Penguin Presents: 6 Perfect Books for the Holiday Season

With Christmas around the corner, the time has come to gather gifts for family and loved ones. As avid readers, I’m sure we all know what it’s like to visit our local bookshop, search for the perfect book, and then, oh, no, there are too many options! Which book do I pick?

Never fear! Penguin Random House has you covered. Whether you’re seeking action, inspiration, flavor, or the latest trends, there’s a Penguin book for everyone this Christmas. Below, we have listed 6 books that are the perfect gift.

Bake with Brooki by Brooke Bellamy

Step into the kitchen with wildly popular baker Brooke Bellamy, owner of Brooki Bakehouse, and discover how to create the most delectable sweet treats for every craving and occasion. Since growing up baking with her mum in Tasmania, Brooke’s journey to becoming a bakery owner has spanned continents: from patisserie classes in Paris and visiting Swiss chocolate factories, to hunting down the ultimate cookies in New York City and seeking out cardamom buns in snowy Copenhagen. Now, she inspires millions of followers with her day-in-the-life videos from her Brisbane bakery, selling out daily to the queues of fans waiting in line for their Brooki fix. Brooke’s insatiable sweet tooth and passion for creating the very best bakes have driven her through it all, to here: her first cookbook. Bake with Brooki has everything – those chunky cookies that have gained a cult following (of course!) plus brownies, cupcakes, traybakes, macarons, cheesecakes, layer cakes and more.

Buy a copy of Bake with Brooki here.

Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong. So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection. THE MAGICIAN. THE ASSISTANT. THE EXECUTIVE. THE HYPNOTIST. THE TWIN. THE COUNSELLOR. THE STAGEHAND. My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there; A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens; And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it’s Christmas. If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it. After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it?

Buy a copy of Everyone this Christmas has a Secret here.

Jack Reacher #29: In Too Deep by Lee Child

Reacher had no idea where he was. No idea how he had got there. But someone must have brought him. And shackled him. And whoever had done those things was going to rue the day. That was for damn sure. Jack Reacher wakes up, alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a makeshift bed. His right arm has suffered some major damage. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there. The last thing Reacher can recall is the car he hitched a ride in getting run off the road. The driver was killed. His captors assume Reacher was the driver’s accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk. A plan that will backfire spectacularly…

Buy a copy of Jack Reacher #29: In Too Deep here.

Juice by Tim Winton

Two fugitives, a man and a child, drive all night across a stony desert. As dawn breaks, they roll into an abandoned mine site. From the vehicle they survey a forsaken place – middens of twisted iron, rusty wire, piles of sun-baked trash. They’re exhausted, traumatised, desperate now. But as a refuge, this is the most promising place they’ve seen. The child peers at the field of desolation. The man thinks to himself, this could work. Problem is, they’re not alone. So begins a searing, propulsive journey through a life whose central challenge is not simply a matter of survival, but of how to maintain human decency as everyone around you falls ever further into barbarism.

Buy a copy of Juice here.

The Fallen Woman by Fiona McIntosh

Botanical artist Jane Saville is devastated when her manipulative mother banishes her to the countryside to protect someone else’s honour. Isolated far from home, she is forced to live an impoverished, secretive life to save the family from public shame. Guy Attwood is heir to a fortune, but prefers his quiet passion for rare-apple hunting on behalf of Royal Kew Gardens to building the family’s business empire. He sets out to find a critically endangered apple species that he dreams of gifting and re-naming for his friend, the soon-to-be coronated George V. When the paths of these people from two very different worlds collide, Jane begins to hope for a different future, but their new friendship is shattered by jealousy, misunderstanding, duty and treachery. A young boy will inspire Jane to defy the powers working against her and prove she is no woman to be outcast. Set in the picturesque English countryside, in a forgotten orchard and beneath the ancient spire of Salisbury Cathedral, this is a heart-wrenching story about a woman who finds that in her darkest hour she can harness her greatest strength.

Buy a copy of The Fallen Woman here.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favourite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now. Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job … Then a dead body, a bag of money and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a deadly enemy?