If your holiday plans include a roaring fire and maybe a warm drink, why not complete the picture with a great book? Greater Boston's Jared Bowen sat down with three local authors and the owner of Newtonville Books to talk over their favorite picks for the holiday season.

Boston-based writer Ethan Gilsdorf's recommendations:

Fiction: We Live in Water (short story collection) by Jess Walter

Non-fiction:   Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN by Carter Alan

Children's Book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (specifically this new illustrated edition illustrated by Jemima Catlin)

Gift Book: 101 Things I Learned in Engineering School by John Kuprenas, Matthew Frederick

And I have to admit, the book that first inspired me to write was a toss-up between some Dungeons & Dragons manual and this one, so let's go with the less geekier of the two: a beloved young adult chapter book- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

Author Andre Dubus' recommendations:

Fiction: The Realm of Last Chances by Steve Yarbrough

Non-fiction: Son of a Gun by Justin St. Germain

Children's Book: On Linden Square by Kate Sullivan

Gift Book: Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting by Ann Hood

The book that first inspired me to write is: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Writer Marianne Leone's recommendations:

Fiction: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Non-fiction: Country Girl by Edna O'Brien

Children's: Einstein the Class Hamster by Janet Tashjian, illustrated by her son Jake Tashjian

Gift: Our Boston edited by Andrew Blauner

Book that inspired me: Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas.

Mary Cotton, of Newtonville Books, recommendations:

The Knitting Yarns edited by Ann Hood
Our Boston: Writers Celebrate the City they Love
Tenth of December by George Saunders
The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football by Nicholas Dawidoff
Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner
Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska

 
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