RadioWest’s 2025 Holiday Book Show
This week, Catherine Weller, Ken Sanders and Anne Holman join us to talk about their favorite winter reads — the titles they recommend that we can all gift to each other or curl up with while the snow (hopefully) falls and the fire crackles.
Books can be seen as mirrors of the moment. This season, sci-fi novels are popular at local stores. Sci-fi has always dealt with social issues and political underpinnings, and our guests suggest their rise in popularity may be a way that readers are trying to make sense of our complicated times. Among the many books we’ll talk about, we’ll learn about horroromance, Patti Smith’s latest work and the journey of a local homeless artist who self-published his own book. You will likely find a few titles to add to your own stack.
GUESTS –
Anne Holman | Co-Owner, The King's English Bookshop
Ken Sanders | Owner of Ken Sanders Rare Books
Catherine Weller | Book buyer for Weller Book Works
Airdate: Weds., Dec. 10, 2025, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Holiday Book List
Ken Sanders Rare Books:
Fiction & Poetry
Poetry:
· “Blue Corn Tongue” by Amber Mccray. University of Arizona Press. Paperback, 17.95 Released Jan 28th
· “Unravel” By Tolu Oloruntoba. Penguin. Paperback, $18.95. Released Mar 25th
· “boy maybe” by W. J. Lofton, Penguin. Paperback, $18.95. Released Mar 25th.
· “We Contain Landscapes” by Patrycja Humienik, Tin House, Paperback, $16.95. Released Mar 18th.
Fiction:
· “Tom’s Crossing” by Mark Z. Danielewski. Pantheon Books. Hardcover, $40.00 Released Oct 28th
· “Immaculate Conception” by Ling Ling Huang , Penguin. Hardcover, $28.00. Released May 13th
· “The Emperor of Gladness” by Ocean Vuong, Penguin. Hardcover, $30.00, Released May 13th
· “The Widow” by John Grisham. Doubleday, Hardcover $32.00. Released October 2025
· “Katabasis” by R.F. Kuang. Harper Collins, Hardcover, $30.00.
· “We Do Not Part” by Han Kang, Penguin, Hardcover, $28.00. Released Jan 25th, 2025
· “My Name is Emilia Del Valle” by Isabelle Allende. Penguin, Hardcover, $30.00. Released May 6th.
· “Tailored Realities” by Brandon Sanderson. Tor, Hardcover, $29.99. Released Dec 9th, 2025
Photography, Illustrated Books & Graphic Novels
· “The Curse of Monte Cristo” by David Dabel. Andrew McMeel Publishing, Paperback, $18.99. Released April15th, 2025
· “The Novel Life of Jane Austen” by Janine Barcas, Black Dog, Hardcover, $28.00, Released April 29th, 2025
· “Cabbie” by Marti Riera Ferrera, Fantagraphics, Paperback, $29.99. Released April 29th
· “The One and Only Rumi” By Rabiah York. Nancy Paulsen, Hardcover, $18.99. Released Mar 11th
· “Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life by Dan Nadel.” Scribner, Hardcover, $35.00. Released April 15th
· “Tales of Paranoia” by R. Crumb. Fantagraphics, Paperback. $5.99 Released Nov 5th
· “Paul Aster’s New York Trilogy” by Paul Aster. Pantheon, Hardcover, $35.00. Released April 8th
· “The History of EC Comics” by Various authors. TASCHEN, Hardcover $200.00. Released 2020
Children’s Books
· “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic, Hardcover, $27.99. Released Mar 18th
· “Dream on” by Shannon Hale. Roaring Book Press, Hardcover, $22.99. Released on Aug 26th
· “Prisons Must Fall” by Jane Ball and Mariame Kaba. Haymarket Books, Hardcover, $18.95. Released Apr 18th
· “Somadina” by Akweke Amezi. Penguin, Hardcover $19.99. Released Apr 15th
· “Girls on the Rise” by Amanda Gorman. Penguin, Hardcover, $19.99. Released Jan 7th
· “Bog Myrtle” by Sid Sharp. Annik Press, Hardcover, $19.99.
· “Woods & Words : The Story of Poet Mary Oliver” by Sara Ackerman. Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, $19.99. Released April 1st
· “My Brother” By Laura Djupvik. Penguin, Hardcover, $18.95. Released Mar 25th
· “A Kids Book About Banned Books” by National Coalition Against Censorship. Penguin, Hardcover, $19.99. Released Jan 21st
History, Politics & Current Affairs
· “Karl Nicholason: He Was an Artist” by Karl Nicholason. Self-Published, softcover, $95.00. Released May 2025
· “One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El-Akkad. Penguin, Hardcover, $28.00. Released Feb 25th
· “Mood Machine” by Liz Pelly. Atria, Hardcover, $28.99. Released Jan 7th
· “Jane Austen's Bookshelf” by Rebecca Romney. Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, $29.99. Released Feb 18th
· “No Less Strange or Wonderful: Essays in Curiosity” by A. Kendra Greene. Tin House, Hardcover, $28.99. Released Mar 8th
· “Bread of Angels” by Patti Smith. Penguin, Hardcover, $30.00. Released Nov 4th.
