Arcadia Publishing Gift Guide for the Readers
The holiday season is the perfect time to share the gift of a great story and a great history. Whether you're shopping for the bookworm in your life or looking to treat yourself to a cozy escape, books make the ideal gift for anyone on your list. In this guide, we’ve curated a selection of our top picks —each one curated based on topics for the people in your life. From heartwarming tales to thrilling adventures, there’s something here for every reader. Let’s dive into this bookish holiday gift guide and make your gift-giving a little more magical this year!
For the Armchair Detective
Long Island's Vanished Heiress
Alice McDonell Parsons was the heir to a vast fortune among Long Island's wealthy elite when she was kidnapped from Long Meadow Farm in Stony Brook in 1937. The crime shocked the nation and was front-page news for several months. J. Edgar Hoover personally assigned his best FBI agents to the case, and within a short time, Parsons's husband and their live-in housekeeper, Anna Kupryanova, had become prime suspects. Botched ransom attempts, clashes between authorities and romantic intrigue kept the investigation mired in drama. The crime remained unsolved and has captivated Long Island audiences ever since. Former Suffolk County detective Steven C. Drielak reveals previously classified FBI documents and pieces together the mystery of the Alice Parsons kidnapping.
For the Outdoorsman
To hunt ducks in Montana—where the land breathes history—is to experience extremes in geography, weather and wildlife. The breadth of mountains and prairie is unlike anywhere else in the Lower 48. Both the Central and Pacific flyways span the state’s iconic wetlands, rivers and lakes. Hunting opportunities abound thanks to the state’s wildlife conservation legacy on public and private lands. Hunters walk in the footsteps of plains Indians, Lewis and Clark and mountain men while looking for a spot to pitch decoys. Embark on an epic and distinct Big Sky journey with author and hunter Matt Wemple, where a moose or grizzly bear could stroll through the decoys at any time.
For the Chef
Les Dames d'Escoffier New York Cookbook
Les Dames d' Escoffier New York, the most influential and accomplished women in the food world, present their favorite recipes for everything from simple weekday meals to spectacular party dishes.
Authors Silvia Baldini and Sharon Franke showcase seventy-six family recipes and pairings by Pascaline Lepeltier, MOF, and including a dedication by Lidia Bastianich to LDNY founder Carol Brock and a foreword by Carla Hall.
From Lidia's "Cavatappi with Asparagus and Spinach Pesto" or Ellie Krieger's recipe "Family Favorite Minestrone," to a stunning "Radicchio Salad with Radish, Basil, and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette" by two-Michelin star Chef Melissa Rodriguez, these recipes are for every occasion and for every level of skill.
Discover the dishes and recipes that some of the most heralded women in the food business, in the greatest city in the world for food, cook when they are in their own home kitchens.
For the Remarkable Woman
A Radical Suffragist in Washington, D.C.
In September 1918 Elizabeth Kalb boarded a train to Washington, DC to fight for voting rights for women.
For over two years, Elizabeth lived and worked at the National Woman’s Party headquarters a block from the White House. Letters she wrote during that time describe detention at the Capitol and an arrest at the White House, raising money, serving in the organization's Tea Room and struggling through the 1918 flu epidemic. Elizabeth draws the reader into a world of intense partisanship, battles with police, and diverse personalities united in a common cause. Suffragists ensured that politicians could not ignore women’s rights.
Author Shirley Marshall uses this eyewitness account to create an indelible portrait of life within the National Woman's Party.
For the Ghost Hunter
Between 1647 and 1697, at least thirty-four men and women from across the state were formally charged with witchcraft. Eleven were hanged. In New Haven, William Meeker was accused of cutting off and burning his pig's ears and tail as he cast a bewitching spell. After the hanging of Fairfield's Goody Knapp, magistrates cut down and searched her body for the marks of the devil. Through newspaper clippings, court records, letters and diaries, author Cynthia Wolfe Boynton uncovers the dark history of the Connecticut witch trials.
For the Sports Fan
Classic Clashes of the Carolina-Clemson Football Rivalry
Former Clemson coach Charley Pell once said that the outcome of the Carolina-Clemson rivalry decides who walks down the street as state champion and who hides in a closet for a year. That's the way it goes in the Palmetto State when these two football teams get together. Playing for the first time in 1896 on a soggy day at the state fair in Columbia, the Gamecocks and the Tigers began a tradition that has lasted over a century. Join award-winning sportswriters Travis Haney and Larry Williams as they recount the greatest moments of the longest uninterrupted series in the South, with firsthand accounts from coaches, players and spectators.
If none of these spark your interest or hit the mark for the reader in your life, check out our expansive catalog at www.arcadiapublishing.com.
No matter who you're shopping for this holiday season, the perfect book is just waiting to be discovered. So, whether you're gifting a cozy read for a winter night or an inspiring new adventure, let these books be a thoughtful token of your love and appreciation. After all, there's no better gift than the gift of a great, true story. Happy reading, and happy holidays!