Searching for the perfect books to fill out your holiday shopping list? We’ve got you covered with recommendations from the owners of two independent bookstores in Ohio. Suzanne DeGaetano of Mac’s Backs in Cleveland and Greg Kornbluh of Downbound Books in Cincinnati suggest books to gift readers of all ages and genres, from picture books to graphic novels, poetry, works of nonfiction, cerebral literary novels, and beyond.

We encourage listeners to visit (or order online from) Mac’s Backs, Downbound Books, and other independent bookstores this holiday season.

Recommendations from Mac’s Backs:

• The Voice in the Hollow by Will Hillenbrand
• Ain’t It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City by Aaron Lange
• Poem for Cleveland Anthology, edited by Ray McNiece
• Foster by Claire Keegan
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi
• How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett & illustrated by Jon Klassen
• When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
• Refugee by Alan Gratz
• What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
• Bonus: Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond, edited by Timothy G. Anderson & Brian Schoen

Recommendations from Downbound Books:

• Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up by Jenn Bishop
• The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence by Robin James
• The Shade Tree by Suzy Lee
• Dragons Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
• How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney
• The Lost Subways of North America by Jake Berman
• The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape by Katie Holten
• Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue
• The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker
• Open Throat by Henry Hoke

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.