Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: The 2025 Holiday Recommendation Show, Part 1

Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky
Release Date: November 26, 2025

Overview

In this annual holiday tradition, Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky answer listener requests for gift book recommendations. Ranging from baby gifts to sci-fi blockbusters to deeply personal asks, the hosts dig into their personal reading histories and Book Riot’s wide-ranging backlist to help listeners find just the right book for everyone on their holiday list—including themselves. This episode features bookish banter, thoughtful reflection, offbeat humor, and the pair’s signature reading expertise, making it an invaluable resource for gift givers and book lovers alike.

Key Discussion Points & Recommendations

1. Getting in the Holiday Spirit in Warm Climates

[01:07 – 03:38]

• Jeff jokes about trying to feel festive when it’s 72°F in Atlanta.
• Rebecca shares tricks: running the AC to create cold, lighting pine-scented candles, baking with cinnamon for holiday smells.
  • “The house needs to smell like cinnamon basically for the next five weeks.” – Rebecca [02:53]
• Both reflect on “faking winter” below the Mason Dixon line with cozy rituals.

2. Introduction to the Holiday Recommendation Show

[03:44 – 04:46]

• Listeners send in specific, often challenging requests for book recommendations.
• This annual episode is a Book Riot tradition, distinct for its permission to dip into the entire backlist—not just new releases.
• Rebecca notes fewer “conversion” requests this year—i.e., “my friend likes X, make them like Y”—and is pleased people seem more accepting of divergent reading tastes.

3. Recommendations Begin

a. Books to Gift a Friend’s Baby

[10:33 – 12:59]
Request from Beth: Gifts for a 6-month-old and future reads as the child grows
Jeff’s Picks:

• Little Blue Truck (Alice Schertle): “A modern classic... probably read more often than Dr. Seuss these days.” [11:17]
• Little Pea (Amy Rosenthal): “The pea will not eat her desserts, so they've got to feed her vegetables. Delightful.”
• I Love You, Stinky Face (Lisa McCourt): “The mother always says yes and it will make you tear up.”
  Bonus idea: Record yourself reading the books for a personal touch.

b. Dad Who Loves Engaging Narratives & Big Stories

[12:59 – 18:53]
Request: Dad enjoyed Peter Heller and Tana French, loves upmarket but not hyper-literary, deep backlist ideal. Rebecca’s Picks:

• Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghey): Engaging, strong story, and McConaghey has a short but solid backlist.
• Real Americans (Rachel Khong): “Strong writing, engaging characters… Dad will like it.”
• A Marriage at Sea (Sophie Elmhurst): Real-life survival tale, “page turner… actually stayed married after 117 days stranded at sea.” [15:02] Jeff’s Picks:
• Jane Harper (series): “Wonderful upmarket crime novelist. Start with The Lost Man.”
• Attica Locke (series): Crime novels set in Texas/South, great for binge reading.
• Tilt (Emma Petit): “Riveting, natural disaster adventure, my recommendation of the year for crime/adventure lovers.” [17:33]

“The subtitle should just be ‘Hold onto your butts.’” – Rebecca on Tilt [18:27]

c. Sci-Fi Fan Husband & Postpartum Mom Seeking Dark Academia

[19:09 – 22:30] Liz’s Request: Husband has read Hyperion, Malazan, Expanse; she’s after more “dark academia with some humor.” Jeff’s Picks:

• The Mountain in the Sea (Ray Naylor): “Octopus civilization… a recent and well-regarded sci-fi for nerds.” [20:10]
• Broken Earth Trilogy (N.K. Jemisin): “If somehow he hasn’t read it, must try.”
• Piranesi (Susanna Clarke): “Not dark academia, but weird university/fantasy—uncanny and enchanted.” Rebecca’s Picks:
• Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Marisha Pessl): “Storytelling gifts of Donna Tartt, suspense of Hitchcock. Really funny.”
• Katabasis: “Dark academia vibes, literary in-jokes, long and jam-packed.”

d. Narrative Nonfiction for Buddy Reads

[22:30 – 28:07]
Courtney’s Request: Loved Say Nothing, dislikes Gladwell, wants something like Wright Brothers or Emperor of All Maladies
Jeff’s Pick:

• Wright Brothers (David McCullough): “Inventing, business, and American history in one.” Rebecca’s Pick:
• The Emperor of All Maladies (Siddhartha Mukherjee): “You don’t think you want to give someone a 500-page book about cancer, but I promise you do.” [25:40]
• A Marriage at Sea (see above): Excellent for nonfiction and book club.
• We the People (Jill Lepore): “A huge book on the Constitution, politics, history; probably a 50-hour audiobook.”
• Bad Blood (John Carreyrou): “Theranos fraud story, reads like a house on fire.” [26:35]
• It’s Only Drowning (David Litt): Memoir of a speechwriter learning to surf and family dynamics.

e. Short & Weird Books for a Personal Gift

[28:13 – 33:52]
Emily’s Request: Loves “weird little books under 300 pages,” favorites include Wang, Millet, Offill, Otsuka, Kevin Wilson. Jeff’s Picks:

