Book House suggestions for holiday giving

PHOTOGRAPHER: Indiana Nash

For 37 years, the Book House has helped Capital Region residents find the best of local literary talent and the cream of the crop from the bestsellers lists. Here is their curated list of favorite discoveries for 2016.

Local Authors

“Keep Swinging” by Joe Bruno

The autobiography of a veteran and a politician who spent 14 years in the state Senate.

“Scarecrow in the Marsh” by Don Weeks

A Cape Cod thriller surrounding the death of a famous cosmetic surgeon and a group of terrorists hiding on the outskirts of a small town.

“Upper East Side Girl” by Bernard Conners

Taking place in a mysterious building in New York City that seems to be immune to time, the protagonist juggles his stressful job as a junior literary agent and his own creative workings, while mourning the loss of his mother. It’s not until he meets Sarah that his world starts to come back together and yet unwind at the same time.

“Renato After Alba” by Eugene Mirabelli

Surrounded by the grief of losing his wife, the protagonist explores his pain through his artwork. Through this and a few other characters, Renato finds what it means to be human.

Staff picks
“Throwback Special” by Chris Bachelder

Twenty-two men come together every year to reenact what ESPN called “the most shocking play in NFL history.” The novel explores the men’s lives, the subtle challenges of marriage, parenting and being human.

“And After the Fire” by Lauren Belfer

This work interlaces past and present. It weaves between the lives of Sara and Susanna, and the mysterious choral masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that changes both their lives.

“Borscht Belt Book” by Marisa Scheinfeld

A collection of photographs of abandoned sites around upstate New York and the Catskill region.

“Mistletoe Murder” by P.D. James

This work features four previously unpublished short stories by the celebrated mystery author.

“All the Gallant Men: 1st Memoir by a USS Arizona Survivor” by Donald Stratton

The first memoir penned by USS Arizona survivor. It is a firsthand account of Pearl Harbor and Stratton’s return to flight.

On the bestseller lists

“A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol (a luxury hotel close to the Kremlin).

He watches tumultuous Russian history unfold from his window.

“Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates” by Brian Kilmeade

In 1801, American merchant ships were frequently caught by pirates off North Africa’s Barbary Coast.

This is the untold story of how America attempted to worked with four Muslim powers (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers and Morocco), but negotiating proved useless. Thomas Jefferson sent the U.S. Navy and Marines to Tripoli and started the Barbary Wars.