Your Holiday Book-Buying Guide

17 book recommendations from NoMi booksellers

By Jillian Manning | Nov. 23, 2024

When in doubt, buy a book. (A lesson that applies to all situations, but particularly the holidays.) We asked booksellers across northern Michigan for new titles that have won their hearts, opened their minds, and broadened their horizons. Below, find their top picks for readers of all ages and genres.

Horizon Books

243 E Front St., Traverse City & 115 S Mitchell St., Cadillac | horizonbooks.com

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
“A beautifully complicated book about grief, family, and love set against the backdrop of Dublin and West Ireland. At the heart, it’s about two brothers navigating life after losing their father.”
—Jinhee

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
“A brief story about a gifted young woman set in the Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell universe. The story is much more allegorical than Clarke’s previous work but leaves the reader charmed with the same mystical wonderment she’s known for. Clarke fans will be happy to learn there’s an unexpected and revealing epilogue by the author included!”
—Juan

A Chickadee Year by Bill O. Smith
“Did you know that only 16 days after being born, chickadees are out and about flying? This and other amazing facts concerning this cute little regional champion of the Michigan woods are available in Bill O. Smith’s capstone title of his chickadee series: A Chickadee Year. Beautifully illustrated by nature artist Thomas W. Ford, this book will please budding ornithologists young and old.”
—Laurie

Cottage Book Shop

5989 S Lake St., Glen Arbor | cottagebooks.com

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“This little book will make the perfect gift for anyone who wants to be more in touch with nature and more involved with other humans. Many people fell in love with Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass—like that , this book is a little gem that you will want to read and then to share with others. In that spirit, Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.”

Easy Weeknight Dinners: 100 Fast, Flavor-Packed Meals for Busy People Who Still Want Something Good to Eat by Emily Weinstein
“We at the Cottage Book Shop love this cookbook. It is full of delicious, easy to follow recipes, along with gorgeous pictures for each recipe. We recommend recipes on pages 115, 137, and the Tuna crunch sandwiches on page 124. This would be a great gift for the cook in your life, or the people who don't really consider themselves cooks, as many of the recipes are super easy.”

The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails (Second Edition): Over 400 Classic Drink Recipes With Great Writing from The New York Times by Steve Reddicliffe
“I love this book. I have given it as a gift countless times and it always gets great reviews. It is full of great cocktail recipes, but it also has great stories about the origins of the cocktails. It truly makes a great gift for anyone who likes a good cocktail.”
—Jenny Puvogel, owner

Bay Books

220 N St Joseph St., Suttons Bay | baybooksmi.com

We Are Starlings: Inside the Mesmerizing Magic of a Murmuration by Robert Furrow and Donna Napoli, illustrated by Marc Martin
“Not only is this a visually stunning book, but the explanation of murmurations plays out beautifully as each page is turned. When we see these huge flocks of starlings shape shifting in the sky, we are always amazed and awed. This book helps us all to understand and appreciate nature.”

We Live Here: Poems for an Ojibwe Calendar Year by Lois Beardslee
“Don’t we all feel the pull of spring differently than we feel the pull of autumn, winter, or summer? Local author Lois Bearslee writes beautifully of nature as the year passes with lovely poetical lyrics. This is a group of poems that will calm and give joy to anyone's hearts throughout the year.”

The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo
“Love, patience and trust are underscored by the social mores of WWII as a young mother and her daughter wait for their father’s return. Through the storytelling of a mysterious countess who is staying at the hotel where young Marta’s mother works, she learns to use her imagination but also learns to believe. Incredibly charming tale with mysteries and hope throughout. Did I mention the countess has a parrot?”
—Tina Greene-Bevington, owner

Brilliant Books

118 E Front St., Traverse City | brilliant-books.net

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
“It’s a story of courage, friendship, and hope—a must-read for fantasy lovers seeking depth and mystery.”
—Sam

The Gentleman Bastard Sequence (The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies, and The Republic of Thieves) by Scott Lynch
“This is one of my favorite fantasy series, but it was getting hard to find until this fall. The publisher just re-released the series in paperback with new cover art for all three books. A great high fantasy romp full of mischief, heists, and charismatic characters.”
—Caitlin

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
“Curtis Chin offers a well-worn seat at one of the vinyl booths at his family’s restaurant, Chung’s, in late 20th century Detroit. A decorated comedy television writer turned film documentarian and memoirist, Chin recounts a childhood without shying away from the sharp edges of both Detroit’s history and his own. Chin’s determination and wry wit makes for a memorable meal of a memoir.”
—Anais

McLean and Eakin

307 E Lake St., Petoskey | mcleanandeakin.com

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
“Mighty Red is absolutely one of the best books I have read in a season of outstanding reads! I could not put down this atmospheric and emotionally charged book. There is a dark mystery flowing underneath the people and events, like an undercurrent in the mighty Red River. There is also tenderness, humor, love and loyalty that runs deep. Erdrich has crafted a stunning tale out of the lives of very ordinary people.”
—Julie

The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette For Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
“This is my absolute favorite middle reader book of the year! The writing is wonderful and includes illustrations that enhance the mad scientist experience. Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch don’t quite fit in any of the etiquette schools. Having been kicked out of what they thought was the last school around, they return dejected knowing that their adoptive family will send them far away to the 'School for Failures' in Austria. But mysteriously an invitation to a school they've never heard of before is found in each of their backpacks and is the last chance they have to redeem themselves.”
—Donna

From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough
“I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I listened to it on audio via Libro.fm and it included playback of some of the tapes that Lisa Marie recorded in preparing to write a memoir and it had Julia Roberts reading as Lisa Marie and Riley reading as herself. It was so well done and so eye opening to the things that really occurred in her life. One to definitely recommend to any lover of all things memoirs or for someone just looking for something different to read this holiday season.”
—Maris

The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice by Simon Parkin
“Nearly two and a half years. That’s how long the siege of Leningrad lasted during WWII. Nearly thirty percent of the population, or 750,000 people perished from ‘dystrophy,’ a euphemism for starvation. Located within Leningrad was The Institute of Applied Botany and New Crops. The Institute was the home of thousands of tons of seeds collected by Nikolai Vasilov and his colleagues from all over the world. Using the theory of genetics, Vasilov hoped to develop new species of wheat, potatoes, barley, and other crops that could withstand the cold climate of Russia and improve farming throughout the world. The Forbidden Garden tells the story of Vasilov and the botanists at that institute struggling to not only survive the siege, but to save the seeds for future generations.”
—Karen

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
“Rainy and Lark live on the eastern coast of Lake Superior. They are a thoughtful and compassionate couple living in a future reality that is in great need of both qualities. There was no grand catastrophe; aliens from another dimension did not invade; there was no global war; things seem to have just stopped working. Libraries, schools, the road commission, all of these institutions have ceased to exist. One thing that seems to have survived is wealth inequality, with the 1 percent being renamed “astronauts” and the working force (the other 99 percent) being forced increasingly into employment contracts that can span years and have criminal implications if broken. Still there is beauty in this world, and Rainy and Lark try to appreciate and foster it in their community. Their thoughtfulness and compassion run them afoul of a militia commander, and the only escape is to ‘Flower,’ a small sailboat Rainy had been restoring. Thus begins an adventure through a dystopian Great Lakes region where the names of towns and islands have been lost or changed, and deciphering the locations becomes part of the fun.”
—Matt