It’s no surprise that Q&Q staff fill their holiday shopping lists with books. Here are some of the titles they’ll be wrapping up as gifts this year:

“The book that I’m giving as a gift this season is Stranger Music, the collected poems and lyrics of Leonard Cohen (McClelland & Stewart). His death, while not entirely unexpected, was poignant, especially during a year that has seen such turmoil and grief on so many fronts. But his songs and poems continue to provide comfort, strength, and hope in the face of despair, even if his own iconic voice has been stilled.” –Steven W. Beattie, review editor

“Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey (Orca Book Publishers) by Margriet Ruurs and Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr is top of my list of books to give. It’s a beautiful and timely book featuring surprisingly evocative art composed of stones, paired with touching and ultimately hopeful text. Its story and presentation are universal in appeal, and it can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. As a bonus, money from the sale of each book will go to charities benefiting refugees in Canada.” –Dory Cerny, BFYP editor

“The poems in Rupi Kaur’s debut collection milk and honey (Andrews McMeel Publishing) are brief, yet deep; spare, yet anything but light. They strike a universal emotional tenor in the characteristic way that made her a sensation on Instagram, where samples of her feminist prose and accompanying artwork have garnered her more than 795,000 followers to date.” –Becky Robertson, editorial assistant

“Seth’s Dominion is a perfect gift for lovers of indie, non-superhero comics. Drawn & Quarterly took what could have been a simple DVD package for director Luc Chamberland’s National Film Board of Canada documentary portrait of the artist Seth and turned it into an art piece in its own right. Seth’s Dominion, bound dos-à-dos style, is an album of photographs from the artist’s life and career on one side, and a selected portfolio of his work on the other, with a disc of Chamberland’s charming documentary slipped into the middle. The entire package is, of course, designed by Seth, making it a must-have gift for completists.” –Conan Tobias, senior editor

“Decades before words like ‘mansplaining’ (or ‘manthreading’) even existed, Denise Donlon was proving to young Canadian women that gender need not be a barrier when it comes to career success – or to getting through an interview with Keith Richards. Her new memoir, Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances)(House of Anansi Press), follows Donlon’s impressive career, from her early days as a campus DJ to working as a pioneering host at MuchMusic, to the boardrooms of Sony Music Canada and CBC. Donlon’s collection of entertaining remembrances checks off all the feminists, business followers, and music and media buffs on my list.” –Sue Carter, editor