Book Notification Weekly Picks #26

By Vince MoralesDec 5th, 2025

Book Notification Weekly Picks: December 5th, 2025

Vin - Entertainment Editor

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another week of book picks.

The holidays are coming up, and I may be biased, but books are always a good gift. Well, there are in theory at least. The thing about giving someone a book is that you really need to know them and what they like to read. Otherwise, it can come off like preaching or something like that. “This is my favorite book, so you’d better read it and like it!” is not exactly meeting the spirit of the season.

That said, perfectly matching a book to a person is a top-tier gift. It can be better and more meaningful than whatever expensive gadget is hot this year. My advice this holiday season, if you’re thinking of giving someone a book, is to really take your time, think it through, and figure out what’s best for them. Not what you want for them, but the book they want to read and don’t know it yet.

One more piece of advice for book giving this season: If they like reading spicy romance books, maybe go with the sweater.

That’s all I have for this week. Let’s get to the picks.

Vince
Entertainment Editor @ Book Notification

A Book You’ve Been Meaning To Read
Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Series: Standalone
Published: 2005

Description: A young foster girl in 1939 Germany finds solace and purpose in stealing books and sharing their stories while her world is engulfed by war and persecution.

Title: The Striker
Author: Ana Huang
Genre: Sports Romance
Series: Gods of the Game
Published: 2024

Description: A star footballer and a former ballerina are forced into a summer of cross-training together, where growing attraction clashes with old wounds and an unbreakable rule: she’s his rival’s sister.

Title: Girls Who Play Dead
Author: Joelle Wellington
Genre: Young Adult
Series: Standalone
Published: 2025

Description: A young man returns to his hometown after his sister’s best friend is murdered and, while trying to help his spiraling sister, uncovers dark secrets tied to the town and its powerful beauty brand.

Title: A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic
Author: J. Penner
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Series: Adenashire
Published: 2023

Description: A magicless human baker is unexpectedly entered into a prestigious multi-species baking competition, where she must prove her craft while navigating new friendships, self-doubt, and a budding romance.

Title: Love, Mom
Author: Iliana Xander
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Series: Standalone
Published: 2024

Description: A grieving daughter begins receiving her late mother’s diary pages from an anonymous “#1 fan,” pushing her to investigate whether the famed author’s death was an accident and to uncover the family’s long-buried secrets.

Title: Extinction
Author: Michael Simon
Genre: Sci-Fi
Series: Extinction
Published: 2025

Description: A disgraced lieutenant on Europa must hold a fragile colony together after a plague devastates Earth, balancing starvation-level rationing, political mutiny, and the threat of infection from incoming survivors.

Title: Vicious
Author: L.J. Shen
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Sinners of Saint
Published: 2016

Description: A ruthless lawyer tracks down the artist he once drove out of their hometown, forcing them both to confront a decade of obsession, secrets, and a tangled mix of love and hate.

Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Author: Kim Michele Richardson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Published: 2019

Description: A blue-skinned packhorse librarian in 1930s Kentucky delivers books to remote Appalachian families while confronting poverty, prejudice, and the dangers of being the last of her kind.

Title: November’s Past
Author: A.E. Howe
Genre: Detective
Series: Larry Macklin
Published: 2016

Description: A rural Florida investigator probes the murder of an unidentified man and a linked arson case, uncovering dangerous secrets tied to his father’s old high school circle as the killer strikes again.

Title: The Book of Joy
Author: Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu
Genre: Self Help
Published: 2016

Description: Two spiritual leaders reflect on their lifelong experiences with suffering and resilience during a week together in Dharamsala as they explore how humans can cultivate lasting joy.

Title: Red Sparrow
Author: Jason Matthews
Genre: Spy Thriller
Series: Dominika Egorova & Nathaniel Nash
Published: 2013

Description: A Russian intelligence officer trained in seduction is assigned to target a CIA handler, drawing both into a tense collision of tradecraft and illicit attraction that jeopardizes a critical American asset in Moscow.

Title: Snow Place Like Home
Author: Lacey Baker
Genre: Holiday
Series: Standalone
Published: 2023

Description: A woman returning home after a string of painful holiday seasons must work with her widowed first love on a Christmas fundraiser, forcing them both to confront old feelings and the possibility of a second chance.

Vince is the Entertainment Editor at Book Notification. His first book was Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss, and his passion for reading took off from there. He'll read just about anything, but can usually be found re-reading his favorite Pynchon novels and Seattle Mariners box scores.

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