Books for The Readers in Your Life
- Melissa Gouty
- Nov 29, 2025
- 11 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Christmas shopping made easy!
My mother believed in giving us books. Every Christmas, each member of the family got a specially-selected book (or even better, a boxed set) on a topic she knew we'd like. It's a tradition I find myself following, first, because I love books, and second, because I want to influence my grandkids and emphasize the joy of reading. (Their parents have done a great job of reading and exposing them to books, but it never hurt to reinforce the habit!)
So if you like the idea of giving a "good read" to someone you love, here are just a few ideas. I'm including a brief summary of what the book was about and a link to the full article where you can buy the book on either Amazon.com or Bookshop.org.
Books for the readers in your life!
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For History Buffs:
Historical Fiction
I love historical fiction, and there are many great choices, depending on your interests. Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre, so I selected only a few books that I liked, and not all of my top choices! Please browse the site's Book Talk to get more ideas.
If you're interested in language, women's rights, or life in England in the late 1800s to the early 1900's, you'll appreciate this book by Pip Williams about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. The Dictionary of Lost Words focuses on the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, while at the same time building a plotline that explores the words of women that were intentionally omitted.
Based on the real life of Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, a French noblewoman living in the mid-1500s, Isola is the story of a wealthy woman who has no control over her money and suffers under the greedy intentions of her cousin and male in charge of her estate. Marguerite's life is documented in two different places, so the author, Allegra Goodman had actual accounts to base the story on. Without these records, Marguerite's story might have been lost forever. Without these records, readers might believe that the tale is too "tall" to be believed. This is a desperate tale of survival on a deserted island off the coast of Canada.
Ariel Lawhon's novel, The Frozen River, checked off many of my "I'm-gonna-love-this-book" boxes. First, it illuminates a specific period of American History, in this case, the late 1700's of Maine. Second, it recreates the story of Martha Ballard, a real-life American midwife, a woman who delivered over eight hundred babies in twenty-seven years without losing a single mother. We know this to be true because Martha Ballard was one of the rare American women who knew how to read and write. She diligently recorded her daily activities in a journal, including the treatment of her patients. (In 1991 during my "diary and journal" intensive study phase, I owned and read the Pulitzer Prize-winning History Book, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812.) What a delight to see how two different authors, in two very different books, took the same character and crafted compelling reads!
In a dazzling array of narrative tactics, Daniel Mason crafts a chain of individual stories that make up the history of a region. It all starts with an omniscient viewpoint describing the flight of a young couple into the wilderness of the Massachusetts forest. Years pass, and we witness an Indian captive and an old healer who co-exists with the natives. Enter Charles Osgood, an English military man who decides to start an orchard. He is succeeded by his twin girls, Mary and Alice, who provide the bizarre and whimsical pivot point throughout the remainder of the novel. The pages of North Woods are populated with a fugitive slave hunter, a tortured pair of male lovers, a caretaker, a spiritualist, a psychiatrist, a crime writer, a mother of a mentally ill boy, an amateur historian, a college professor, and a botanist. Best of all, the 300-year story is told through non-traditional means: memoirs, letters, speeches, crime stories, articles, medical notes, film clips, and real estate ads. (You will gain a new appreciation for apples!)
The Last Days of Night: Electrifying the World - and the Reader: Graham Moore's Novel:
Graham Moore’s The Last Days of Night, published in 2016, is the stunning story of how America came to be electrified in the last decade of the 18th century. It's a true tale that goes far beyond the billion-dollar lawsuit over the patents of the lightbulb. The Last Days of Night shows the complexity of bringing electricity to cities, from the kind of current that would work best to the equipment needed, and it involves a cast of characters that have formed part of the American psyche for more than one hundred years.
Nonfiction History Books for the Readers in Your Life:
Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America and the Woman Who Stopped Them:
This book by Timothy Egan showcases the Second Rising of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana in the 1920s. It was a gruesome, frightening, sickening story of D.C. Stephenson, his rise to Grand Dragon, and the rapid growth of the Klan in Indiana through intimidation tactics, bribery, violence, and the promotion of the "100% American" philosophy that railed against anyone who was not White Protestant. I've probably read close to two thousand books in my lifetime. Few hit me as hard as this one did. So why should you read it? Hopefully, it will help us fight the injustices of the past and be aware of the kind of thinking that causes hatred and violence.
