2025 Holiday Gift Guide

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring, ting, tingling too. Come on, it’s lovely weather for a slay read together with you.

And it’s time to figure out what to give loved ones. How about just give EVERYONE books? If you’re stuck on which ones to choose, I’m here to help.

My free holiday gift guide has ideas for readers with a variety of tastes and interests. Is your dad into mysteries and thrillers? The guide has both cozy mysteries and tense thrillers. Is your aunt a romance fan? The list features romances set at Christmas and in the summer, and one has two older people. Does that co-worker have pet photos adorning his desk? Give him a book (either fiction or nonfiction) starring animals. Is your mom into celebrity book club picks? We have two  options from this year and last. How about your teen niece? We’ve got some fun YA selections from several genres.

THE BEST PART? All are CLEAN! Rated mild or none.

Take a look at the Holiday gift guide and get to shopping.

To make it SUPER easy, just go to Rated Reads’ new Bookshop.org storefront, where you can find all of these books and more. All are rated mild or none. Don’t worry about content. Rated Reads has your back (at the store FRONT. Ha ha ha). And ho ho ho! Merry Christmas.

To get your downloadable copy, just click here: Holiday gift guide. And if you’d like to read the reviews and ratings of any of the books, check out the full list below.

Cozy/Fun Mystery

1. The Flavia de Luce series, by Alan Bradley, starting with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
2. The Marlow Murder Club series, by Robert Thorogood, starting with The Marlow Murder Club
3. The Thursday Murder Club series, by Richard Osman, starting with The Thursday Murder Club

Mystery/Thriller

1. The Breakdown and The Therapist, by B.A. Paris
2. Murder at Gulls Nest, by Jess Kid
3. The Wealth of Shadows, by Graham Moore

History/Historical Fiction

1. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
2. The Last Bookshop in London and The Librarian Spy, by Madeline Martin
3. The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

1. The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
3. Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik
4. The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern

Celebrity Book Club Picks

1. The Unwedding, by Ally Condie
2. The Book of Lost Hours, by Hayley Gelfuso

Romance

1. Let It Snow and Just the Way You Are, by Beth Moran
2. Summer Romance, by Annabel Monaghan
3. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson

For Animal Lovers

1. How the Penguins Saved Veronica, by Hazel Prior
2. On Animals, by Susan Orlean
3. Sipsworth, by Simon van Booy

Nonfiction

1. All That Moves Us, by Jay Wellons
2. Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande
3. The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
4. The Lost Tribe of Coney Island, by Claire Prentice

Young Adult

1. Den of Liars, by Jessica S. Olson
2. Dungeons and Drama, by Kristy Boyce
3. The Otherwhere Post, by Emily J. Taylor (also a GMA book club YA pick)
4. Skyward, by Brandon Sanderson (and the whole series!!)

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