That time again! Click here to check out last year’s guide. And to make sure all the gifts below look their best, we recommend using (w)rapping paper.
For the grandmothers and grandmothers-at-heart in your life, or anyone you’d like to thank for being a friend: Golden Girls Clue board game. (“Who ate the last piece of cheesecake?”)
For the high-energy first grader down the street whose parents are always hovering: My First Fire Gift Box. If you sense they’re an Anglo-Catholic in training, though, there’s always Wee Believers’ Mass Kit for Kids.
For the foodie in your midst whose locavore commitments you suspect may be masking legitimate eating issues: Holiday Gift Pack of Banner Butter (Dark Chocolate, Unsalted, Cinnamon Cardamom Ginger, and Sorghum). Those on a tighter budget could do a lot worse than Trader Joe’s Sugar Plum Jam.
For anyone who’s read this more than once: Concordia’s new collection The Necessary Distinction: A Continuing Conversation on Law and Gospel. Also, for the Frank Lake fans out there, Eric Johnson’s new God and Soul Care.
For folks who dug The Man Who Met God in Bar but wished it was a little longer: Bo Giertz’s With My Own Eyes
For the person in your book club or small group who’s always scribbling in their journal (and recommending the practice, unsolicited, to others): Beetlejuice-inspired Handbook for the Recently Deceased journal
For the young professional looking to outsource their spiritual life and/or laugh:
For the moms and dads dying for some fresh bedtime material that doesn’t moralize: Sean Rubin’s Bolivar for the older kids, The Very Persistent Pirate by CJ & Maddy Green for the younger ones, and a pre-order of Mallory Ortberg’s The Merry Spinster for the adults themselves.
For the men who saw Lady Bird and had no idea that’s how their wives interacted with their mothers (also, for the wives and mothers themselves): I’m Supposed to Protect You From All of This by Nadja Spiegelman. And for anyone who needs more Greta Gerwig in their lives, stat: Mistress America or Damsels in Distress on blu-ray.
For the youth pastor you see working the sidelines at every game in town and it makes you both grateful and a little tired: Pray Emoji baseball cap
For those who wish every day was an Episcodisco day: Greg Belson’s Divine Disco, American Gospel Disco 1974-1984 on vinyl. Or if syncopated high-hat isn’t your thing but you still dig the period and subject matter, Bob Dylan’s Trouble No More box set.
For your craft-brewing, Spurgeon-quoting brother-in-law, especially if he’s got a lumbersexual vibe: Victorinox Noah’s Ark Knife. And for his Reformed buddy/mentor who thinks he not only knows but has it all: This (be sure to read the reviews).
For the gamer in your life who wants to celebrate the Reformation’s quinticentennial by Lutheranizing all of Europe: Europa Universalis IV. What to wear while playing: This.
For those who’re just getting started on the next 500: Nailed It pajama pants or Here I Poop onesie or 1517’s “…Everything Is Already Done” T-shirt
For anyone pining after biblical righteousness, especially if they have a minimalist streak (and you just hit the lottery): Writ Press’s Bibliotheca Heirloom package AKA a five-volume cloth-bound bible, no chapters or verses + solid walnut slipcase.
For your niece who’s planning to move to the West Coast after graduation to follow her dreams: MMX Vancouver’s Marshmallow Crossbow.
For the couple in your church who everyone is praying will sign up for the marriage weekend but keep claiming they’re not ‘retreat people’: Stephen Marche’s The Unmade Bed or Harriet Lerner’s Why Won’t You Apologize?
For the friend with the post-evangelical baggage who’s way too proud of themselves for ‘taking a break’ from church and/or God (also, for those tempted to patronize them): Recovery by Russell Brand or Chad Bird’s Night Driving
For your spiritual but not religious aunt who went back to school in her 60s to get her MFA in poetry: Gerry LaFemina’s Little Heretic, Mischa Willett’s Phases or Sarah Ruden’s new translation of Augustine’s Confessions
For the reluctant caroler at last weekend’s Christmas party who’d understandably prefer something more low-key: Songs for Christmas Time by Lowland Hum
For the Anglophile commuter who’s ready to laugh themselves into a ditch–or anyone who seems to have lost their sense of humor in 2017: Alan Partridge’s I, Nomad audiobook and/or the first season of The Good Place.
For those who need all the help they can get to brave the insanity of modern air travel in a couple weeks: A Carry On Cocktail kit.
For the girl/guy you’re dating with amazing taste in music and a predilection for wearing their prayers on their sleeves: Taffy Sinclair’s Help Me Rhonda raglan baseball shirt, or if that second part doesn’t apply, one of Adrian Todd Webb’s pop culture prints.
For your millennial cousin scrambling to find an artist whose work it’s 100% safe to enjoy in 2018: One of Klemens Schillinger’s substitute smartphones.
For anyone you truly love: The Mockingbird Box Set! Or Earlybird Tickets to our Spring Conference in NYC (4/26-28) – rates increase Jan 15.
COMMENTS
4 responses to “A Mockingbird Gift Guide (2017 Edition)”
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Thank you! Been waiting all year to read this!
The ‘Christian Alexa’ was the BEST.