That’s what Alan Jacobs thinks. In one of the strongest reviews we’ve ever read (and we read a lot of reviews), for the Weekly Standard, he praises The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands to the skies:

Barring some unforeseen miracle of publishing occurring in the next few weeks, The Writer’s Map will be my book of the year for 2018. It gathers intelligently charming meditations from writers and festoons them with map after map after map after map of imaginary, and sometimes non-imaginary, lands. (Only after several days of staring at the beautifully reproduced images did I force myself to read the words, but I am glad I finally did.) I am so enamored of this book that I bitterly resent what takes me away from it, whether that be the need to eat, or sleep, or write this review. But when duty calls, I sometimes answer.

We couldn’t agree more. In this oversized, richly illustrated volume, editor Huw Lewis-Jones has gathered a roster of stars—folks like Philip Pullman, Lev Grossman, Miraphora Mina, Robert Macfarlane, and many more—to share the stories of how they, as writers, engage with, explore, and are enchanted by maps. This is a book for everyone who remembers huddling over an atlas in a library as a kid, or opening The Lord of the Rings and being carried away by the simple map of Middle-earth, or pulling Treasure Island from the shelf and tracing the island’s coves and crannies.

A recent post at Atlas Obscura offers more praise, and a selection of the book’s wonderful images. The Writer’s Map is at bookstores now, waiting for you to take it home—or wrap it up for the book-lovers on your holiday gift list.