The Perfect Gift for Every Book Lover on Your List

Amazing as it might seem, the holidays are upon us. And what better gift to give than a great book? But which one? That’s where this guide comes in handy. Below you’ll find book recommendations for pretty much every person in your life. Or, you know, you can just buy them for yourself.

A beautiful, sweeping saga about four generations of a Korean family, beginning in the 1900s with the pregnant, unwed daughter of a fisherman who accepts an offer to move to Japan with a minister. This powerful novel was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction, and Roxane Gay called it her favorite book of 2017.

Gail Simmons, the popular judge from cable’s Top Chef cooking show, has collected her favorite recipes from her culinary diaries into one inspiring, accessible cookbook. Based on foods she discovered during her world travels, readers will love making everything from delicious breakfast items to desserts, from family meals to easy entertaining.

What better gift for a David Baldacci fan than a brand new installment of the Will Robie series?! In End Game, assassins Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel, must rescue their handler, Blue Man, from a small but heavily armed militia in the backwoods of Colorado. (And if someone on your list has never read Baldacci, we recommend giving them the first book in the Will Robie series, The Innocent.)

The official behind-the-scenes guide to the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical about a young man who has a chance to finally fit in and live the life he’s always wanted. Filled with cast and crew interviews, full-color photographs, unreleased lyrics, and the libretto, this is sure to please people with stars in their eyes.

In his commencement speech to the 2014 graduating class of the University of Texas in Austin, Admiral William H. McRaven detailed the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that have helped him face challenges in his life. The simple wisdom of that speech is collected here for those in need of a little guidance, to encourage and inspire with humor and compassion.

Former First Daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush invite readers on an insightful, frank look at their experience growing up under the watchful eyes of the media, the country, and the Secret Service. They share stories about their families, their “wild” years, and the sisterly twin bond that keeps them together. Bonus: the foreword is by their mother, Laura Bush.

Paula Wolfert is a cookbook writer and culinary legend who made her career introducing American audiences to bold flavors of the Mediterranean. Her recipes are ambitious, her tastes exacting, and her stories are rich. But Paula Wolfert was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2013, and her memories have begun to blur. Now, author Emily Kaiser Thelin, editor Andrea Nguyen, and photographer Eric Wolfinger have banded together to bring Wolfert’s stories, recipes, and archives to life, and to preserve them on the page. This is a wonderful introduction to a culinary legend that will inspire the ambitious party planners in your life.

When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an 18-year-old high school graduate with a promising career in basketball, he accepted a scholarship to UCLA largely based on the merit of the college’s basketball coach, John Wooden. This decision helped shape Abdul-Jabbar’s meteoric rise as one of the country’s top athletes and forged a friendship that lasted five decades, detailed here with respect and compassion.

‘Tis the season for a little Christmas magic under the mistletoe. Romance writer Julia Landon is an expert at crafting love stories in her books, but she has yet to find a happily-ever-after in her own life. When she meets Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broodingly Handsome at Harmony Harbor’s holiday party, Julia thinks she’s found “the one.” But just as quickly as she fell for Aidan, she learns that he has sworn off relationships altogether. Since she can’t have him in real life, Julia goes for the next best thing—she writes Aidan into her next romance novel. But will her reality get to mirror her fiction?

Mystery fans are no stranger to the works of Michael Connelly, known for his Harry Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series’. The Poet is an electrifying stand-alone thriller that follows a serial killer of extreme cunning who hunts homicide cops haunted by unsolved cases. It’s sure to please long-time Connelly fans and new readers alike—and it has an introduction from Stephen King!