Welcome to my second-annual holiday book giving gift guide! This isn’t a list of holiday books. Instead, these are all amazing books that deserve a spot on your bookshelf (virtual or real). As always, every book on the list was written by a Kansas City based author, and they make great gifts (for you or someone you love). This year’s collection of 20 books spans 10 genres. Take a look. I bet you’ll find your next favorite book.
Picture Books
By Alastair Heim
No Tooting at Tea tells the tale of a perfectly proper tea party that goes wrong when someone keeps breaking the “no tooting” rule.
Children’s Books
By Dayonne Necole
Some storms create a lot of chaos in our lives—both physical and spiritual. Emry learns from his mother the lessons and growth that comes from storms of all kinds. In the end does he see their beauty? Does he see that he’s never alone? Read to find out!
Eddie and Fred Teach Calming Tools
By Diana Reynolds
Eddie and Fred Teach Calming Tools focuses on teaching children different techniques for managing their emotions and remaining calm. The book features Eddie and his best friend Fred, an adventurous dog.
By Amy Jo
Are you ready to join Mitzy on an exciting adventure that celebrates the power of creativity and imagination? In this inspiring children’s book, Mitzy proves that anything is possible if you just think outside the box!
Middle Grade
Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen
By Niki Lenz
In this heartwarming story filled with plenty of gross-out humor, Bernice Buttman is the biggest bully in the 5th grade. She loves pounding puny kids and eating cheese balls till her fingers turn orange.
Young Adult/Teen
By Patrick D. Kaiser
It’s said humans use only 10% of our minds. But what if there are some who can use more? In modern day Chicago three gangs of psychic youth vie for power. Led by their Kings, each one seeking to control the city. Unfortunately for them, Daniel Cavanough has no interest in such matters. His only concern is to find the truth of his father and sister’s murder.
Gideon Hawke #1: This Glorious Cause
By Robert Krenzel
Gideon Hawke is coming of age in Colonial Massachusetts, trying to decide where to steer his life. But then on the morning of April 19th, 1775, British troops march into his hometown of Lexington, and nothing will ever be the same. Soon Gideon is fighting in desperate battles; fighting for his life, for his freedom, and for a Glorious Cause.
By Rebecca Reddell
Decisions might make or break some families. When magic destroyed the world, four kingdoms emerged. Living simply, as the new kingdom dictates, Cassie is used to the days of cleaning up after her annoying stepmother and diabolical step-siblings. When evil witch takes her hostage, Cassie’s only choice is to go along with the plan until she can get free.
By L.S. Moore
When the veil between the living and the dead is as thin as a soap bubble, sixteen-year-old Will McCurty discovers a chilling family legacy. Each generation’s firstborn becomes a medium, a Bridge between the living world and the In Between. Will must harbor secrets, lie to friends, and break his mother’s heart. But it’s that or abandon his brother to the desperate dead.
Romance
By L. Beth Campbell
It’s just a stone and only a myth until Ariella leaves Blarney Castle with the Gift of Gab. After returning home from a family vacation in Ireland, she finds herself unable to keep her thoughts from escaping her mouth. As she navigates her new gift of eloquence and lack of restraint, will Ariella unintentionally hurt the people around her, or will she discover how powerful and life-changing her words can be?
Historical Fiction
By Theresa Hupp
Fans of Lonesome Dove and True Grit will enjoy Lead Me Home. Join a wagon train bound for Oregon with Mac and Jenny who pose as a married couple. On the arduous six-month trek, they confront raging rivers, rugged mountains, and untrustworthy companions. Together, Mac and Jenny face the best and worst in themselves and in each other, while discovering the beauty and danger of the western frontier.
By Lisa Rayne
Ailsa Connery has waited three long years to finally escape her enslavement at Stirling Castle and reunite with her clan. But all her carefully laid plans are completely destroyed by the arrival of the fierce, Highland warrior known as Dubh Mahoun, the Black Devil, who has plans of his own.
Horror
By Mitch Unruh
Detective Abigail Paxton is changing, both physically and psychologically. As she continues her metamorphosis, she isn’t sure what to fear more; the thing she is turning into, or who she is becoming. After her final encounter with the vampiric creature, Piper, Abigail hasn’t been the same. Her body is changing and she has developed a taste for…a different kind of nourishment. Now, she fears that the people she was once sworn to protect, might need protection from her.
Mystery/Thriller
By Luke Eckeley
Life throws curves. Sometimes the curves are so sharp and dramatic that recovery seems impossible. On February 2nd, Cort and Lucie Palmerton are thrown a curve so devastating that it threatens their happiness, their health, and their lives. Sensing Cort is on the brink of giving up, Lucie proposes a long-shot idea in a desperate effort to change their path. Her plan to leave everything behind, buy a sailboat, and explore the world, sounds like nothing more than preposterous to Cort.
By J. Alexander Greenwood
J. Alexander Greenwood (voted Best Author in KC 2023) is the author of the award-nominated John Pilate Mystery Series, including Pilate’s Cross, Pilate’s Key, Pilate’s Ghost, Pilate’s Blood, Pilate’s 7, Pilate’s Rose, Pilate’s Shadow, and Pilate’s Faith. This quirky, snarky series follows embattled college professor John Pilate and his snarky alter ego/side kick, Simon, as mysteries, murders, and women fall into his lap.
By Jeff Berney
This gritty domestic thriller about lust, love and the consequences of doing whatever it takes to survive. How far would you go to be a part of something bigger than yourself? That’s the question Jimmy grapples with when his truck breaks down in Eden, an isolated little town in Missouri. As he interacts with the colorful and crazy townsfolk, he soon finds himself falling in love with a local woman while danger closes in on him from every angle. Will he find love at long last? Will he make it out of Eden alive? Or will he lose his life along with his faith?
Nonfiction
By Shannon Carpenter
A practical guide for modern-day parenting geared towards stay-at-home dads, offering advice on everything from learning to cook and clean with children, to dealing with mental health and relationships and addressing male loneliness, with the easygoing perspective that dads can use their natural talents to parent any way that they choose.
By Dan Kelly
At the dawn of the Roaring Twenties, Mattie Howard was known as “Queen of the Underworld,” “Queen of the Bandits,” and the “Golden Girl.” But her most common sobriquet was “The Girl with the Agate Eyes.” She cracked safes and robbed banks. She was a drunk, a fugitive, and an adulteress. But did she murder Diamond Joe Morino?
God Above Cancer: Faith When It’s Ugly
By Amy Larry
Most days involved diaper changes, toddlers on my hips, lots of picture books, and catchy songs. My job as an in-home daycare provider was a pleasant kind of chaos I welcomed, germs and all. Then one day, hiding in the bathroom for a quick breather, I saw blood in my stool. Gross! Unfortunately, it’s necessary to the story. And I was concerned enough, after a few more instances, to call the doctor. Spoiler alert — I had rectal cancer.
New Author
By Noon Westbrook
Two Families. One Decision. A Lifetime of Consequences. Inspired by true events, author Noon Westbrook transports us into the world of Naomi Martinez, a prominent psychiatrist whose life is upended after a chance encounter with a dying stranger leads to a fateful decision that changes everything. “The Other Way Around” is a unique and relatable exploration of the human condition, illuminating the delicate balance between choice and fate.
