R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press
A prospective customer flips through pages at Canterbury Book Store recently. A number of titles that have emerged as popular picks this year reflect generational trends and may provide holiday gift ideas for all ages.
ESCANABA — Books can have powerful impacts. With new volumes being published constantly and tastes changing, there’s always the opportunity to bestow the experience of a good read onto a loved one. Local bookstores and national platforms have suggested titles that could make hit Christmas gifts this year — no matter the age you’re shopping for.
In the fall, Penguin Random House analyzed rising genre trends. They pointed to romance, cozy mysteries, horror, metamodernism, cookbooks, humor and gag gifts as being popular at 2024’s year-end.
At The Mill Manistique, which houses Paper Mill Books, Eric Nielson noted that Christmas-themed romance novels skyrocket this time of year. Penguin Random House’s April Flores and Alison Wallach, Consumer Insights, identified Gen Z as a group more likely to choose romantic reads because they themselves are seeking love — an extrapolation based on responses collected by dating app Hinge.
Metamodernism, which evolved as a response to postmodernism, is a sort of synthesis of ideas — including seemingly opposing concepts: idealism, skepticism, irony, sincerity. It can serve to comment on systemic issues and developments in contemporary culture.
“Younger generations, who are more likely to express concerns about their futures, are embracing a metamodernist approach to deal with complexity — acknowledging the difficulties of their reality, understanding there are no easy solutions, and trying to find meaning or hope in the now,” wrote Flores and Wallach.
Titles of reads considered metamodern include “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace, “Leaving the Atocha Station” by Ben Lerner, “The Listening Society” by Hanzi Freinacht, “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith, and “Grief is the Thing with Feathers” by Max Porter.
While classics continue to be enjoyed, some newer series have enraptured children as well. Tactile board books have been popular for babies and toddlers for years, and a new series, “Never Touch a…” has been a hit lately, Nielson said.
Recommended for kids aged four through eight are the “Backpack Explorer” books, which encourage outdoor learning and come with magnifying glasses, field journals, and stickers. Canterbury Book Store in Escanaba stocks the series.
A historical fiction series for youngsters called “I Survived” places readers in the midst of famous disasters from the past — the Great Chicago Fire, the sinking of the Titanic, the Boston Molasses Flood, D-Day and more. In novels and graphic novel form, some books are made for different audiences than others, but Scholastic suggests them for kids in second to seventh grade.
Nielson noted that trends in books for children often follows film. “The Wild Robot” trilogy by Peter Brown, aimed for about a 5th grade level, is popular and was adapted to the screen this year.
Mysteries have intrigued for generations, and some persist throughout the years. People who enjoyed Players de Noc’s recent performance of “Murder on the Orient Express” but haven’t yet read Agatha Christie might enjoy other titles starring Hercule Poirot — “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” and “Five Little Pigs” are popular, as is the character’s debut, “A Mysterious Affair at Styles.” In an audiobook of the latter, available on Audible, Peter Dinklage voices the beloved detective.
Modern bestselling mystery writer Louise Penny, the Canadian author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, recently released the 19th Gamache adventure. Set in a small town in Quebec — where Penny herself is from — “Grey Wolf” is likely to scratch the itch for those looking for a cozy mystery. Canterbury employee Gregg Bruff said they’ve had a handful of people come in for the newest Penny book lately.
Local authors tend to remain popular. This year, a new book in the Woods Cop series by Joseph Heywood — a graduate of Rudyard High School in the Eastern Upper Peninsula — came out after six years and is reportedly selling well at Paper Mill Books.
“The new Joseph Heywood book, ‘Out of Service,’ has been great,” said Nielson. “Michigan author, first new book in a little while, anyway, and people seem to have definitely not forgotten about him, because he’s been going good.”
The protagonist of the fictional Woods Cop series, Grady Service, is a conservation officer / detective for the DNR in the Upper Peninsula, and “Out of Service” is the 11th published mystery he faces.
Even closer to home, J.L. Hyde penned the mystery trilogy about Grady Lake, a fictional U.P. locale based on a reimagining of Round Lake, plus a handful more set in Delta County and Hiawatha National Forest. A couple weeks ago, “Grady Lake” landed on a bestseller list for an independent bookstore in Ohio.
Spiritual books designed to inspire have also been big sellers.
Shruthi Parker’s “Living Open-Handed,” one Bruff said has attracted interest at Canterbury, is a Christian devotional about surrendering control to God and trusting and appreciating the unexpected.
“The Serviceberry” by Robin Wall Kimmerer — a Potawatomi environmentalist and botanist endorsed by Jane Goodall — has been hot on The New York Times Best Sellers list and at Canterbury Book Store. Its messages on abundance, interconnectedness, and gratitude are portrayed with a berry-providing tree as the core symbol. According to a summary on the author’s website, it’s about “the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy” and warns against the hoarding of resources.
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