2024 Holiday Book Guide: 8 Colorado authors suggest great reads to delight you and everyone on your gift list
Books are always the perfect gift, and we’ve asked Colorado authors to help fill out your holiday shopping list
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You’ve got lots of people to buy for. Fortunately, Colorado authors have got lots of ideas.
There’s nothing quite like the gift of a book — whether you’re on the giving or receiving end. So once again, we’ve asked some of the Sun’s favorite authors, all of them finalists or winners of the Colorado Book Award, to help us out by suggesting titles from their chosen genres that would make it just a little easier for you to match a great read with that special friend or relative.
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Some of these eight authors you’ll remember from previous guides, others may be fresh names to you. They’ve each selected two works for your consideration — some recent releases and some older books you may have missed. And as a bonus we’ve linked to each author’s own award-worthy work as well.
So have a look and see if any of these line up with the favored reading choices of friends or family. Or maybe you’ll find one that’s a perfect fit for you.
Because everyone deserves a great book.
How to find them …
It’s never a bad idea to support your local independent bookstore. Here are some tools for deciding the best way to buy:
NewPages Guide: List of Colorado independent bookstores
Bookshop.org: Searchable database of bookstores nationwide
Creative nonfiction
Camille T. Dungy is the author of “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden,” which was a finalist for the 2024 Colorado Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. She is a University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University, and she has two more volumes of creative nonfiction to put on your reading list.
“Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country”
By Pam Houston (2019)
Pam Houston’s “Deep Creek” writes its way toward the deep healing love of self and place that is possible when we learn to truly see the land and all who live on the land as kin. Writing through a past full of pain and a present full of uncertainty, Houston describes the home she and those who came before her have proved up in the high country, all the while describing the many reasons she has found to fall in love with the whole of this wildly wonderful planet as well as the particular place she calls home.
“Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Days on the John Muir Trail”
By Suzanne Roberts (2023)
The 20th anniversary edition of this refreshingly imagined trail narrative adds new insight into the ways Suzanne Roberts renews the tradition of outdoor adventure writing. Focused on three young women who set out to hike the John Muir trail through the High Sierra, Roberts writes a book that pushes against many of the tired tropes of nature writing while opening space for new ways of considering how different people might go into the forest to find not just their souls but also their hearts and their sense of themselves.
General nonfiction
Chip Colwell is the author of “So Much Stuff,” which won the 2024 Colorado Book Award for General Nonfiction. He is an archaeologist and the editor-in-chief of a digital magazine about anthropological thinking and discoveries. He’s got two nonfiction suggestions that will get you thinking.
“Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past”
By Sarah H. Parcak (2019)
We archaeologists are more used to looking down at the ground than up into space. Which is why I love Sarah Parcak’s work, which explores what scientists of the material world can learn from the adventures of space travel and technology. The book is lively, with engaging storytelling, and reveals much about humans past, present, and future.
“Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents — and What They Mean for America’s Future”
By Jean M. Twenge (2023)
This book has fundamentally remapped my thinking about generational cultures and divides. Jean M. Twenge convincingly shows how the generation we’re born into drives so much of our behavior and choices, shaping everything from American politics to pop culture. Although the book dives deep into the complexities of the forces that define a generation, it is always readable as the reader discovers what makes us tick. If you work or live or otherwise interact with anyone from generations from your own, then this book is for you.
History
Herman Martinez is the co-author of “Hilos Culturales: Cultural Threads of the San Luis Valley,” which was a finalist for the 2024 Colorado Book Award in History. This authority on the history of southwestern Colorado and beyond has two more for you to consider.
“The Enchanted Hacienda”
By J.C. Cervantes (2023)
The locations take you from the U.S. to Mexico and finally, Canada. The reader is drawn from a family herbal garden environment in Mexico to Old Quebec. The reader will also be struck by a radiant journey from the blooming flower fields of Mexico to the cobblestones of Montreal.
“Once I Was You: A Memoir”
By Maria Hinojosa (2022)
Her narrative relayed in memoir style plants a seed in the reader that tells the story of one’s strengths and determination to become an independent news journalist. María Hinojosa was born in Mexico City and grew up in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago where she speaks of being caught between two cities. You’ll marvel as you learn how she thrived as a career professional reporting journalist for CNN, NPR, PBS and other networks and today as the executive producer for the Peabody Award-winning show “Latino USA.”
Historical fiction
Annie Dawid is the author of “Paradise Undone,” a work of historical fiction based on the Jonestown massacre that was a finalist for the 2024 Colorado Book Award in Historical Fiction. She’s got two other suggestions for historical fiction you might enjoy.
“James”
By Percival Everett (2024)
For those who’ve been impressed by Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” but also made squeamish by his depiction of Jim, the runaway slave, Everett’s “James” is your remedy. In this smart and funny novel, we inhabit James — not Jim — a man of discernment, humor and education to those he trusts, like the reader. Presenting himself to the slave-owning world of his time, he speaks another language as Jim, the illiterate slave, an expert in code-switching in both character and vocabulary. As a reader who loves when contemporary writers take on classics, honoring as well as critiquing the original, I adored “James” and read more slowly as the ending approached, not wanting to part with the voice of Everett’s perspicacious and entertaining narrator.
