Gift Guide: Top Titles from Birch Tree Books

With the holidays around the corner, Birch Tree Bookstore in Leesburg is here to help you find the perfect gifts for your friends, co-workers, family (or yourself! you deserve a treat, too). We wanted to create a gift guide that would help you find the perfect gifts (books!) for everyone on your list.

As a small, indie bookstore, we very carefully curate books to make sure that our shelves are stocked with relevant, meaningful titles to suit a wide audience of readers, both those who are new to reading and those who are book lovers.

Leah Fallon started Birch Tree out of the trunk of her car in the summer of 2020. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic showed Leah that people need and want books now more than ever.

Birch Tree has grown since those days, morphing into a pop-up, then graduating into a building in Leesburg. This month, Birch Tree just celebrated moving into its one, true home: 11 W Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia. (Across the street from McEnearney Associates new Leesburg location!)

Children’s Picture Books

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Let’s start the holiday shopping spree with some books for the little ones in your life. Local author Deb Shumaker’s newest book Peculiar Primates is on the shelves! Speaking of local authors, Leesburg’s own Laura Renauld has just published her third in a series of animal stories, Squirrel’s Sweater. Pair either book with a Fair Trade toy for extra fun!

Elementary-School-Age Books

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For an elementary-school-age kid (or any kid-at-heart!) there’s nothing quite as magical as the new illustrated Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Jim Kay’s illustrations bring the story to life… like magic! These are real treasures; the kind of books anyone can pore over for hours.

As an honorable mention, the wildly popular Warriors series just welcomed its newest addition, The Starless Clan #2: Sky.

Young Adult (YA) Books

Moving on over to the young adult shelf: The Sunbearer Trials is Aiden Thomas’s latest masterpiece. Most teenagers will have grown up reading the Greek myth retelling, Percy Jackson, in middle school, so they’ll love this South American myth retelling.

Nonfiction Books & Memoirs

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For the non-fiction lovers, Bono’s memoir Surrender: 40 Songs One Story is a must. In Bono’s own words “Surrender is the story of one pilgrim’s lack of progress… With a fair amount of fun along the way.”

Next to the non-fiction is the memoir shelf. With our neighbors at McEnearney in mind, Joanna Gaines’s new memoir The Stories We Tell jumped off the shelf. Pair this thoughtful book with a journal so your reader can reflect and write about their own lives.

Fiction Books

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For the general fiction readers, the iconic Cormac McCarthy is back with a new release! The Passenger promises depth, heartbreak, genre-bending, and the philosophical, dreamlike prose that McCarthy readers would expect.

Honorable mention: the exquisite Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (and just look at that cover!).

Mystery & Suspense Books

Now things are getting a little more… mysterious. Daisy Darker offers drama and mystery that would even make Agatha Christie herself proud.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

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On the next shelf over in speculative fiction, you’ll find the new historical fantasy, Babel. Comfortably chunky, just the way we fantasy readers like, this book is written by the up-and-coming R.F. Kuang.

However, if you’re looking for more of a stocking-stuffer, see this mini, immaculate edition of Galatea by Madeline Miller (the queen of the myth retelling).

Romance Books

For a fun, festive rom-com, look no further than local author Jean Meltzer’s The Matzah Ball. An enemies-to-lovers romance full of laughter, love, and celebration – perfect for the holidays.

Coffee Table Books, Cookbooks, & Statement Pieces

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Anyone (musicians and non-musicians alike) will enjoy Bob Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song. Like his music, Dylan’s essays are accessible, funny, and reflective in a way that makes you feel connected to yourself and your community.

When in doubt, everyone loves a cookbook during the holidays. For a fun, sweet treat, the local bakery Red Truck has released their second cookbook, Red Truck Bakery: Sweet and Savory Comfort Food from America’s Favorite Rural Bakery. For a practical, every-day-use cookbook, go for a tried and true Smitten Kitchen publication with their new book, Smitten Kitchen Keepers.

There really is a book for everyone, and nothing says “I know you well” like a handpicked book. Whether you opt for hardcover or paperback, set up your friends and family for cozy winter evenings with a memorable, meaningful story.

Laura Seabourne is a bookseller at Birch Tree Books and a lifelong book-lover. She particularly loves science fiction and fantasy, but really, how can a reader choose just two favorite genres? In her spare time, she enjoys reading books, thinking about books, teaching books, writing about books… and knitting, of course. CR: Legends and Lattes and Bird by Bird.