In a season dominated by commercial noise, Wayfare offers a startlingly quiet counter-narrative: a gift guide that treats books not as commodities, but as vessels for the most difficult human questions. The piece bypasses the usual bestseller lists to curate a collection where theology, mortality, and the search for meaning collide, suggesting that the most profound gift one can offer is a mirror held up to the soul.
The Architecture of Suffering
The editors argue that the most valuable literature for the holidays is that which refuses to offer easy comfort. Instead of platitudes, the guide highlights works that grapple with theodicy—the attempt to justify God's goodness in the face of evil. This is a sharp pivot from the typical holiday fare. The piece notes that Melissa Inouye's concluding memoir, Sacred Struggle, "is as close as LDS theology has come to a meaningful theodicy in many years." By framing Inouye's work through the lens of historical theological struggle, the guide connects modern grief to a centuries-old intellectual tradition, much like the complex debates on suffering that defined early Christian thought.
Wayfare reports that Inouye's work is a "resplendent work of personalized theology" that will "subtly shift your view of the gospel." This is a bold claim, yet the text supports it by describing how the book tackles racism, mortality, and opposition without flinching. The commentary here is effective because it validates the reader's weariness. As the piece observes, the book is for "anyone who feels weary of the struggle, and for everyone who looks for hope in our community." It acknowledges that true hope often requires staring directly at the darkness first.
"In doing so, Miller puts forward a sense of eternity that is both revolutionary and familiar."
The guide also spotlights Kate Bowler's memoir, Everything Happens for a Reason, and Other Lies I've Loved, which emerged from the paradox of a scholar of prosperity gospel being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The piece describes Bowler's writing as "simultaneously breezy and deep, wistful and clear-eyed." This duality is crucial; it rejects the toxic positivity often associated with the prosperity theology she studied, which historically promised health and wealth in exchange for faith. Instead, Bowler offers a narrative that is "genuinely laugh-out-loud hilarious" yet devastatingly honest. Critics might argue that such heavy reading is ill-suited for a holiday season meant for celebration, but the editors counter that these books provide the only honest ground for genuine connection.
Beyond the Dogma
Moving beyond memoir, the article champions fiction and poetry that reimagines the boundaries of faith. It highlights Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day, a work of blank verse that blends science, theology, and the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother. The piece quotes scholar Michael Austin, who suggests that the long wait for a "Milton of our own" may finally be over with Sharlee Mullins Glenn's epic. This is a significant cultural assertion, positioning contemporary religious literature as capable of the same grandeur as the classical canon.
The guide also ventures into speculative fiction, recommending Adam Miller's Original Grace. Wayfare describes Miller as the "Ernest Hemingway of LDS philosophy," noting that his prose is "so spare and economical as to seem occasionally forbidding or aloof." Yet, the editors insist that this distance is deceptive. Miller's work is framed as an "experiment" that "unsettle[s] most of your assumptions about God, humans, salvation, and the purpose of life." This willingness to unsettle is the piece's strongest asset. It suggests that faith is not a static fortress but a dynamic, evolving conversation.
For the younger readers, the curation shifts to stories that handle complex themes with grace. Jeanine Bee recommends a book that "speaks to racism (and tribalism) in a way that is really gentle," noting it is "even more relevant now as we're trying to be peace-seekers in the world." This inclusion signals that the guide is not just about individual salvation but about communal healing. The selection of children's books like Lullaby for the King and The Legend of the Poinsettia emphasizes cultural diversity and the universal nature of the Christmas story, moving away from a singular cultural narrative.
The Digital and the Eternal
The piece concludes by addressing the modern condition, recommending Anton Barbar-Kay's Web of Our Own Making as a "monumental debut book in digital criticism." The editors describe the book as an "incisive scholarly analysis of the digital human condition," offering an antidote to the "doomsayer and investment-hype cycle." This is a timely intervention. In an era where technology often fragments our attention, the guide suggests that deep reading is an act of resistance. It frames the act of reading not as a passive consumption of content, but as a "critical reclaiming" of knowledge and culture.
The final recommendation, Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air, serves as a poignant capstone. Wayfare notes that Kalanithi, a neurosurgery resident diagnosed with terminal cancer, "simultaneously learns the craft of neurosurgery, marries and starts a family, and, blessedly, pens a heart-breaking memoir." The piece asserts that his insights into mortality "belies his young age at the time of his diagnosis." This is the ultimate argument of the guide: that the most urgent reading is that which confronts the finitude of life.
"Never to be taken lightly, this book will work its ways into the heart of many readers, lodging there and continuing to work its subtle effect for many years."
Bottom Line
Wayfare's gift guide succeeds by rejecting the superficiality of holiday consumerism in favor of intellectual and spiritual depth. Its strongest move is framing difficult theology and terminal illness not as burdens, but as essential tools for understanding the human condition. The only vulnerability lies in its density; these are not books for the distracted mind, but for those willing to engage in a rigorous, life-altering dialogue. For the busy reader seeking substance, this curation is a rare and necessary resource.