Book recommendations for gifts
In addition to other holidays, it will soon be Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic book exchange night. As a writer, I’m bound to point out at this time of year that books make great gifts. I published a novel this year, but before I talk about books I wrote, I thought I’d start with some favorites I read from this year.
Many of these books are great places to escape to, and let’s face it, this year we could all use an escape. Many of these are independently published or published by smaller presses and do not get a lot of marketing.
I was lucky enough to read early versions of Peter J. Aldin’s Last Among Equals. I’m happy to say that I liked the final version even better. This is great fantasy. A second world setting with wonderful world building, cleverly conceived characters, and fast-paced action. If you’re looking for a gift for a fantasy reader, this is a great option.
If You Knew Me by S.P. Minkowski is a psychological thriller ingeniously split between two point of views. I’ve been in awe of Minkowski’s writing for a long time, and highly recommend this both for people interested in reading a good novel and for any aspiring writers looking to study prose.
Brigands & Breadknives is the third novel from Travis Baldree in his series that began with Legends & Lattes. I was curious to see how this would work out since there’s more of a quest and this remains a cozy fantasy series. Somehow Baldree manages to create an adventure and maintain the pleasant comfort of reading this story.
Great America in Dead World by David Agranoff is smart science fiction. It’s full of ideas and highly entertaining. I’ve thought about this one repeatedly over the months since I read it. If you’re looking for thought provoking science fiction, this is a good choice.
Cody Goodfellow’s New Tomorrow is wild alternative history. Goodfellow has combined the best of the weirdness of comic books and pulp fiction with well-researched and a well realized turn of the twentieth century setting.
Draw Steel is a table top roleplaying game with the rules offered in two books: Heroes and Monsters. In addition to being a fun game, the two books are full of great world building as well as packed with amazing art. These are great to turn the pages, take in the art, and daydream.
Requiem by John Palisano is a science fiction horror novel that reminded me heavily of reading Philip K Dick and some of my favorite space based sci-fi stories.
A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters by Eric Guignard is a short story collection from an author highly skilled in the medium. These are well-crafted stories in a fairly large collection with plenty to choose from.
My favorite nonfiction books of the year are Elie Mystal’s Bad Law, and Noah Fruin’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Can a Game Take Care of Us? As anyone who knows me or has read the book I’m going to list below can guess, I like to learn things, and I’d like to encourage others to learn things as well. Both of these books are great because they’re informative but also entertaining, Mystal’s book is funny whereas Fruin’s book is heartfelt and insightful.
Finally, my latest book The Azure Cove Assignment is a science fiction book set in our world but in a town where wild events push the boundaries of the real and the theoretical. I hope that it is perfect for the sci-fi weirdo in your gift exchange. And of course I have previously published books from other genres: fantasy, urban fantasy, fantasy noir, and horror available as well.
Hopefully you’ll have plenty of options for gift giving whether it’s for Jolabokaflod, another holiday, or all of the above.
