Margaret Renkl and Ben Nadler headline our Holiday Gift Guide.

It’s the sixth annual Fully Booked Holiday Gift Guide! On this week’s special episode, editor-in-chief Tom Beer joins me in celebrating the year’s best books to give (and receive). From new editions of beloved classics to soon-to-be favorites—cookbooks, art books, box sets, you name it—we’ve got a recommendation for every reader on your list. Look for a special supplement to the magazine—with more than 100 gift ideas for all ages—coming on Dec. 1.

The authors of two top picks stop by to spread some holiday cheer: New York Times opinion columnist Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year(Spiegel & Grau, Oct. 24), shares what it takes to make a literary devotional, reflections on the natural world, and the gift books she plans to give this holiday season. And cartoonist and illustrator Ben Nadler takes us inside The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food (Chronicle Books, July 11), a delectably cheeky graphic homage to the colorful, mythical palaces of flavor known as delicatessens and appetizing stores.

Then Kirkus’ editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, Eric Liebetrau, and Laurie Muchnick share some of this season’s best gift books.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Afterward, Everything Was Different: A Tale From the Pleistocene by Jairo Buitrago, illus. by Rafael Yockteng, trans. by Elisa Amado (Greystone Kids)

All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri (Norton Young Readers)

Pictured Worlds: Masterpieces of Children’s Book Art by 101 Essential Illustrators From Around the World by Leonard S. Marcus (Abrams Books)

Marr’s Guitars by Johnny Marr, photographed by Pat Graham (Dey Street/HarperCollins)

Sofreh by Nasim Alikhani and Theresa Gambacorta (Knopf)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

By Means of Peace by Don Johnston

A Bitch for God by Clark T. Carlton

Today, Oh Boy by Wesley Moore III

Held and Free: Coming Out of Your Story by Megan M. O’Nan

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.