· “Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts” by Margaret Atwood. Penguin, Hardcover, $35.00. Released Nov 4th
· “A Protest History of the United States” by Gloria J Browne-Marshall. Beacon Press, Hardcover, $31.95. Released Apr 22nd.
Natural History
· “Eventually a Sequoia: Stories of Art, Adventure & the Wisdom of Giants” by Jeremy Collins. Mountaineers Books, Hardcover, $29.95. Released Aug 23rd
· “The Urban Naturalist How to Make the City Your Scientific Playground” By Menno Schilthuizen. Penguin, Hardcover, $32.95. Released Apr 1st.
· “Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the Practice of Enchantment” by Brooke Williams. Uphill Books, Paperback,
· “The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light” by Craig Childs. Torrey House Press, Hardcover, $24.95. Released May 20th.
· “Total Garbage: How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World” by Edward Humes. Penguin, Hardcover, $28.00. Released Apr 2nd.
· “Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future” by Alan Weisman. Penguin, Hardcover, $32.00. Released April 22nd
Utah
· “Preserving Greatness: The Great Salt Lake in Photographs” by Chris Carlson. Shadow Mountain Publishing, Hardcover. $65.00
· “On the Overland Trails with William Clark: A Teamster’s Utah War” by William Clark. University of Nebraska Press, Paperback, $26.95. Released Mar 4th
· “Wallace Stegner: Dean of Western Writers” by Alex Beam. Signature Books, Paperback, $18.95. Released April 18th
· “The Diaries of Carol Lynn Pearson: Mormon Author, Feminist, and Activist” by Carol Lynn Pearson. Signature Books, Paperback, $29.95. Released Dec 2025
· “The Blood in Their Veins: The Kimballs, Polygamy, and the Shaping of Mormonism” by Andrew Kimball. Signature Books, Hardcover, $39.95. Released Dec 2025
Frankenstein & Guillermo Del Toro
· “The Art & Making of Frankenstein” by Sheila O’Malley. Insight Editions, Hardcover, $75.00. Released Oct 28th
· “Frankenstein: The Complete Screenplay” by Guillermo Del Toro. Insight Editions. Hardcover. $29.99. Released Oct 28th.
· “Frankenstein: Portfolio Edition.” Insight Editions, Hardcover, $300.00. Released Oct 28th.
· “Frankenstein: Artifact Edition.” Insight Editions, Hardcover, $1000.00. Released Oct 28th.
· “Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsessions.” by Guillermo Del Toro. Insight Editions, Hardcover, $29.99
· “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” by Sheila O’Malley. Insight Editions, Hardcover, $60.00. Released 2023
· “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: Collector’s Edition.” Insight Editions, Hardcover, $650.00.
Weller Book Works
Adult Fiction and Poetry
“Archipelago of the Sun” by Yoko Tawada, New Directions, paperback, $16.95
“Atavists: Stories” by Lydia Millet, WW Norton, hardcover, $27.99
“Bog Wife” by Kay Chronister, Conterpoint, paperback, $17.95
“Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell, Vintage, paperback, $19.00
“House of Day, House of Night” by Olga Tokarczuk, Riverhead Books, hardcover, $28.00
“Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny” by Kiran Desai, Hogarth Press, hardcover, $32.00
“Sisters” by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Farrar Strauss Giroux, hardcover, $30.00
“Trip” by Amie Barrodale, Farrar Strauss Giroux, hardcover, $28.00
“Wayfinder” by Adam Johnson, MCD, hardcover, $30.00
“Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping” by Sangu Mandanna, Berkley Books, paperback, $19.00
Adult Non-Fiction
“Bread of Angels” by Patti Smith, Random House, hardcover, $30.00
“Baldwin: A Love Story” by Nicholas Boggs, Farrar Strauss Giroux, hardcover, $36.00
“Enshitification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It” by Cory Doctorow, MCD, hardcover, $30.00
“Is a River Alive?” by Robert McFarlane, W. W. Norton & Co, hardcover, $31.99
“Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America” by Bridget Read, Crown Publishing, $30.00
*“The Mountain Knows the Mountain: A Fire Watch Diary” by Philip Connors, University of New Mexico Press, hardcover, $24.95
“Night People: How to be a DJ in 90s New York City by Mark Ronson,” Grand Central Publishing hardcover, $29.00
“Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler” by Susana M. Morris, Amistad, hardcover, $29.99
“Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy” by Mary Roach, WW Norton, hardcover, $28.99
“We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution” by Jill Lepore, Liveright, hardcover, $39.99
Misc. Adult Books
“Fucked Up Fairy Tales” by Liz Gotauco, WW Norton, hardcover, $29.99
“Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism” by Stewart Reynolds, Grand Central Publishing, hardcover, $13.99
“Something From Nothing: A Cookbook” by Alison Roman, Clarkson Potter, hardcover, $37.99
