our team recommends books for the readers in your life – Modern Mrs Darcy

Over the past few years we’ve enjoyed responding to listener requests on one of those tough bookish questions: what to give the fellow readers in your life for gifting season. Today, Anne is joined by members of the MMD Team to answer a selection of questions received from our Patreon community. We’re tackling requests for book ideas for a range of recipients, from the kids in your life to your toughest-to-buy-for family members.

Whether you submitted a gift request or you’d like ideas for highly readable and reliable books, we think you’ll hear something in today’s conversation. And if you have a specific request or are on the hunt for something particular, our community of readers is always ready to help out. Leave a comment below to get an assist from your fellow readers or share your ideas for our listeners.

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If you’re looking for bookish goods to gift your favorite reader (or yourself!) this season, check out the Modern Mrs Darcy shop and Fill Your Tote! When you purchase one of our fan favorite What Should I Read Next? totes and bundle your purchase with another item, you’ll take 5% off. Pair a tote with 2 items for 10% off, or add 3 or more items to your tote and you’ll save 15% on your order. Savings are automatically applied when you add the items to your cart. Fill your tote today at ⁠modernmrsdarcy.com/shop⁠.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Recommendations for Laura’s mother:

• A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
• Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
• Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
• Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

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

• The Wild Robot series by Peter Brown (#1: The Wild Robot)
• The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney (#1: Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
• The New Kid series by Jerry Craft (#1: New Kid)
• The City Spies series by James Ponti (#1: City Spies)
• The Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce (#1: Big Nate)
• Max and the Midknights series by Lincoln Peirce (#1: Max and the Midknights)
• The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (#1: The Lightning Thief)
• Greeking Out by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes, illustrated by Javier Espila
• The Warriors series by Erin Hunter, illustrated by Dave Stevenson (#1: Into the Wild)
• D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d’Aulaire, Edgar Parin d’Aulaire

Recommendations for Anonymous’s father-in-law:

• 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
• The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro
• The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America by Louis Menand
• The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World by Nathaniel Philbrick
• This Vast Enterprise by Craig Fehrman
• Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose

Recommendations for Judith’s seventeen-year-old son:

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
• Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
• Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
• A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
• The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
• What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown

Recommendations for Anonymous’s father:

• The Sports Beat series by John Feinstein (#1: Last Shot: Mystery at the Final Four)
• There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib
• The Sixth Man by Andre Iguodala
• Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O’Brien
• Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O’Brien
• Lane Being Lane by John Talty
• Get Lost by Justin Halpern
• Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie
• A Course Called Ireland by Tom Coyne

Recommendations for Sarah’s brother:

• The Mistborn saga by Brandon Sanderson (#1: Mistborn: The Final Empire)
• Upgrade by Blake Crouch
• I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
• The Expanse series by James S A Corey (#1: Leviathan Wakes)
• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
• Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth
• Arborescence by Rhett Davis
• The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed
• The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
• Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
• Under Story by Chloe Benjamin
• Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi

Recommendations for Tzipi’s mother:

• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
• Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
• The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A.J. Baime
• The Names by Florence Knapp
• Whistler by Ann Patchett
• American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Fly Girl by Ann Hood
• The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

Recommendations for Jackie’s husband:

• The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (Audio edition)
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Audio edition)
• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (Audio edition)
• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Audio edition)
• The Legendborn Cycle by Tracy Deonn (#1: Legendborn) (Audio edition)
• The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (#1: All Systems Red) (Audio edition)
• This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews (Audio edition)
• The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (#1: Magic Bites) (Audio edition)

Recommendations for Brooke’s college senior son:

• The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde (#1: The Eyre Affair)
• Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
• Capote’s Women by Laurence Leamer
• Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Tiger’s Mouth by Lucy Tan
• Helm by Sarah Hall
• The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

Recommendations for Lisa’s family:

• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Phish: The Biography by Parke Puterbaugh
• Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
• Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Audio edition)
• Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Recommendations for Jenny’s father-in-law:

• Weathering by Ruth Allen
• Underland by Robert MacFarlane
• Chasing The Thrill by Daniel Barbarisi
• The Gardener’s Year by Karel Capek
• Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny
• A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko

Recommendations for Anne’s sister:

• The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
• Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly
• The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly
• Against Breaking by Ada Limón
• Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen

Recommendations for Liza’s ten-year-old son:

• The Framed! series by James Ponti (#1: Framed!)
• The Experiment by Rebecca Stead
• The Mac B, Kid Spy series by Mac Barnett (#1: Mac Undercover)
• The Sherlock Society series by James Ponti (#1: The Sherlock Society)
• The Loot series by Jude Watson (#1: Loot)
• The Secret Coders series by Gene Luen Yang (#1: Secret Coders)

Quick Hit Recommendations for younger readers:

• Alphabet Trucks by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Ryan O’Rourke
• My Best Pop-Up Noisy Train Book from DK Publishing
• A Bear, A Man, and a Donut Van by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Brandon James Scott
• Snoopy’s Facts & Fun about Trucks by Charles M. Schulz
• Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry
• The Pup Detectives series by Felix Gumpaw (#1: The First Case)
• The Detective Beans series by Li Chen (#1: Detective Beans & the Case of the Missing Hat)
• Fabio The World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective series by Laura James and illustrated by Emily Fox (#1: Mystery on the Ostrich Express)
• The Meg Mackintosh Mystery series by Lucinda Landon (#1: Meg Mackintosh and the Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Baseball)
• Hilde Cracks the Case series by Hilde Lysiak (#1: Hero Dog!)
• Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon
• The Narwhal and Jelly Series by Ben Clanton (#1: Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea!)
• The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza series by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris (#1: The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza)
• Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
• Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
• The DnDoggos series by Scout Underhill (#1: Get the Party Started)