, Music, and Film by Terry Glaspey —Carol Wilson