“Sorry in Advance for Making Things Weird: A Disappointing Affirmations Collection,” by Dave Tarnowski, Chronicle, hardcover, $14.95
“You are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder” by Johnson, Maureen and Jay Cooper, Ten Speed Press, hardcover, $19.99
Kids Books
“Don’t Eat Eustace” by Lian Cho, HarperCollins, hardcover, $19.99 (4 – 6 yrs)
“If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone” by Gideon Sterer and Emily Hughes, illus, HarperCollins, hardcover, $19.99
“Pretty Ugly” by David Sedaris and Ian Falconer, illust., Toon Books, hardcover, $18.99 (4 – 7 yrs)
“The Rose Field: The Book of Dust, Volume Three” by Philip Pullman, Alfred A Knopf Books for Young Readers, hardcover, $29.99 (14 yrs and up)
“Scarlet Morning” by ND Stevenson, Quill Tree Books, hardcover, $19.00 (8 – 12 yrs)
“Secret Astronomer” by Jessica Walker, Viking Books for Young Readers, hardcover, $19.99 (12 yrs and up)
“Space Cat: A Graphic Novel” by Nnedi Okorafor, FirstSecond, paperback, $14.99 (8 – 12 yrs)
The King’s English Bookshop
Fiction
· “The Names” by Florence Knapp. Pamela Dorman Books, Hardcover, $30
· “The Blue Horse” by Bruce Borgos. Minotaur, Hardcover, $29
· “Carved in Blood” by Michael Bennett. Atlantic Monthly Press, Hardcover, $27
· “Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret” by Benjamin Stevenson, Mariner, Hardcover, $19.99
· “Old School Indian” by Aaron John Curtis. Hillman Grad, Hardcover, $28
· “The Slip” by Lucas Schaeffer. Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, $29.99
· “Bog Queen” by Anna North. Bloomsbury, Hardcover, $28.99
· “The Family Recipe” by Carolyn Huynh. Atria, Hardcover, $28.99
· “Marce Catlett: The Force of a Story” by Wendell Berry. Counterpoint, Hardcover, $26
· “What Falls Away” by Karin Anderson. Torrey House Press, paperback, $18.95
· “Things I Didn’t Do” by Karin Anderson. Torrey House Press, paperback, $18.95
· “Little Great Island” by Kate Woodworth. Sibylline Press, paperback, $21
· “When Cranes Fly South” by Lisa Ridzen. Vintage, paperback, $18
· “Table for Two” by Amor Towles. Penguin, paperback, $19
· “The Ocean is Everyone’s But It Is Not Yours” by Dave Eggers, McSweeney’s, Hardcover, $16
Nonfiction
· “Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer’s Life” by Todd Goddard. Blackstone, Hardcover, $29.99
· “The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by John U. Bacon. Norton, Hardcover, $35
· “Living in the Present with John Prine” by Tom Piazza. Norton, Hardcover, $27.99
· “The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects” by Bee Wilson. Norton, Hardcover, $31.99
· “The Last, Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found” by Michael Shaikh. Crown, Hardcover, $30
· “The Key to Everything: May Swenson, A Writer’s Life” by Margaret A. Brucia. Princeton, Hardcover, $29.95
· “The Onion Story: How a Band of Misfits, Dropouts and Sad Sacks Built the World’s Most Trusted News Source” by Scott Dikkers. Matt Holt Books, Hardcover, $30
· “A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession and Shipwreck” by Sophie Elmhirst. Riverhead, Hardcover, $28
· “Beer Hiking Southern Rockies: 45 Hikes and Microbreweries in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah” by Yitka Winn. Helvetiq, paperback, $24.95
· “The Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: Retirement” by Davie Borgenicht. Quirk, Hardcover, $9.99
· “Jane Austen for Every Day of the Year” by Tara Richardson. Cassell, Hardcover, $16.99
· “The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life” by Helen Whybrow. Milkweed, Hardcover, $26
· “Extremely Happy Holidays” by Devin McEwan & Sandra Boynton. Running Press, Hardcover, $20
Kids
· “The Tree of Life: A Lift-The-Flap Book about the Amazing Animals That Live in Trees Around the World” by Nalini Nadkarni. Neon Squid, Hardcover, $19.99
· “The Old Sleigh” by Jared Pumphrey. Norton Young Readers, Hardcover, $18.99
· “Holly Jolly Kitty Corn” by Shannon Hales. Harry N. Abrams, Hardcover, $19.99
· “The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah” by Laurel Snyder. Clarion, Hardcover, $19.99
· “A Snow Day for Amos McGee” by Philip C. Stead. Roaring Brook Press. Hardcover, $19.99
· “While We Wait” by Bee Johnson. Henry Holt, Hardcover, $18.99
· “Bones and Berserkers: 13 True Tales of Terror from American History” by Nathan Hale. Amulet, Hardcover, $15.99
· “Dream On” by Shannon Hale. Roaring Brook Press, Paperback, $14.99
· “The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest” by Aubrey Hartman. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hardcover, $17.99
· “If Looks Could Kill” by Julie Berry. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Hardcover, $21.99
· “The Free State of Jax” by Jennifer Nielsen. Scholastic, Hardcover, $18.99
· “Magnitude” by Jennifer Nielsen. Scholastic, Hardcover, $18.99