Maybe someone on your Christmas list is really into artificial intelligence. Or maybe they’re only interested in books that win awards.

Books fitting those categories and dozens more — from children’s books to horror novels — are among the list of great gift-giving options put together by three guests of WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show.”

Daniel Goldin is used to sharing his gift-giving ideas. Goldin is the owner of Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee, and he releases gift guides each year. 

Tessa Michaelson Schmidt and Megan Schliesman are director and assistant director, respectively, of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, which provides references and outreach to public librarians, school librarians and educators.

The three guests shared their top picks for fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. Below are six of their recommendations.

If you want more: Here’s the complete list from Boswell Book Company and the list from Cooperative Children’s Book Center. 

Books for adults

‘James’

If Goldin had to pick a book of the year, it’d be “James,” by Percival Everett. It’s a retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the viewpoint of the character James, a Black man fleeing slavery. 

“’James’ is so powerful that it has won the National Book Award,” Goldin said. “It won the Kirkus prize. It just got named to the top 10 books of the year by The Washington Post, and I think The New York Times.”

You can read “James” without reading “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Goldin said. However, other readers told him that knowing Twain’s work adds to the experience. 

‘Hampton Heights’ 

Cozy horror novel “Hampton Heights,” by Dan Kois, is a great pick for anyone who loves stories set in Wisconsin. It reads like a contemporary Grimm’s Fairy Tale, Goldin said. 

“Most books from large publishers play down their Midwest settings,” Goldin wrote in his notes about the title. “But in this book, Milwaukee is in the subtitle.”

The story follows six paperboys in the late 1970s. Teamed up in pairs, each group has their own adventure confronting some sort of monster. And there are stakes, too. If they sell enough newspaper subscriptions, they all get to go to Burger King. 

‘AI Snake Oil’

Artificial intelligence has been all over the news and social media. If there’s someone in your life who’s excited — or alarmed — about this emerging tech, consider the nonfiction book, “AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference,” by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor.

“The key here is that there are very different technologies being grouped together for marketing and investment purposes, and they can be separated into two classes: generative AI and predictive AI,” Goldin wrote in his notes about the book. “According to the authors, the first works, but with caveats, and the second generally does not.”

Additionally, Narayanan and Kapoor are two of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI.

“It’s very readable,” Goldin said. “For an academic book, I found it very engaging.”

Books for children

‘Log Life’

Nurse logs are fallen trees that provide shelter, nutrients and water for new life.

And they’re also the subject of a delightful children’s book called “Log Life,” written and illustrated by Amy Hevron. Michaelson Schmidt and Schliesman said it’s suited for kids ages 4 to 7.

If you enjoy this one, check out “Sunken Ship,” also by Hevron. It made the list, too.

“The illustrations in (‘Log Life’), as well as in ‘Sunken Ship,’ are just delightful. They make the science so accessible,” Michaelson Schmidt said. “And I’m going to say it: They’re so cute. Even lichen. Who thought the lichen would be cute?”

‘At the End of the Day’ 

Life can feel really busy and overwhelming at times, no matter our age. There’s homework to do, chores to check off and piano lessons to attend. Wisconsin-based author Lisl H. Detlefsen writes about gratitude amongst the chaos in “At the End of the Day.”

“What I love in the story is we also see how small things can turn that feeling of frustration to delight and even moments of unexpected pleasure,” Schliesman said. “So it turns out that things like laughter that follows an especially good knock-knock joke, or when the missing puzzle piece is found, can make that day really wonderful.”

“Chooch Helped,” by Andrea Rogers, is a similar title that caught the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s attention. Schliesman said it’s a universal story of sibling tension, grounded in the specifics of a Cherokee family and their culture. 

Both titles are picture books recommended for readers and listeners under age 8. 

‘Poetry Comics’ 

Graphic novels have exploded in popularity over the last 10 years, Schliesman said. And they’re being published with young readers in mind. 

“Poetry Comics” by Grant Snider is one such title. The simple, elegant poems are accompanied by comic-style illustrations. Organized around the four seasons, Snider’s poetry features familiar subjects like swimming, going back to school and the first snowfall. 

“I think this is a great book for someone who perhaps wants to give a gift introducing a young person to poetry,” Michaelson Schmidt said.

“Poetry Comics” is recommended for readers ages 7 to 10.