After doing a major clear-out of my books, I should have refrained from re-stuffing my shelves, but what can I say? I have a book-buying problem that I excuse by saying I am supporting indie bookstores.

This part of my pre-Christmas haul includes A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa, by Alexis Okeowo, which I’m looking forward to because my knowledge of modern Africa is, um, limited. I enjoyed Shrill, so I picked up Shit, Actually by Lindy West, which promises hilarious movie commentary. How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams features a professor trying to save her department. Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Olua will likely contain lots of preaching to the choir, but I’m looking forward to it. The Orchard by David Hopen is about a boy who has grown up in ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn and then enrolls in a fancy, rich Jewish academy when his family moves to Miami. Finally, Oak Flat by Lauren Redniss deals with a conflict between the Apache tribe and a mining company over sacred land.