For the essay lovers' holiday gift list, picks from Sheryl St. Germain and Chris Cokinos

Sheryl St. Germain:

The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination, Carl Phillips. This is one of the Graywolf "The Art of Series," and though Phillips takes poems as his primary inspiration, it's a fantastic book to inspire essayists as well. I couldn't put it down. And just the right size for a stocking stuffer.

Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward.  I think Ward is even more powerful writing nonfiction than fiction. A conventionally narrated collection, but a genuine voice and experience.

The Empathy Exams, Leslie Jamison. Not a fan of the whole collection, but the title essay is worth the cost of the whole book.

Lila: A Novel, Marilynne Robinson. Okay, not an essay collection, but her work with voice is brilliant and it's hands down the best book I've read this year.

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Chris Cokinos:

Three titles I've enjoyed recently: Elisa Gabbert's The Self Unstable; Andrea Rexillius's New Organism; and Christopher Hitchen's Arguably (which is massive).