Fiction Favorites: 43 Novels and Story Collections for the Reader on Your List

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Welcome to the third installment in our 2019 gift guide series! If you haven’t already, check out our nonfiction picks and poetry favorites. This post is dedicated to fiction in its many forms — literary, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, short story, and even graphic novel. Not that readers need a reason to get whisked away to another time and place, but the bustle of the holiday season can make it that much more satisfying to tuck into a really good book. Here are 40 staff-picked recommendations — including some new releases and some of our very favorites from earlier in the year.

Speaking of fiction and the holiday gifts, our special offer on new First Editions Club subscriptions ends this Sunday, Dec. 8! Buy a pre-paid 6- or 12-month subscription, and get a $15 gift card (for 6-month) or $30 gift card (for 12-month). (Offer god for new sign-ups only.) Now, on to the books!

Recommended by Karen (and everyone)


The Dutch House

By Ann Patchett

The purchase of the Dutch House by Cyril Conroy as a gift to his wife unintentionally sets into motion the disintegration of his family. Danny, Cyril’s son, is the narrator of this story. Patchett reveals through his coming of age, how collective memories are distinctively shaped by their owners and can change the course of future events. I am a sucker for a book that starts in an eccentric, rambling old house, but this book delivers on so many more levels.


Recommended by Ben

Christmas in Austin

By Benjamin Markovits

When the Essinger clan reunites for the holidays, there’s bound to be drama with so many siblings, partners, children, and in-laws in such close proximity. Action takes a backseat to dialogue and internal monologues (complete with plenty of ellipses), which illuminate the nuances of family relationships rather well. I also enjoyed the solidity of place; Markovits really nails the feel of Austin and central Texas.


Recommended by Kathy

A Single Thread

By Tracy Chevalier

England between the Wars, one of my favorite settings. This is the story of a “surplus woman” who finds a new life of friendship and love in an extremely unusual place


Recommended by Kevin

The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1)

By Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu

OK, clearly I’m four years behind on my sci-fi reading list, but as readers of the genre know, time is relative. Thankfully it’ll never be too late to pick up the Three-Body Problem, a masterful concoction made from one part mind-bending speculative physics, two parts geopolitical thriller. I gulped down the trilogy in two weeks.


Recommended by Cat

The Guardians

By John Grisham

Give the gift any legal-thriller lover will cherish: a signed John Grisham novel!


Recommended by Steve

Toni Morrison Box Set: The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Beloved

By Toni Morrison

The great Toni Morrison left us this year, but what a legacy she left us with. Three of her indelible novels — The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved — come boxed together. A great gift for readers new to Morrison or those in need of fresh copies to revisit.


Recommended by Cat

Disappearing Earth

By Julia Phillips

For anyone who wants an immersive, fully transportive novel with a cast of fascinating characters and the mystery of two missing sisters tying them all together, this is the book for you. Let Phillips whisk you away to the remote Russian peninsula of Kamchatka and in an out of the lives of the characters she bring to life.


Recommended by Sissy

The Family Upstairs

By Lisa Jewell

I hope there’s a sequel to this story. While the tale is told from several points of view, my favorite narrator is the brother. I guarantee you’ll be surprised and want more!


Recommended by Marcia

The Revisioners

By Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Using a history that spans generations and a narrative that travels back and forth in time, The Revisioners explores the relationships between mothers in the same family. It’s a powerful statement on race, wealth, and power dynamics.


Recommended by Andy

Under Occupation

By Alan Furst

A new one from one of my favorites, set within the French Resistance in occupied Paris.


Recommended by Erin

The Flight Girls

By Noelle Salazar

For the person looking for their next WWII novel, this novel about the Women Airforce Service Pilots program shines a light on this little-known piece of American history.


Recommended by Andy

The Accomplice

By Joseph Kanon

In spy master Kanon’s latest, a CIA agent is on the trail of a Nazi war criminal long thought dead.


Recommended by Cat

The Shadow King

By Maaza Mengiste

A gorgeously crafted and unputdownable exploration of female power. In incandescent, lyrical prose, Maaza Mengiste breathes life into complicated characters on both sides of the battle line, shaping a heartrending, indelible exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.


Recommended by Rae Ann

The Weight of a Piano

By Chris Cander

This is a mesmerizing story of a piano’s journey — from 1962 Soviet Union to modern-day California — and the two families it connects. Out now in paperback. I loved it!


Recommended by Erin

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

By Stuart Turton

This extra-twisty Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day mystery will stump even the smartest sleuth on your gift list (and now it’s in paperback).


More of our 2019 favorites:

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (First Editions Club selection)
Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson (First Editions Club selection)
The Parade by Dave Eggers (First Editions Club selection)
Lost and Wanted by Nell Freudenberger (First Editions Club selection)
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Trust Exercise, by Susan Choi
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Light From Other Stars by Erika Swyler
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
McGlue by Otessa Moshfegh
A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by John Hornor Jacobs
Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J. W. Ocker
The Handmaid’s Tale (Graphic Novel) by Margaret Atwood, illustrated by Renee Nault

If you’re near Nashville, come to our special After-Hours Shopping Event this Sunday, Dec. 8 at 6:15pm. Get book recommendations from Ann Patchett, store manager Andy Brennan, adult fiction and nonfiction buyer Catherine Bock, and children’s manager Rae Ann Parker — plus wine and light refreshments! A $5 ticket is required for entry, but comes with a voucher for $5 off a purchase of $15 or more. Tickets are available on our website.

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Make sure it gets there! Holiday ordering deadlines for shipped gifts:

Media mail rate: December 12
Priority rate: December 19

Want it gift wrapped? We’re happy to wrap any orders FREE — just let us know in the “notes” section at checkout. All wrapped gifts must be shipped via priority mail. (Media mail won’t allow anything but books in the package — not even wrapping paper.)