Book gifting can be hard, especially when you don’t read the same genres as your friends. Fiction is diverse and has multiple embedded genres that tell different stories in various ways. Letting your friends know you love them by getting them a book based on what you know they like is a great way to strengthen your connections and get to know them more. To assist you in finding the perfect book, here’s a curated recommendation for each genre.
Horror – You Like It Darker by Stephen King
For your horror friends who always say they need a good scare that makes them reevaluate their lives. You Like It Darker is the newest collection of short stories from Stephen King containing new and never-before-published stories going into darker depths then what we have seen from King. He dives into themes of fate, mortality, and luck to reveal the darker realities of life and what it holds in a way that makes the reader reevaluate what they know and still feel terror in the process.
Romance – Time and Tide by J.M. Frey
This one is for romance readers who need to step out of the current times and go back in history as Sam’s plane crashes from the twenty-first century to the nineteenth century. When she finds herself falling for her landlady, world-famous author Margaret, who is about to complete a novel containing the first lesbian kiss in British Literature, she struggles with the weight of finding happiness and possibly changing the course of history.
Science Fiction – The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Time travel fans will love The Ministry of Time as it follows a woman tasked with assisting an expat – Commander Graham Gore from 1947 – during a time in which time travel exists, and this project looks to test its limits. With Gore learning how to acclimate to the new environment along with our protagonist learning how to bridge their worlds, a bond forms as they are forced to confront the realities of the choices they must make. Bradley put her spin on the time travel narrative to show us what we owe each other as people through time.
Historical Fiction – The Women by Kristin Hannah
This historical fiction will have readers mesmerized by the strength of the army nurses in 1965 as The Women follows Frankie as she joins her brother in helping with the war efforts. This novel highlights all the women who have served in history and their strength as their sacrifice and commitment are often forgotten throughout history. Hannah keeps their stories alive through this unforgettable novel showing not only the war efforts but also the aftermath of going home afterwards.
Mystery – The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Mystery fans who love summer camp stories will love this pick when Barbara goes missing from her summer camp bunk fourteen years after her brother also vanished. As the daughter of the owners of the summer camp, secrets begin to emerge of the family and the community. While panic and drama grow, Moore shows us a valuable lesson in second chances in what is said to be her most ambitious novel.
Young Adult – We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
For my young adult readers who need to see this world get more magical, We Are All So Good at Smiling tells the story of Whimsy and Faerry who have magic in their bone marrow. While they grow closer they begin to realize they’ve been together many times before and the pull they feel from the forest holds more than literal monsters. Diving into the depth of clinical depression, this story has been compared to They Both Die at the End and The Bell Jar.
Fantasy – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I was recently given this book to read and it brought me back into fantasy with Yarros’ worldbuilding and magical elements. Fourth Wing is part of The Empyrean Series which has three of the five books currently published – as Onyx Storm was released on January 21, 2025. The series follows Violet Sorrengail as she navigates her way through the Riders Quadrant, the dragon riders, after training to be a scribe her whole life. Along with her fight for survival, she also finds trouble with Xaden – her wing leader who may or may not want to kill her. Yarros’ writing will have readers hooked from chapter-to-chapter.
Book giving can seem stressful, especially if you do not know the person well, but by reaching out and figuring out what they like, book giving can be a wonderful exchange of love and conversation. Plus, when you read books together they make for a better reading experience altogether as the sharing of ideas makes for the thrill of reading.
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