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December is here and there is still time to pick up some of these Good Reads for gifts, stocking stuffers and thank yous for teachers, friends and neighbors.

Mo Smells the Holidays: A Scentsational Journey
By Margaret Hyde
Mo’s Nose 2009

The third installment in this series of scent adventures once again features lovable Mo, a real-life rescue dog. Throughout the book, stickers bring the scents of the holidays to life, evoking everything from falling leaves and pumpkin pie to evergreen and gingerbread.

This endearing story of Mo and his friends as they make their way through the holiday season includes beautiful illustrations, and 10 percent of the proceeds go to children and animal charities.

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked
By Todd Wilbur
Plume, 2009

Todd Wilbur is a master at deconstructing recipes from restaurants to items on the grocery shelves. Some of the restaurant treats included: Starbuck’s Carrot Cake, Arby’s Horsey Sauce, Burger King Onion Rings. Selections from the grocery store include Lipton Brisk Iced Tea and Heinz Premium Chili Sauce.

Wilbur has done the heavy lifting in the kitchen with hours of experimentation. If your pantry is full, then get to work trying out some of these tasty delights. A fabulous gift for the foodies in your life that are forever trying to find the answer to the question, “What is in this?”

The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change
By Jon Gordon
Wiley, 2009

Though this illustrated fable might sound like a kids’ book, it’s not—it packs a big impact for anyone that is managing life’s changes like seeking new work.

The setting: Gordy is living the typical life of a goldfish when suddenly that all changes and he finds himself in the ocean with no one feeding him. Gordy is a friendly shark that wants to help him. From there, the message takes shape, and will resonate from college grads to seasoned professionals.

Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You: Kids, Carbs and the Coming Hormonal Apocalypse
By Anita Renfroe
Voice, 2009

Laugh out loud as Anita Renfroe shares hilarious essays about her family life, beginning with the birth of her children, carrying through discussions about hormones and ending appropriately with the holidays in general. If you are not already familiar with Renfroe’s zaniness, check out “The Mom Song.”

OA preview of one of my favorites: In “The Poinsettia Executioner,” Renfroe regales about her husband’s addiction to poinsettias at this time of the year. The care and obsession lasts for months every year as he tries to keep each of the plants alive. At some point in February the poinsettia executioner, our author, is called into service to remove these plants to the compost pile.

The Vintage Caper
By Peter Mayle
Knopf, 2009

Mayle shares a light mystery for the holidays that combines his knowledge and passion about France with the business of wine and cut-throat nature of collectors. It is a story of intrigue as much as it is a good old-fashioned whodunnit. These characters lift off the pages and make you really experience the places and smells of the luxurious French coast.

So crack open a bottle of wine, start the fire and get cozy in your favorite chair for this page-turning good read.

How to Get Things Really Flat: Enlightenment for Every Man on Ironing, Vacuuming and Other Household Arts
By Andrew Martin
The Experiment, 2009

Andrew Martin takes on household chores with his funny, charming voice in this part autobiography, part how-to book. Martin was introduced to household chores with the early loss of his mother, single life and then again in married life.

Ladies, while this is a good pick for the men in your lives, you might want to read it as well because there are some very helpful tips for mundane chores that I am happy to now refer to as the “household arts.”

Forbidden Fruit: A History of Women and Books in Art
By Christiane Inmann
Prestel,, 2009

This table-top book is as captivating as it is beautiful. Paintings and writing dated from ancient Mesopotamia through present works depict women’s history as represented in art and literature. For example August Renoir is featured with his work, “The Two Sisters,” 1889. In this picture, two professional models are reading a shared book. There is no other artist that has painted more women engaged in reading, even though Renoir personally did not thing women should read. For him it was a prop that indicated docility and innocence.

As someone that has loved Renoir and collected book after book on him, I have never seen it through the eyes and words that Inmann presents here, and I look forward to revisiting his works. These pages tell the story of women’s history with a unique perspective that will be treasured by art and literary fans.

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* The Good Reads Girl was drawn by Denise Simon, a Chicago-based freelance illustrator.
Check out her work at deniseannsimon.com.

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