North Korea has now sealed itself off from the rest of the world for nearly two years, including for all of 2021. But the country’s continuing isolation during the pandemic has not stopped the release of a range of eclectic new books on the DPRK.

With the holiday season here, it’s now the perfect time to gift the North Korea watcher in your life something to read.

From daily scenes in Pyongyang to the hidden history of Korean migration, these books were the best 2021 had to offer on everything North Korea: