Holiday gift recommendations from our team – Modern Mrs Darcy

We’re back today with an annual WSIRN tradition! Today I’m joined by members of our team to answer your requests for gift giving recommendations for the readers on your list. Thanks to the many readers who answered the call that we shared.

We received so many great questions, and today we’ve chosen queries that reflect a broad range of readers, lifestyles, and tastes. Even if you don’t hear your question answered today, this post is a great place to find more recommendations: in the comments section from your fellow listeners, or backlist recommendations in our past recommendations episodes, which we’ve included below.

If you have a recommendations for one of the readers in today’s episode, or you’d like to ask your fellow listeners for ideas, please leave a comment below.

Pair bookish gifts with bookish merch

Today’s episode is chock-full of great book ideas for readers of all ages, but if you’re not wanting to gift a book (or you want to enhance a bookish gift), our shop is open! From reading journals and cozy sweatshirts to our fan favorite tote bags and more, check it all out in our shop.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Recommendations for Kari’s five-year-old daughter:

• The Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows (#1: Ruby the Red Fairy)
• Unicorn Academy by Julie Sykes (#1: Sophia and Rainbow)
• The Goddess Girls Series by Suzanne Williams (try Artemis the Hero)

Recommendations for Kari’s eight-year-old son:

• The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
• Hoot by Carl Hiassen
• Wrecker by Carl Hiassen

Recommendations for Liz’s eleven-year-old son:

• The Lemoncello Library series by Chris Grabenstein (#1: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library)
• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbali

Recommendations for Liz’s eight-year-old son:

• The Sherlock Society by James Ponti 
• The 39 Clues series by Rick Riordan (#1: The Maze of Bones)
• The Cucumber Quest series Gigi D.G (#1: The Doughnut Kingdom)

Recommendations for Neligh’s fourteen-year-old daughter:

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
• These Is My Words by Nancy Turner
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Recommendations for Liz’s five-year-old daughter:

• The Super Pancake series by Megan Wagner Lloyd (#1: Super Pancake) 
• Cat on the Run Series by Aaron Blabey (#1: Cat of Death!)
• The Pup Detectives series by Felix Gumpaw 
• The First Cat in Space and the Wrath of the Paperclip by Mac Barnett, Shawn Harris
• The Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems (try We Are in a Book!)
• The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak.  

Recommendations for Mary Ann’s son:

• Babel by R.F. Kuang
• The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America’s Elite Alpine Warriors by Maurice Isserman
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
• The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
• The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Recommendations for Beth’s dad:

• In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
• Slow Horses by Mick Herron
• Chris Pavone (try The Expats)

Recommendations for Julia and her husband to read together:

• I Heard There Was a Secret Chord by Daniel Levitin
• The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
• The Cellist by Daniel Silva 
• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
• Essays by Joan Didion (try Slouching Towards Bethlehem)
• Essays by James Baldwin (try Encounter on the Seine)
• Essays by M.F.K. Fisher (try As They Were)
• Essays E.B. White (try Essays of E. B. White)
• This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
• The Great Passion by James Runcie
• Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah by Charles King

Recommendations for Claire’s husband:

• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
• Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis
• Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey 
• We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
• The Traitor by Ava Glass
• The Trap by Ava Glass

Recommendations for Angela’s husband:

• High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
• Brendan Slocumb (try The Violin Conspiracy)
• Rob Sheffield (try Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music)

Recommendations for Emily’s husband:

• The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
• A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
• The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb (#1: Assassin’s Apprentice)
• The Wayfarers series Becky Chambers (#1: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet)
• The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey (#1: Leviathan Wakes)
• The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman

Recommendations for Beth’s husband:

• The Tree Collectors by Amy Stewart 
• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
• The Aubornaut by Meg Lowman
• Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides
• In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides

Recommendations for Lynn’s father:

• Riverman by Ben McGrath
• The Wild Trees by Richard Preston
• The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
• Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman by Dylan Tomine
• Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter by Ben Goldfarb
• Growing Gills by David Joy

Recommendations for Jen’s daughter:

• The Bride by Julie Garwood 
• Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• Entreat Me by Grace Draven
• The Lost Queen series by Signe Pike (#1: The Lost Queen)

Recommendations for Anne’s daughter:

• I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachael Rodgers

Recommendations for Lynda’s sister:

• Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey 
• When in Rome by Sarah Adams
• The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
• Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

Recommendations for Katrina’s grandma:

• Rosamunde Pilcher (try Winter Solstice)
• Weyward by Emilia Hart
• Kate Morton (try The Distant Hours)

Recommendations for Michelle’s book club:

• I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel
• My Reading Life by Anne Bogel

Also mentioned:

• WSIRN Episode 347: A reader’s guide to tricky transitions
• Please support our sponsors.

Previous gift recommendation episodes:

• WSIRN Episode 344: Our team’s favorite summer reads
• WSIRN Episode 406: Holiday gift picks from our team
• WSIRN Episode 355: Highly giftable picks for your favorite readers
• WSIRN Episode 352: Bookish gifts to delight kids and teens
• WSIRN Episode 304: Your trusty list of bookish gifts
• WSIRN Episode 212: Book gifts for your hardest-to-buy-for loved ones
• WSIRN Episode 210: Book gifts are the BEST gifts
• WSIRN Episode 161: Books on the Nightstand and on your wishlist
• WSIRN Episode 107: Bookish gifts for everyone on your list
• WSIRN Episode 56: There’s nothing like a bookstore at the holidays