• The English Understand Wool (Helen DeWitt): “You’ll think about it, recommend it, they won’t read it—repeat.”
• Midnight Timetable (Bora Chung): “Severance meets short stories; haunting vignettes around abandoned research objects.” Rebecca’s Picks:
• Stonyard Devotional (Charlotte Wood): “Quiet, meditative, existential, diary of a woman in a convent-like setting.”
• Blah Blah (Maggie Sue): “Weirdest little book of 2025: girl finds a blob after drinking; hilarity and existential weirdness ensue.” Bonus: Jeff suggests Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds and Matrix as “even weirder than Wang.”

f. Early Reader Chapter Books with Diverse Themes

[33:52 – 36:29]
Margot’s Request: Six-year-old niece who loves unicorns and mermaids; wants books that introduce diversity and LGBTQ ideas. Jeff’s Pick:

• The Princess in Black (Shannon Hale): “Early chapter book with a princess crime fighter—overt but light on gender boundaries, fun, a great series.”

g. Mysteries with Trans or Gender-Fluid Main Characters

[36:29 – 37:24]
Leigh Ann’s Request: Wants mysteries with gender-fluid/trans leads, preferably BIPOC. Rebecca’s Picks:

• Survivor’s Guilt (Robyn Gigl): Legal thriller with trans defense attorney at center.
• Jinkx Ballou series (Dharma Kelleher): Series led by a trans bounty hunter.

“These are hard to find—even with some digging, but these came highly reviewed!” [36:29]

h. Literary Sci-Fi/Fantasy for a Gift Exchange

[37:26 – 41:20]
Jason’s Request: Brother-in-law exchange; emotional punch vs. thought-provoking; both liked Babel and Jemisin. Jeff’s Pick:

• How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (Charles Yu): “Inventive, father-son story, full of classic sci-fi references, but there’s real heart.” Rebecca’s Supports:
• Nick Harkaway (Angelmaker, The Gone-Away World): “Holds up; both thinking and feeling, clever references.”
• Audition (Katie Kitamura): “Quiet, thought-provoking, emotionally resonant”—also a mutual favorite this year.

i. International Book Club Books, Not US-Centric

[43:34 – 47:47]
Anan’s Request: UK-based, international women’s book club; prefers short, fiction or nonfiction, not US-centric. Rebecca’s Picks:

• A Guardian and a Thief (Megha Majumdar): Near-future Kolkata; “climate refugees, subtle and devastating, great details.”
• Palaver (Bryan Washington): “Set in Tokyo, a black man and his estranged mother reconnect—lyrical, character-focused.” Jeff’s Picks:
• Everything I Never Told You (Celeste Ng): “Mixed-race Chinese family dealt a tragedy—transportable story.”
• The Bandit Queens (Parini Shroff): “Comic, sharp, about women who plot to rid themselves of troublesome husbands—fun, not as dark as the premise sounds.”

j. Bleak, Realistic, or Funny Queer Christmas Reads

[47:58 – 53:09]
Mel’s Request: Wants “clear-eyed” Christmas/winter novels—queer, unsentimental, not Gift of the Magi. Jeff’s Pick:

• Mr. Ives’s Christmas (Oscar Hijuelos): “If you want a book that peels back the superficiality of the holiday, this is it… The protagonist’s son is killed on Christmas Day, leading to decades of reckoning.” [49:19] Rebecca’s Pick:
• The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen): “Exactly what you’re looking for—he’s writing about how the perfect family Christmas is a lie. The family gets together at Christmas and things do not go well. Sharp, cathartic, and unexpected.”

“Also, if you have not seen ‘The Fishes’ episode of The Bear, I think you’ll find it very cathartic.” – Rebecca [53:09]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I think my quest over the last several years to be like don’t try to change people’s reading habits is maybe successful.” — Rebecca [05:06]
• “You don’t think you want to give someone a 500 page book about cancer, but I really, really promise that you do.” — Rebecca on The Emperor of All Maladies [25:40]
• “If you haven’t done the last two Lauren Groffs [Vaster Wilds and Matrix], I think that’s what you’re really looking for… 100% Matrix is a weirder book than Rental House.” — Jeff [33:28]
• “You will sound like you have had a stroke when you try to describe this book to friends.” — Rebecca on Blah Blah [32:12]
• “Jonathan Franzen is writing about how this is a lie. Like this lie you’ve described…” — Rebecca on The Corrections [51:52]

Useful Timestamps for Key Requests

• [10:33] – Baby/young child gift book picks
• [12:59] – For dads who love upmarket story-driven novels
• [19:09] – Sci-fi husband & dark academia for new moms
• [22:30] – Narrative nonfiction for couples/book club
• [28:13] – Short, weird literary fiction
• [33:52] – Chapter books for young, diverse readers
• [36:29] – Mysteries with trans/gender-fluid protagonists
• [37:26] – Literary sci-fi/fantasy for brother-in-law gift exchange
• [43:34] – Book club picks, not US-centric
• [47:58] – Clear-eyed/bleak/funny Christmas books for queer listener

Tone & Style

The episode is candid, warm, and full of readerly camaraderie. Jeff and Rebecca alternate between deep empathy for their listeners’ situations and sharp-witted banter. Intellectual yet accessible, their recommendations feel both carefully considered and infused with an irreverent, homey joy—making this episode particularly worthwhile for anyone looking to gift (or find!) their next favorite read.

For shownotes and links to all recommended books, visit bookriot.com or email podcast@bookriot.com.

Happy holidays—and happy gifting!