HORRORSTÖR by Grady Hendrix (Quirk Books, September 2014, $15)
Best For: Swedish design aficionados with a penchant for suspense Why you’d give it: I appreciate Hendrix’s adept writing and unhinged imagination and humor, dark as it is. I highly recommend it as a stocking stuffer for your in-laws: they’ll never look at you the same. —Stephanie Hunt, contributing editor
Ladies in Low Places by Mary Ann Henry (South Light Press, April 2014, $13)
Best For: Gals who enjoy a light read with Southern flavor Why you’d give it: I recognized some characters in this short story collection as kindred spirits and think my friends will too. —Bridget Venatta, assistant editor
The French Cook: Soups & Stews by Holly Herrick (Gibbs Smith, September 2014, $22)
Best For: Beginning cooks looking to explore the classic soup bowls of French cuisine Why you’d give it: Herrick’s practical approach to classic French soup recipes, from delicate consommés to stout bisques, is as refreshing in style as it is accessible to the everyday home cook. —Jeff Allen, food writer
Simplicity by Nancy Braithwaite (Rizzoli, October 2014, $50)
Best For: Home décor and architecture buffs Why you’d give it: Atlanta-based interior design maven Nancy Braithwaite’s first coffee-table book proves as well-designed and thought-out as one of her meticulously bold, deceptively “simple” rooms, and she gives a look into her contemporary Kiawah Island vacation house. —Melissa Bigner, senior editor
Disappearance at Hangman’s Bluff by J.E. Thompson (Walden Pond Press, September 2014, $17)
Best For: Eight- to 12-year-olds with a sense of adventure Why you’d give it: Young locals will love that this whodunit—the second book in the A Felony Bay Mystery series—is set on a fictional island near Charleston. —Anna Evans, managing editor
