Deck the Halls With Fiction, Poetry, Romance : Forget the fruitcake. What’s a more welcome gift than a real page-turner? A buy-the-book guide to holiday shopping.

Gifts of food or drink always are appreciated, but they’re gone by Christmas night. Books, however, are particularly wonderful gifts. Ice cream for the brain, they can be consumed over and over with no caloric consequence. Books also last a long time and need only occasional dusting.

If there are still some holes on your holiday list, let me suggest an eclectic group of titles written by local authors.

In the mystery category, consider “Kill Me Again” by LAPD Detective Paul Bishop of Camarillo; “The Vial Murders,” a medical thriller by Marsha Landreth of Oxnard Shores; and the medieval adventure “The Devil’s Door” by Sharan Newman of Newbury Park.

Because 48% of all mass-market paperbacks sold are romance novels, you must know someone who would love the historical Western “Wind Song” by Margaret Brownley of Simi Valley.

Many people love biographies. Consider “Patsy: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline” by Margaret Jones of Ojai and “Combat He Wrote,” about Lt. Col. Charles Hudson’s World War II adventures, written with Ross Olney of Ventura.

Most of us are interested, even if vicariously, in traveling, investing and cooking. So check out as possible gifts “The Best of Central California: Main Roads & Side Trips” by Bob Carter of Oxnard; “The First Time Investor: How to Start Safe, Invest Smart and Sleep Well” by Larry Chambers of Ojai, and Gail Hobbs’ “Cookin’ in Ventura,” which includes history and photographs along with local restaurant recipes.

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Does your gift list include someone with an abiding interest in the creatures--thriving or endangered--that inhabit our planet? That someone will undoubtedly be thrilled to receive the ecological mystery “Tracking the Vanishing Frogs,” by Kathryn Phillips of Ventura.

And for anyone who enjoys arguing about controversial books, seek out “The Unfinished Gospel: Notes on the Quest for the Historical Jesus” by Evan Powell of Thousand Oaks. The self-published book has stirred reaction and debate among local religious leaders and biblical scholars around the country. The book is available in bookstores or call (800) 495-4414.

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Darlene Rand, a therapist and triathlete, will read in the children’s room at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Ojai Table of Contents, 208 E. Ojai Ave.

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Barnes & Noble’s monthly poetry evening features Ventura poet Michel Englebert, who will read at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 4360 East Main St., Ventura.

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On Dec. 24, 1922, a Santa Paula road supervisor’s full-size grader apparently was stolen, according to the Ventura County and Coast Almanac. The chronicles are silent as to whether this large machine was ever recovered. Happy Christmas, literary toilers and word lovers.