Would you believe that dead birds are valuable and that thieves would risk imprisonment just to get their feathers to make fishing lures? I couldn’t have even dreamed this story up and would have had a hard time molding the details into a story that readers would buy into because it’s so far-fetched. It read like a thriller but contained tons of research and dozens and dozens of interviews. Part detective story. Part history. Part journalistic exposé. The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson does it all. It’s the most bizarre, but absolutely true, heist story you’ll ever read.
Listen World: The Amazing Story of One Courageous Female Journalist: Elsie Robinson: Know anyone interested in journalism, self-help, advice columns, or women trailblazers? This biography by Alison Gilbert and Julia Scheeres tells the story of a woman who - through sheer grit - became a columnist, illustrator, poet, and author. At the height of her career, she had 20 MILLION readers every day! Think about that. Twenty million readers is double the number of subscribers to the New York Times today!
For Shakespeare Lovers or Want-to-Know-More-About-the-Bard Crowd:
Most English-speaking people in the modern world have heard of William Shakespeare. They might know the sad story of Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers whose families are feuding. Maybe they've heard of Hamlet, the tortured prince who hears the ghost of his dead father telling him to kill his uncle. Chances are, the average person could tell you that Shakespeare wrote plays long, long ago. William Shakespeare is such a recognized name that we assume we know a lot about him. Thank you, Bill Bryson, for enlightening me with your zippy, fun-to-read, Shakespeare: The World as Stage!
Everyone has heard of Shakespeare, but very few know about his wife, his children, or his personal life. Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, is a historical fiction novel that imagines the little-known family of this bigger-than-life writer. A marriage obscured by fame. A family without direct descendants. A household living while the Bubonic Plague ravaged Europe. The movie, produced by Stephen Spielberg and others, can be viewed in the 2025 holiday season,
Jodi Picoult chooses to take on the topic of Shakespeare's oeuvre and the question that's been asked for hundreds of years: Did Shakespeare really write all the works he is credited with? Is it possible that someone else helped him write the 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and various poems? Could a woman have had anything to do with Shakespeare's prowess?
Queue Emilia Bassano's entry into the story. By telling an in-depth story, Picoult makes the case that Emilia Bassano was one of the authors of Shakespeare's work, and simultaneously emphasizes the problem of gender inequity that still exists in today's world.
Mysteries:
Chris Whitaker's All the Colors of the Dark is a jaw-dropping thriller. This is a powerful story not limited to one genre. It's a mystery, love story, and crime thriller in one. It's about friendship, love, obsession, goodness, imagination, survival, art, and creativity. It's also a haunting survival/captivity narrative. Most importantly, it's a look at how trauma affects not only individuals but also the psyche of an entire town. It's the ripple effect of crime, and how the impact of that crime continues for years.
The Van Laars are an ultra-wealthy family that has been running Camp Emerson, a high-end camp for rich kids, on their large expanse of land for decades. Located in the Adirondacks, Camp Emerson includes a big lake, miles of beach, and dense woods. Hiking, canoeing, and swimming are all accepted camp activities. The camp focuses on survival skills, and the attendees include kids between the ages of eight and sixteen. Years ago, the Van Laars' beloved son, Bear, disappeared from the camp and is never found again. When another child goes missing from the camp, investigators are called in. Everyone is suspect. A whodunit by Liz Moore well worth your time!
What happens when Valerie Gillis, a 42-year-old nurse, traumatized by the solitary deaths she witnessed during the Pandemic, decides to hike the Appalachian Trail to heal and then goes missing without a trace? What happens when Lt. Beverly Miller, a Senior Maine Game Warden with a spectacular recovery rate for lost hikers, can't find the lost hiker despite large search parties and aerial reconnaissance? And what happens when Lena, a 76-year-old naturalist (and crotchety woman) living in a senior living facility, gets unexpected insight into the case? I'll tell you what happens. You get a slow-burn of a mystery and an intense tale of survival, determination, and the brutal but beautiful world of nature in this mystery by Amity Gage.
Pulitzer Prizes: For the Serious Readers on Your List
Geraldine Brooks' novel, March, published in 2005, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2006, using the Louisa Mae Alcott's novel, Little Women, as a springboard. But it is NOT a novel about the March girls. It's a story of into the story of their father, a man who served as a chaplain in the Civil War, tortured with guilt of the past, the present, and his inability to effect change for the future.
