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Books to Gift to your book bestie (BY GENRE!)
44
items A comprehensive and curated list of my personal recommendations for all the readers in your life! I included a variety of genres so no one is without a good book this holiday season. :)
Sections
9
Romantasy
Science Fiction
Non-Fiction
Romance
Dystopian
Fantasy
Romantasy
An exiled princess teams up with the last man she thought she could trust in the start of a dazzling and unforgettable epic fantasy romance series.
Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling
Heavenly Bodies is the first book in a dazzling new romantasy series that blends mythology and shadow magic with a tantalizing enemies-to-lovers romance that will rewrite the stars.
Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu
This dark fantasy features corrupted monsters, all-consuming cold, risky romance, and the sheer stubbornness of a woman hell-bent on surviving it all.
The Witch & the Wicked by Kade Patrick
Red Queen meets Shadow and Bone in this captivating romantasy about an outcast heiress, the two princes who pull at her heart, and a cutthroat competition for power in an empire where crowns are not inherited—they’re won.
Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray
The Midnight Sovereign is a character-driven fantasy filled with a steamy slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance, featuring an exciting cast of magical creatures, ancient powerful artifacts, found family, and a compelling journey of self-discovery.
The Midnight Sovereign: A Moonstone Bargain
Science Fiction
From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.
Recursion by Blake Crouch
The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fanta...
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
A brilliant start to a dazzling series that has cemented its place in the upper echelon of fantasy and science fiction storytelling. A society divided by class lines—and not exactly subtle in their division—faces a reckoning from those they tried to ...
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Eddie Robson's Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a locked room mystery in a near future world of politics and alien diplomacy.
Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson
Fahrenheit 451 is an essential read for everyone. Bradbury’s disturbing dystopian novel stresses the dangers of willful ignorance and the censorship of knowledge. Ray Bradbury’s writing is stunning, and the grim future he had predicted is a haunting ...
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Non-Fiction
From a New York Times best-selling author, psychotherapist, and national advice columnist, a hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world—where her patients are looking for answers (and ...
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
For many of us, the world is a curious place. For John Green, it’s an even MORE curious place. And who better to explore with us the Anthropocene age? What’s that you say? Well, let Green take your hand and lead you down the rabbit hole.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
Honest, hilarious and full of heart, this genuine account of a fascinating life is great for fans and newcomers alike. Actress and content creator Dylan Mulvaney’s honest account of her journey through girlhood—an instant New York Times bestseller!
Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney
Finding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. Her story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.
Finding Me by Viola Davis
A staple on the memoir scene, Cheryl Strayed’s solo journey along the Pacific Crest Trail is as much a compelling narrative as it is a reflection of healing and perseverence in the face of abject loss. With rippling prose woven with a warm smile, thi...
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Romance
Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he’s all grown up—a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted da...
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted...
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Hooking up at a costume party with the incredibly charming Bo changes everything. Win finds herself pregnant—and decides to keep the baby. While Bo is surprisingly elated to step up to the plate, Win is unsure of whether she can handle this new chall...
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
What’s meant to be will be, even if it takes ten years — right? These childhood friends to lovers give their romance another shot, but life may prove to be even more difficult this time around.
Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage
A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle–inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.
First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
Dystopian
I Who Have Never Known Men is a post-apocalyptic novel that has cemented itself as a classic of feminist literature. See the desolate world through the eyes of a young woman on her journey through entrapment and survival. Eerie and haunting, this is ...
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
This is a haunting look at a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by climate and economic catastrophes. Thought-provoking and brilliantly written, Parable of the Sower is a warning about what the future of Earth could look like if climate change is not tak...
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.
Severance by Ling Ma
From the start of this extraordinary debut, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage and invigorate you. By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice, and painful...
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Even if you read this in school, it's time to read it again. Under the cuddly guise of an animal society, the encroaching totalitarian state is not lost on the pigs and the hamsters of the world. It's an unexpectedly cautionary tale that's widely ban...
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Fantasy
High fantasy, dragons, and a royal court hanging in the balance in a brand new world — this will satiate any Game of Thrones fanatic. This book, and its prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, is such a treat.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Join Geralt of Rivia; his beloved ward and the child of prophecy, Ciri; and his ally and love, the powerful sorceress Yennefer as they battle monsters, demons, and prejudices alike in Blood of Elves, the first novel of The Witcher Saga.
Blood of Elves (Witcher Series #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer's enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived an...
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A dark academia standalone that dives into the power of language and evils of imperialism, student revolutions, and colonial resistance. Babel swirls with magic, lore, and Kuang’s signature attention to detail.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Literary Fiction
A young New Yorker grieving his mother's death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth in this "extraordinary" and beloved Pulitzer Prize winner from the author of The Secret History that connects with the heart as well as the mind.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
One of the most profound character portraits of mental illness, The Bell Jar tells the story of a brilliant young artist who is losing her mind. Grappling with themes of feminism, societal pressures, and ambition, this is a deep dive into a mind capa...
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A stunning book-about-a-book, an exploration of capital and greed and the making of myths — and what it means to trust the story you're being told.
Trust by Hernan Diaz
How far would you go for your dream? The bestselling author of Babel and The Poppy War trilogy now turns to a razor-sharp inquisition of the publishing industry and the trends we'd kill to follow...
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Fan of Charles Dickens and David Copperfield? Pick this up. Not a fan of Charles Dickens but believe in the power of fiction to show us the truth about the world we live in? Pick this up. Love to be pulled through a great story by an unforgettable na...
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Thriller
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, harde...
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
Set on the remote Maine coast, The Only One Left straddles the line between suspense and horror while excavating deep family histories perpetuated by myth and rumor. It's a tantalizing mystery with layers to peel back.
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the regio...
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
A graveyard to bury beloved pets with a sinister secret! Stephen King’s disturbing touch is on display, preying on the nightmares of any reader who has ever had a furry family member. If that doesn’t scare you away, then you’re in for a treat with th...
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
A murderer is coming to dinner — and they locked the door behind them. Perfect for anyone who was convinced they saw the twist coming in The Glass Onion.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
Historical Fiction
Perfect for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing, Kristin Hannah’s stunningly beautiful and heart-wrenching dustbowl drama traces the conflicts and challenges faced by Elsa and her family, who journey west in search of a better life. Elsa's critical choic...
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Set amid Colorado’s wild beauty, the heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter. A tragic and uplifting novel of love and loss, family and survival—and hope—for readers of Great ...
Go as a River by Shelley Read
Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held sec...
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride