5 Books That’ll Make The Perfect Last Minute Stocking Stuffer For The Bookworm in Your Life

Books can take your mind places your body can’t go and open your eyes to things you’d normally never see. Literature has a magic that is as timeless as that of the holiday season—regardless of what you celebrate.

The five authors and novels listed below will help guide your mind and soul through unseen territories and speak truths you didn’t know you needed.

With our #Bookmarked series, People Chica is highlighting five books and authors across genres and ethnicities to bring you something that is as unique as your reading style.

1. The Singles Table by Sara Desai

Desai beautifully pens a novel about what happens when two stark opposites attract. Free-spirited, recently single and celeb-obsessed Zara Patel loves to play «matchmaker» to all her friends—always successfully matching people.

That is until she meets the very square former military security specialist Jay Donovan. The two strike a deal where she helps find him a mate and he will introduce her to his celebrity clients. But as life unfolds, their journey takes an unsuspecting turn towards one another. $16, www.barnesandnoble.com

2. The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

The First Woman dives deep into Ugandan mythology and follows the story of Kirabo (Uganda’s equivalent to Eve). Nansubuga Makumbi writes a deeply rich coming-of-age story about a girl in search for her mother while learning along the way the beauty of what it means to be a woman. $15, www.amazon.com

3. Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

Maldonado elegantly weaves a story about coming to terms with all the sazón we are born with—from our culture to our parents to our curvaceous bodies. Fat Chance, Charlie Vega follows the intelligent, funny and very capable Charlie Vega as she embarks on the journey of truly loving her best asset: herself. $13, www.target.com

4. Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Boulley pens this thrilling and beautiful story about 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine as she learns what it means to be a steadfast and strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman). Fontaine finds herself at the center of an FBI case that is revealing truths about her community that are seeking to tear it apart. $11, www.amazon.com

5. Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices From The Latinx Diaspora edited by Saraciea J. Fennell

This book, edited by a hondureña #ChicaBoss, dissects the different myths and stereotypes that are prevalent within the Latin diaspora. It tackles topics ranging from immigration to sex to culture to language in a series of moving and poignant personal essays and poems. $15, www.target.com