Hernan Diaz's novel is a depiction of the 1920s-era stock market, the wealth it garnered for certain individuals, and its dramatic crashes. Each section is told by a different narrator in varying formats - and the fascinating thing about the book is that each story offers a completely different story about who to believe about what really happened. It's not only a book about who to "trust," but also a book about the "trust" funds and financial world of the Pre-Crash era.
Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, Demon Copperhead, is a searing look at the drug problems in America, and not a light read, but a meaningful one. Damon Fields is born in Appalachia to a teenage, unmarried mother who battled drug and alcohol dependency. His childhood is anything but happy. It’s a struggle for survival, and when his mother dies from an overdose, Damon is put into child services, beginning a long series of horrible homes and downright cruelty. Kingsolver’s portrayal of teenage culture told through the voice of “Demon” is haunting and horrifying. Not only do the themes of drug use, addiction, and the tragedy of foster care control the narrative, but the excruciatingly painful depiction of the opioid crisis dominates the action. However, on a happier note, the proceeds from the Pulitzer award and the sales of the book fund Higher Ground Women's Recovery Residence, a non-profit organization co-founded by Kingsolver and her husband, Steven Hopp, with the specific purpose of using the book's proceeds to help those affected by the opioid epidemic in the region.
Ilyon Woo's biography of the lives of William and Ellen Craft, Master, Slave, Husband, Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom is a masterful work that tells an amazing but not widely known story about two slaves who escaped to the North and became well-known abolitionists and social activists. This Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of 2024 is a skillful work of meticulous detail and multi-faceted research. Woo mined facts from thousands of historical documents, including newspapers, letters, books, diaries, travel itineraries, narratives, legal papers, and archival materials, to recreate the story of William and Ellen Craft and dozens of extraordinary people who played a part in the drama, from those who helped the Crafts, to the prominent abolitionists of the day, to the politicians on either side of the slavery debate.
Missi's Uncategorizable Favorites:
Some of the books I've liked a lot over the last few years don't fit nicely into a category, or in the case of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, below, it's the only fantasy I've read in years, so it stands alone. Others are a combination of genres!
Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: In the Invisible Life of Addie Larue, author V. E. Schwab created a character who could "survive immortality." While it sounds like a good idea, gaining "life everlasting" and NEVER being remembered is not as wonderful as it sounds! After Addie made her deal with the devil, she could have surrendered and given up her soul. Instead, Addie's enthusiasm and positive outlook give her the ability to fully experience - and enjoy - living, what Schwab calls a "defiant joy." The blurb boasts of Addie Larue... ""A life no one will remember. A story you will never forget." I agree.
Wild Dark Shore: A family on an isolated island, caretakers of a global seed bank and observers of a harsh but stunning natural environment filled with penguins and seals is joined by a beautiful shipwrecked woman. What follows is a mixture of love story, violence, mystery, and survival. Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore wrapped itself around me and squeezed. Tension, excitement, curiosity, empathy, wonder, and fear oozed out of me as the pages and plot of this "climate-fiction" novel dug into my psyche.
My Friends: My, oh my! I loved this book. I laughed out loud. Often. I cried. I gasped. Fredrick Backman turned a knife in my heart while making me howl with delight, so skillfully balancing despair with hope, and loss with love that my head spun and my heart hurt - in a good way! So begins the tale of a teenager enamored with a piece of art. Louisa's attendance at the auction sets off a wild series of events, and the relationships she forms during her adventures forever alter the trajectory of her life. It's about a lost teenage girl who is ultimately changed by friendship. Backman's vivid language and the backstories of interesting characters intrigued me. You'll be cheering for the underdogs and hoping that the villains get their just deserts. You'll be thinking of your high school friends with longing and remembering those who are no longer with you.
Coffee Table / Reference Books
My little sister knows me well and gifted me last Christmas with this delightful book, Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount. I'm NOT kidding! I LOVE this book and have spent many hours pouring over the literary trivia, quirky quizzes, and fun illustrations. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this book holds MILLIONS! Not only is the content fantastic, but it's illustrated with wonderful drawings and full-color illustrations that are a delight to look at. If you know other true bibliophiles, this is the book for them!
Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE color. (One of my life rules is never carry a black umbrella because everyone else does!) I keep this book by Taylor Fuller out on a table in my living room and find myself looking at it frequently. It just makes me feel good. If you live in an area of the country where the winters are gray and the nights are long, you need this!
Gift shopping doesn't have to be hard if you have readers in your life!
Go forth and conquer!
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