Denial no longer works now that Thanksgiving has just past.  Christmas is looming fast, and whether or not you enjoy this hectic season, it is upon us.  Buying the perfect gift is often a challenge, but here at the library we have something to help.  (No, not personal shoppers.)  I have often touted BookPage, the thirty-plus page newsletter that covers the monthly releases from the book world as a good place for readers to get ideas.  The December issue has a little extra for all those who like to give books with its Holiday Catalog Bonus.  Not only does the December issue offer the usual book reviews, columns, interviews, features, it also has 14 pages packed full of suggestions for book gifts from Fiction to Hearth & Home. 

           

The issue opens with 16 pages of advertisements for the most popular new releases and old favorites from fiction with Beverly Lewis, P. D. James and John Grisham to special gifts for little ones such as “Children Just Like Me” or “Little Elliot, Big Fun.”  There are pages on history and biography as well as cooking, audiobooks, teen, sports, inspirational, Bibles, and seasonal entries.  There is also a section where the editors select the 50 best books of 2016. 

 

The core of BookPage offers an interview with Zadie Smith about her latest book, “Swing Time” and a look back at the legacy of Pat Conroy by Cassandra King.

           

There are pages of columns full of book recommendations including “Fa-La-La Falling in Love During Christmas” full of suggestions for romance novels, “Gifts for Artistic Types,” “No After-Dinner Snooze with these Holiday Mysteries,” “Holiday Treats,” “A Window into the Wild Beyond,” “Tinseltown Treats to Put Under the Tree,” and “Capturing the Universal.”     

           

And for those looking for ideas for the younger crowd, there are sections on magic and gifts they’ll actually like.  

           

Book lovers will find plenty of possibilities for gifts in this latest issue of BookPage and maybe a few ideas for themselves.