Reprinted from auburnpub.com
It’s time for my annual Books Are Great Gifts Guide for everyone on your holiday list. Books are easy to wrap, and never the wrong color or size- they’re the perfect gift!
With people traveling again, National Geographic’s fantastic coffee books are perfect for the adventurer or armchair traveler on your list. Their 100 Perfect Weekends and Ultimate Journeys For Two fit the bill. History fans will enjoy The 21st Century-Photographs From The Image Collection and birders must have Complete Birds of North America.
There are many wonderful biographies out now. For your well-informed aunt, Cokie, a biography of groundbreaking newsperson Cokie Roberts by her husband Steve V. Roberts or Katie Couric’s memoir Going There would be appreciated. The TVLand and MeTV fan will enjoy Ron and Clint Howard’s memoir The Boys, a love letter to their parents.
Qian Julie Wang’s moving memoir Beautiful Country about growing up as an undocumented immigrant in Queens was a Read With Jenna pick. Your uncle will get a kick out of John “Chick” Donohue & J.T. Molloy’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever a true story about a New York City bartender who travels to Vietnam during the middle of the war to deliver beer to his regular customers.
The tennis aficionado will relish Billie Jean King’s enlightening memoir All In. For your son-in-law the baseball fanatic, Joe Posnanski’s The Baseball 100 is an all-encompassing review of the top 100 players ever. For the Syracuse basketball lover, Carmelo Anthony’s memoir Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised shares his story of growing up in the tough housing projects of Red Hook and Baltimore.
For your cousin who spent last year binge-watching TV, Mike Roe’s The 30 Rock Book takes a deep dive into every episode of the comedy. Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman is for the uber-“Office" fan. If your Dad binged “The Sopranos”, he’ll love Woke Up This Morning by cast members Micheal Imperioli and Steven Schrippa.
For your neighbor whose TV is always tuned to the Food Network, Trisha’s Kitchen by country star and Food Network host Trisha Yearwood is filled with tasty recipes. Pair it with a pretty tea towel and a Trisha Yearwood CD for a special touch. If you know someone who loved Stanley Tucci’s Italian travel and food show on CNN, his memoir Taste is perfect.
Your best girlfriend will love Helen Ellis’s funny and touching essay collection Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light. For your Peloton-riding friend who loves to laugh, Laurie Gelman’s novel Yoga Pant Nation will keep her in stitches.
Your sister who enjoys good glass of rosé wine will like Jamie Brenner’s Blush, a novel about a family who owns a Long Island winery. Beck Dorey-Stein’s novel Rock the Boat is good for your pal who is missing her summer vacation at the Jersey Shore right about now.
Many people enjoy historical fiction, and there’s lots of good ones to go around. Lauren Willig’s Band of Sisters builds her fascinating story around the real women of Smith College who went to France during WWI to help villagers displaced by war. Susan Elia MacNeal’s The Hollywood Spy takes her London-based heroine Maggie Hope to Hollywood during WWII to investigate a woman’s drowning. She finds a big KKK presence and a Nazi connection that complicate her investigation.
Naomi Hirahara’s novel Clark and Division shares the story of a first generation Japanese American woman who wants to find out why her sister died after their family’s time spent in a California internment camp during WWII. Beatriz William’s Our Woman in Moscow is set during the Cold War with a woman looking for information about her sister who disappeared after the sister’s husband was outed as a Russian spy.
For the kiddies, the children's book concierge from the Book Cellar in NYC had suggestions. For the littlest ones, One, Two, Grandma Loves You by Shelly Becker and Dan Yaccarino counts down all the fun things they will do with Grandma. Fans of the Wimpy Kid and Dog Man series have a new one to try- Ben Yokahama and The Cookie Chronicles from Matt Swanson and Robbi Behr. Young adults who devoured Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series should start her new series Realm Breaker.
Happy shopping to all, and don't forget to support your local independent bookstore.
With people traveling again, National Geographic’s fantastic coffee books are perfect for the adventurer or armchair traveler on your list. Their 100 Perfect Weekends and Ultimate Journeys For Two fit the bill. History fans will enjoy The 21st Century-Photographs From The Image Collection and birders must have Complete Birds of North America.
There are many wonderful biographies out now. For your well-informed aunt, Cokie, a biography of groundbreaking newsperson Cokie Roberts by her husband Steve V. Roberts or Katie Couric’s memoir Going There would be appreciated. The TVLand and MeTV fan will enjoy Ron and Clint Howard’s memoir The Boys, a love letter to their parents.
Qian Julie Wang’s moving memoir Beautiful Country about growing up as an undocumented immigrant in Queens was a Read With Jenna pick. Your uncle will get a kick out of John “Chick” Donohue & J.T. Molloy’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever a true story about a New York City bartender who travels to Vietnam during the middle of the war to deliver beer to his regular customers.
The tennis aficionado will relish Billie Jean King’s enlightening memoir All In. For your son-in-law the baseball fanatic, Joe Posnanski’s The Baseball 100 is an all-encompassing review of the top 100 players ever. For the Syracuse basketball lover, Carmelo Anthony’s memoir Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised shares his story of growing up in the tough housing projects of Red Hook and Baltimore.
For your cousin who spent last year binge-watching TV, Mike Roe’s The 30 Rock Book takes a deep dive into every episode of the comedy. Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman is for the uber-“Office" fan. If your Dad binged “The Sopranos”, he’ll love Woke Up This Morning by cast members Micheal Imperioli and Steven Schrippa.
For your neighbor whose TV is always tuned to the Food Network, Trisha’s Kitchen by country star and Food Network host Trisha Yearwood is filled with tasty recipes. Pair it with a pretty tea towel and a Trisha Yearwood CD for a special touch. If you know someone who loved Stanley Tucci’s Italian travel and food show on CNN, his memoir Taste is perfect.
Your best girlfriend will love Helen Ellis’s funny and touching essay collection Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light. For your Peloton-riding friend who loves to laugh, Laurie Gelman’s novel Yoga Pant Nation will keep her in stitches.
Your sister who enjoys good glass of rosé wine will like Jamie Brenner’s Blush, a novel about a family who owns a Long Island winery. Beck Dorey-Stein’s novel Rock the Boat is good for your pal who is missing her summer vacation at the Jersey Shore right about now.
Many people enjoy historical fiction, and there’s lots of good ones to go around. Lauren Willig’s Band of Sisters builds her fascinating story around the real women of Smith College who went to France during WWI to help villagers displaced by war. Susan Elia MacNeal’s The Hollywood Spy takes her London-based heroine Maggie Hope to Hollywood during WWII to investigate a woman’s drowning. She finds a big KKK presence and a Nazi connection that complicate her investigation.
Naomi Hirahara’s novel Clark and Division shares the story of a first generation Japanese American woman who wants to find out why her sister died after their family’s time spent in a California internment camp during WWII. Beatriz William’s Our Woman in Moscow is set during the Cold War with a woman looking for information about her sister who disappeared after the sister’s husband was outed as a Russian spy.
For the kiddies, the children's book concierge from the Book Cellar in NYC had suggestions. For the littlest ones, One, Two, Grandma Loves You by Shelly Becker and Dan Yaccarino counts down all the fun things they will do with Grandma. Fans of the Wimpy Kid and Dog Man series have a new one to try- Ben Yokahama and The Cookie Chronicles from Matt Swanson and Robbi Behr. Young adults who devoured Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series should start her new series Realm Breaker.
Happy shopping to all, and don't forget to support your local independent bookstore.
