Ditch the gift cards and gimmicks. These Seattle readers say books are the best gifts this holiday season

If you're struggling to find the right gifts this holiday season, look no further than your local bookstore — there are more than 50 independent new and used booksellers in the Seattle area after all.

Seattleites are readers, and if you have one on your holiday shopping list, this is what other Seattle readers recommend.

You can also get tons of recommendations from Seattle Public Library and independent bookstores, like Third Place Books and Elliott Bay Book Company.

Stesha Brandon, Seattle Public Library and Seattle City of Literature Board

Stesha Brandon always manages to surprise when we ask her for book recommendations, and she delivered yet again when we came looking for her holiday gift suggestions.

"To the Moon and Back" by Eliana Ramage was at the top of her list.

"Its protagonist, Steph, has determined to become the first Cherokee astronaut, and it's about the things that shape us and how we move forward from them," she said.

Also on her list: "Perfection" by Vincenzo Latronico, "a snapshot of the hidden costs of living our lives online"; "The Light Eaters" by Zoë Schlanger, which will "completely change the way you look at plants around you"; and "We Are Green and Trembling" by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, "a surreal critique of colonialism and conquest" that just won the National Book Award for Translated Literature. It's funny and touching, but also a surreal critique of colonialism and conquest.

And if anyone reading this happens to be shopping for Brandon, she flagged "Baking and the Meaning of Life" by Helen Goh.

"I'm excited because it's a combination of recipes and essays reflecting on how baking can add meaning to our lives every day," she said, sounding far more ready for the holiday baking rush than I am.

RELATED: How to get out of a reading rut, according to one of Seattle's most decorated readers

Isabel Cañas, Seattle author

Isabel Cañas was perhaps too humble to recommend her own horror-romance novels, "The Possession of Alba Díaz," "Vampires of El Norte," and "The Hacienda." She writes killer (ha!) stories full of Mexican history, steamy love affairs, and a variety of scares.

But where her books are more for an adult audience, she sent a recommendation for young adults, though she emphasized she likes it for readers of all ages: "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor.

"It asks a hard-hitting, central question: Is reconciliation possible after a devastating war?" Cañas said of her pick, which remains one of her "favorite books of all time." "It is a sweeping tale full of wonder, deep feeling, and the most tooth-achingly romantic yearning you have ever read. It's perfect for any fantasy reader on your list."

RELATED: The five spice levels of horror, according to KUOW's Katie Campbell (and Isabel Cañas)

Ronan Leshley, Queer Silent Book Club Seattle

Something I appreciated in the recommendations we got was how our book besties didn't let the holidays dictate the books they picked. In other words: Some folks, like me, like to get weird no matter the time of year.

Ronan Leshley's recommendation went right to the top of my wish list for its uniquely spooky vibes: "I'll Make a Spectacle of You" by Beatrice Winifred Iker.

"It's an Appalachian horror novel set at an HBCU," Leshley said, stringing together a tantalizing series of words that I've not yet found in the literal stacks of horror I've read over the years. "There's some sort of cult activity happening and also some strange goings on in the woods. I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark academia, which is a genre I really love, and I'm really excited to see what it says about institutional violence and racism. Also it's perfect for fans of horror who are not looking to read any holiday romance."

And if you want more from our LGBTQ+ reading community, check out the Queer Silent Book Club Seattle's schedule for upcoming meetups. They're getting together on Dec. 14 at Rough and Tumble Pub and on Dec. 18 at the Seattle Central Library, according to the club's Instagram.

RELATED: 'We just want to celebrate stories.' Observing Banned Books Week with a Seattle bookseller

Marnee Chua, Clarion West

As executive director of Clarion West, Marnee Chua was bound to come bearing gifts in the form of "wildly different novels featuring settings from around the world and out of it." What a sales pitch!

She started with a book that immediately made my wish list: "Archangels of Funk" by Andrea Hairston.

"Whether or not you love dystopian futures, read this book and thank me later," Chua said. "This is a simultaneously beautiful, fun, and stark take on how we can save ourselves and those around us."

Her other picks included: "When They Burned the Butterfly" by Wen-yi Lee, a "lush urban fantasy set in 1972 Singapore" that made this year's NPR Books We Love list; "Prism Stalker: The Weeping Star" by Sloane Leong, "a beautifully illustrated sci-fi colonization story set in space" that the graphic novel or comic book fan on your list won't be able to put down; and "All the Ends of the World" or "Todos los fines del mundo" by Andrea Chapela, "a story that spans from Spain to Mexico, finds hope in the midst of disaster," and asks a tough question: "Who would you want to be with at the end of the world?"

RELATED: Cordyceps, AI, and 'hope punk': Speculative fiction writers envision the future at Clarion West's annual write-a-thon

Dani Shull, Queer Silent Book Club Seattle

Dani Shull, like Queer Silent Book Club co-organizer Ronan Leshley, apparently has a recipe for getting my bookish attention. Shull picked a book described as both "hauntingly familiar and utterly strange": "Hild" by Seattle author Nicola Griffith.

And if you have a fan of historical fiction on your shopping list, this might be the one to nab, because Shull said reading it felt like "slipping into a dream you could swear you've had before."

"While reading, I forgot where I was and I missed my bus stop more than once because I was so wrapped up," she said. "We don't have many stories where women get to be at the center and be complex. Usually, they're defined by one or two traits, but Hild, Hild is gentle and blood thirsty. wise and rash, imperious and afraid, and lots of other things."

Hild is also queer, and Shull said reading this book and the sequel, "Menewood," "gave me some of the courage I needed to come out as queer, too."

RELATED: 'F*** it.' This Seattle author’s fiction is unapologetically queer