Remember those brick-and-mortar bookstores, with their cafés and comfy chairs? If you’re in one and have a golfer to buy for over the next few days, several Updike books have made a number of “nice” lists this season.

Writing for Shepherd: Discover the best books, James Y. Bartlett, author of a series of Hacker Golf Mysteries—Death is a Two-Stroke Penalty, Death from the Ladies Tee, and Member-Guest—recommends “The best books of golf fiction.” For literary golf enthusiast John Updike, Bartlett singles out A Month of Sundays.

“John Updike, writing about golf? Well, why not? This novel, from one of America’s greatest writers, is something of a riff on Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, in a story about a disgraced minister sent off on a sabbatical. He keeps a daily journal, which is what makes up the novel.

“Naturally, this being Updike, there are stories about his affairs, his drinking, his family relationships, and more. But there are also wonderful passages about his golf game. Like much of Updike’s work, this book is thought-provoking and an interesting window into the American mind of the 20th century.”

If your golf devotee is into non-fiction, Updike’s Golf Dreams: Writings on Golf is highly recommended by Golf Digest. It’s one of “The 50 Golf Books Every Golfer Should Read,” according to the editors.

“In his essays, the celebrated writer talks about the experience of playing the game and how we are attached to its subtleties.”