<p>When all else fails, a book proves that you had to have at least put <em>some</em> effort into picking a gift. These five reads are worth anyone's time, and they look damn fine underneath a tree:</p><p><em>Dear Mr. You</em>, by Mary Louise Parker</p><p>Rather than define their narrator only in relation to male figures, actor Mary Louise Parker's intimate letters to the various men in her life illuminate the complex subjectivity of the woman behind them. Skip the self-help mush this year and give Mom a book with some real life lessons.</p><p><em>Dear Mr. You</em>, $25.00, <a href="http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781501107832">McNally Jackson. </a></p><p><em>Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion</em>, by Matt Zoller Seitz</p><p>For the sympathetic male antihero in your life, Matt Zoller Seitz' comprehensive episode-by-episode <em>Mad Men</em> guide promises to decode at least some of that heavy symbolism. Recaps and essays are spoiler-free so new viewers can read as they watch.</p><p><em>Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion</em>, $27.50, <a href="http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781419720635">McNally Jackson. </a></p><p><em>The First Bad Man</em>, by Miranda July</p><p>Funny, feminist, and sharply perceptive, multimedia wunderfrau Miranda Julyâs debut novel tackles the disconnect between experience and expression in a short but punchy narrative. Protagonist Cheryl is a put-upon young woman who's yanked out of stagnancy by a disruptive houseguest. July is never afraid to get weird, and you shouldn't be either.</p><p><em>The First Bad Man: A Novel</em>, $16.00, <a href="http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781439172575">McNally Jackson.</a></p><p><em>Between the World and Me</em>, by Ta-Nehisi Coates</p><p>Dad really doesn't need another stale Civil War narrativeâthis will teach him more about American history anyway. Drawing inspiration from James Baldwin, Coates explores what it means to be black in America in the form of a letter to his son. Coates's unflinching look at the entrenched injustice of a society built on slavery combines history and memoir to distill the dark essence of the American dream.</p><p><em>Between the World and Me</em>, $24.00, <a href="http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9780812993547">McNally Jackson.</a> </p><p><em>My Brilliant Friend</em>, by Elena Ferrante</p><p>The conclusion to Elena Ferrante's four-part Neapolitan feminist bildungsroman came out this summer to great fanfare. But the uninitiated should start with this first novel, which focuses on two young female frenemies growing up in 1960s Naples. <em>My Brilliant Friend</em> starts out slow, but you'll be ripping through all four of Ferrante's offerings in no time.</p><p><em>My Brilliant Friend</em>, $17.00, <a href="http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781609450786">McNally Jackson.</a> </p><p><em>St. Mark's Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street</em>, by Ada Calhoun</p><p>There are endless crazy stories and fascinating troves of trivia emanating from this three-block-long street that keeps reinventing itself and attracting so many of New York City's most colorful characters. Most of the action in (St. Mark's native) Ada Calhoun's book takes place rom the 1950s onward (though there are good bits about, for example, the Stuyvesants, Emma Goldman, and WH Auden) and the whole thing is a great reminder about how New Yorkers love to pronounce a neighborhood "dead" when it changes into something different than whatever Golden Age came before. </p> <p><em>St. Mark's Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street</em>, $27.95, <a href="http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9780393240382">McNally Jackson</a>.</p>