Holiday Gifts for Your Book-Loving Friends

The end of 2024 is rapidly approaching, and the holidays will be here before we know it. This time of year, I am frequently asked for bookish gift ideas. Accordingly, I thought I would create a list of books that make great gifts.

For ease of browsing, I have categorized my suggestions to provide some guidance to anyone looking for the perfect book for a loved one, friend, coworker, or even a gift exchange. Many of my selections were published in this year so the odds someone already owns them are lower, but some older titles make such great gifts that I have included them too.

Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa is a poignant memoir chronicing Taffa’s experiences growing up in the 1970s and 1980s while navigating the sharp disconnect between mainstream culture and her native identity as a mixed tribe native girl, born on the California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico. 

For those who would enjoy entertaining or enlightening non-fiction:

• The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
• The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World by Ben Macintyre
• Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa
• Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way into Our Hearts by Jeremy Egner
• Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
• Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures by Katherine Rundell
• The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon
• Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

For Houstonians (or former Houstonians) who love history, or anything related to home: 

• Secret Houston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure by William Dylan Powell
• Lost Houston by William Dylan Powell
• Unique Eats and Eateries of Houston by Sam Brown 
• Lost Restaurants of Houston by Paul Galvani

For bibliophiles who love books about books.   

• How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
• The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
• The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
• Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
• The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

When the city council proposes selling the local community center where a seniors’ social club meets, the Social Club joins forces with the parents of the daycare housed in the center to fight back. Clare Pooley's How to Age Disgracefully is filled with entertaining characters who come together to accomplish a goal while all sorts of hilarity ensues. 

Heartwarming and touching stories with older protagonists are having a moment, and these are some of the top ones:

• Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
• The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
• How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
• The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher
• Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

And before I close – shop local! Houston has some wonderful indie bookstores that always appreciate the business and can answer any questions about books. If a particular title is not in stock, any of the local bookstores are more than happy to order it for you.

Looking for more books for gifting? Check out my Gifting Books feature and my recent Thoughts from a Page episode with Jayda Justus for more ideas.

For more book recommendations and bookish thoughts, see Cindy’s monthly Buzz Reads column, her award-winning Thoughts from a Page Podcast or follow @ThoughtsFromaPage on Instagram.