Here's an array of even more books that we think would make ideal gifts for that special someone, a couple of which we reviewed earlier this year.
Nearly everyone on your list can appreciate the tender biography Paul Myers has written of a comedy legend. John Candy: A Life in Comedy (House of Anansi, $29.99) covers the actor's humble beginnings, his groundbreaking entrance into the improv scene, and the blockbuster career that followed. With a foreword by his close friend Dan Aykroyd, and released the same year as Colin Hanks's documentary John Candy: I Like Me, Myers's touching portrait of a beloved film star is filled with as much joy as any of Candy's scene-stealing roles.
In any hierarchy of life's important jobs, fatherhood unquestionably sits near the top. And yet, for all its myriad and complex demands, the position doesn't come with an instruction manual. In #1 Dad Book: Be the Best Dad You Can Be in 1 Hour (Little, Brown, $25), famed crime writer James Patterson does his best to remedy that deficiency. It's a breezy but heartfelt and highly practical guide to navigating the challenges facing fathers at any stage in their journeys.
Pet owners and nature lovers know that something special arises in the soul when you're in the presence of another living creature. The Gift of Animals: Poems of Love, Loss, and Connection (Storey, $25) is a contemplative collection of poetry and art edited by Alison Hawthorne Deming, known for her perceptive writing on beasts of land, sea, and air. With contributions by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Nick Flynn, and Jose Hernandez Diaz, this anthology is one to be treasured.
The books in Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series (Hyphen; Sock) are endlessly delightful, beautifully designed, and full of unexpected wisdom about ordinary things. In a wryly affectionate tone, Rebecca van Laer writes Cat as an encyclopedia entry and memoir in one, dabbling in the general history and domestication of cats, and the specific history of her cats and the lives they have lived.
Puzzle lovers and armchair sleuths will both enjoy You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson & Jay Cooper (Ten Speed Press, $19.99). This baffling case offers would-be detectives lavishly illustrated with two-color drawings of the crime scene and dossiers of wily suspects. Only the most clever minds will be able to piece together the clues on each peculiar page in order to solve this suspicious death.
Argentinian cartoonist Quino introduced the brilliantly insightful, refreshingly unfiltered six-year-old Mafalda in 1964, but the internationally renowned black-and-white comic strip has aged very well. Perfectly situated between youthful innocence and impressive sophistication, Mafalda: Book One (Elsewhere Editions, $18), translated by Frank Wynne, draws plenty of visual humor throughout, particularly engaging in capturing the children's vibrant expressions and their constant in-motion energy with minimal pen strokes. With more volumes planned, the delightfully precocious Mafalda deserves prominent space on anyone's shelves.