Looking for ideas for the book lover on your gift list? They’ll love curling up in front of the fireplace to read any of the books listed below.

Pairs of People by Jeanne and Mark Shriver

This is the perfect gift for parents who are looking to make math fun through images and reading. Written by New York Times bestselling author Mark Shriver along with his wife Jeanne Shriver, the pair created this book as a follow up to the Christopher Award-winning book, 10 Hidden Heroes. $19.99

100 Things to Do in Texas Before You Die, by E. R. Bills

Looking for a Texas bucket list? This is your book! Get suggestions from a native, lifelong Texan. This book will give you a different side to Texas with special features on Texas wonders and quirkiness. We thought this book was perfect because there were adventures that even we haven’t done! $22.50

THE SPITE HOUSE

Tap into your spooky side with THE SPITE HOUSE. This thriller takes place in Hill Country with a lesser known Civil War event. Tap into Texas native Johnny Compton’s book with research on the Nueces Massacre and the monument erected in Comfort, Texas. The town is fictional but the book commemorates the father of two victims, Edward Degener. You’re getting a juicy fictional story with a history lesson. $27.99

Boy Moms: Collective Tales of Mothers and Sons

Calling all Boy Moms out there! This book shares diverse stories from moms of boys with joys and challenges Boy Moms experience everyday. It is packed full with 46 essays which are short and sweet. This book goes through all stages of motherhood, from pregnancy to mothers with grown children. Touching accounts of challenges really enhance gratitude and the knowledge that we all experience motherhood in our own way. $14.99

The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward

This novel by Austin-based award-winning author Amanda Eyre Ward is a literary treat, especially for those of us who know and appreciate the real Austin. With the setting of Barton Hills and the famed Greenbelt, this “who dunnit” mystery follows a pack of 3 fifteen year old best friends who work at Barton Springs as lifeguards. Their moms are the real show-stoppers, though. Ward expertly assigns personalities to these women that cleverly match someone you know. A dead body is discovered and the story unfolds like swimming laps at Barton Springs. Dive in! $12.99 Kindle

Building an Orchestra of Hope by Round Rock author Carmen Oliver

An exuberantly illustrated true story about innovation, community, and the power of music. In Cateura, Paraguay, a town built on a landfill, music teacher Favio Chavez longed to help the families living and working amid the hills of trash. Favio started giving music lessons to Cateura’s children. But Favio had a strange and wonderful idea: what if this recyclers’ town had its own recycled orchestra? Favio and Colá, a brilliant local carpenter, began to experiment with transforming garbage into wonder. With repurposed instruments in their hands, the children of Cateura could fill their community—and the world—with the sounds of a better tomorrow.

Based on an incredible true story, Building an Orchestra of Hope offers an unforgettable picture of human dignity reclaimed from unexpected sources. Carmen Oliver’s inviting words and Luisa Uribe’s dynamic illustrations create a stirring tribute to creativity, resilience, and the transformative nature of hope. $18.99

The Wrong Woman

After a brief career in criminal law, Fort Worth resident Leanne Kale Sparks is returning to her first love—writing about murder and mayhem. In “The Wrong Woman”, a string of murders threatens to unleash long-buried secrets in this pulse-pounding thriller for fans of Melinda Leigh and T. R. Ragan. The only survivor of Denver’s notorious “Reaper” serial murders, FBI Special Agent Kendall Beck grapples with the ghosts of her past by seeking justice for victims of abuse. She’s neck deep in a particularly ugly case involving the disappearance of five-year-old Emily Williams—but her investigation is derailed when her best friend and roommate, Gwen Tavich, turns up dead in a nearby lake. Devastated by the news of Gwen’s death, Kendall teams up with Denver detective Adam Taylor to find the killer. Gwen’s fiancé, Ty Butler, is being evasive about the last time he saw Gwen, and as the evidence mounts against him, he’s arrested for the murder. With every new clue, Kendall questions how well she really knew her friend. And when Gwen’s dark secrets begin spilling out one by one, she begins to understand the devastating magnitude of her murder. The Reaper has returned to Denver—and he’s not stopping. As the trauma of Kendall’s past comes roaring back, she and Adam have no time to spare before more bodies start piling up. And then Kendall makes a shocking discovery that reveals the horrifying truth behind Emily Williams’ disappearance. Now, Kendall must confront her darkest fears as she and the Reaper face off one more time. $13.99 Kindle

Bonus: 

Coming in February, “Every Missing Girl”, the second book in the Kendall Beck Thriller series from Leanne Kale Sparks. Available on Pre-Order.

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Cover photo courtesy Unsplash

One of the pleasures of publishing a lifestyle magazine like Texas Lifestyle Magazine is that we receive invitations to attend events, travel and review products. We accept and write about a small fraction of these offers, always with a view to what would be interesting or helpful to our readers. You may notice that our reviews are generally positive, which is because we don’t enjoy writing negative ones, and therefore choose only to write about the things we can recommend without reservation. Some we recommend, we receive an affiliate commission for at no additional cost to you. We’ve never received monetary compensation in exchange for a positive review.