Books to buy for your smart friend

Fill their holiday season with reading material.

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Need a last-minute gift for your favorite smartypants? These science and sci-fi books should do the trick.

Confidence game
Seven brief lessons
Oliver sacks
Black hole blues
Handmaid's tale
embassytown
This underrated space opera is guaranteed to make the recipient think deep, satisfying thoughts about language, love, society, and what it means to be human. It’s a must-read for anyone who raved about the movie Arrival. $14 on Amazon. Amazon
Hidden figures
All the birds
I contain multitudes
Grunt