“To Die Beautiful”
By Buzzy Jackson (2023)
In the fall of 2023, I discovered Jackson’s most recent novel mentioned on more than one Best of 2023 lists for fiction. (I had no idea the writer lived in Colorado and would be my competitor in the historical fiction category for the Colorado Book Awards, which she deservedly won.) The story of Hannie Schaft, Dutch Resistance fighter, who became one of the most wanted women by the Nazi regime, gripped me from start to finish, then lingered in my heart and brain with her humanity and bravery still accessible a year later. Unsurprisingly, I had never heard of this woman, who miraculously survived her ordeal, sparked when her Jewish friends were expelled from university. Unlike the average Dutch citizen, Schaft immediately joined the resistance, willing to give her life, which she nearly did, ultimately imprisoned and starved by her captors. For those who lacked the opportunity to read about women who stood up to their aggressors, this story of Hannie Schaft is the antidote.
Novel
Ramona Ausubel is the author of “The Last Animal,” a 2024 finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Novel. She is the recipient of the PEN/USA Fiction Award, the Cabell First Novelist Award and has also been a finalist for the California book award and the New York Public Library Young Lions Award. Here are two titles she recommends.
“The Creative Act: A Way of Being”
By Rick Rubin (2023)
OK, this first one isn’t a novel — but it just might help you write one. From the famed music producer, this book is full of generous, big-hearted thoughts on where creativity comes from and lives (and doesn’t). It’s practical and philosophical at the same time, with inspiration for writers or artists at every stage. Plus, a lovely object — hardcover and cloth bound — that all your creatively inclined beloveds will want to have on their desks for a long time.
“Terrace Story”
By Hilary Leichter (2024)
A young couple lives with their new baby in a tiny apartment in New York. One day, a friend comes to visit and she opens a closet door to discover a beautiful, spacious terrace. The terrace only appears when this woman comes over, and both the space and the friend slowly changes the family. There are other strands, all of them curious and delightful and puzzle-y. Leichter’s writing is rich and full of images that stick.
Mystery
Cynthia Swanson is the author of the multi-layered mystery “Anyone But Her,” and also both edited and had her short story featured in “Denver Noir,” the collection that won the 2023 Colorado Book Award for Anthology. Here are a couple of mysteries she recommends.
“Missing White Woman”
By Kellye Garrett (2024)
A follow-up to Garrett’s first psychological suspense title, “Like a Sister,” the latest novel from the Hollywood Homicide detective series author explores the mystery surrounding a missing woman through the viewpoint of Bree, a young Black woman vacationing in New York City with her boyfriend, Ty. When Bree wakes up in the morning to find the missing woman’s body in the foyer of the luxury rental unit she and Ty are occupying — and Ty nowhere to be found — she must use her instincts to determine what happened and who is complicit. A page-turning look at assumptions, racial bias, and what it takes to seek out the truth.
“The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz”
By Manuel Ramos (2003)
In 2023, 30 years after its original publication, Denver author Ramos re-released his first novel, “The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz,” proving that classic mystery holds up over the ages. Luis Montez is a down-and-out attorney trying to put the past behind him. But when threats surface about “the old business” — shades of what happened during the Chicano Movement 20 years prior, including the murder of Montez’s friend Rocky Ruiz — Luis must uncover the connections between past and present. Colorado readers will enjoy not just the compelling story but also the local history and cameo appearances from prominent Denverites. As a bonus, readers might soon see Ramos’ stories come alive on the screen, as “The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz” and his other works have been optioned by Warner Bros. Television for an upcoming TV series or film(s).
Thriller
Caleb Stephens was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in this category for “The Girls in the Cabin.” He also recently released the thriller “If You Lie,” featuring a buried past, a new-age cult and a floating prison with no way off. Here are his comments on two selections from his genre.
“Like It Never Was”
By Faith Gardner (2024)
If you like your thrillers packed with unhinged characters, this is the one for you. “Like It Never Was” is a tale of revenge gone oh so wrong and a reminder that whatever we try to bury in life always comes back to haunt us.
“The Threshing Floor”
By Steph Nelson (2024)
Cults. Miracles. Sacrifice. This cult thriller is an exploration of a mother’s love and the incredible lengths she’ll travel in order to save her terminally-ill child. Written by an author who escaped a cult herself, this novel is one you don’t want to miss.
Sci-fi and fantasy
Gary Raham worked as a graphic artist in Fort Collins while learning the craft of writing. His book “Not Quite Dead Geniuses at Large on an Angry Planet” was a 2024 Colorado Book Award finalist for Science Fiction/Fantasy. Here are his sci-fi/fantasy picks.
“Virch: The Illusion Matters”
By Laura Resau (2024)
I’ve admired Laura Resau for many years for the way she has told engaging “coming of age” stories with lyrical prose. In “Virch,” she weaves a young love story set in 2154 with a science fiction adventure/thriller plot involving a virtual-reality empire created by an ethically challenged billionaire. Sci-fi readers will enjoy a face-paced tale well-told while exploring some mind-bending ideas that may force them to question the nature of our own reality.
The Quintaglio Trilogy: “Far-Seer” (1992), “Fossil Hunter” (1993), and “Foreigner” (1994)
By Robert Sawyer
Somehow I missed this classic hard science fiction book series by Robert Sawyer, a Canadian author whose work I’ve followed for many years. The series follows the evolution of a race of intelligent, theropod dinosaurs on the moon of a gas giant planet initiated as the result of an experiment begun by a wandering immortal intelligence in our universe. A dinosaur genius finds an enigmatic artifact that threatens the world view of his culture and hints at a moon-ending disaster that could eliminate his race unless he can convince the powers that be that the crisis is real. A fascinating, multi-generational saga echoing the rise of human civilization and technology.
This story first appeared in Colorado Sunday, a premium magazine newsletter for members.
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