Whether they like history, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, horror or drama, there’s a perfect book out there for every person on your holiday gift list. Selecting the right book can be a bit of a challenge, but alas, help is on hand.   

One of the advantages of shopping at a local community bookstore rather than, say, Amazon.com, is that you can speak with informed staff members who are passionate about books and eager to share their recommendations. Not sure what dear Aunt Trudy likes to read? An employee will be able to point you in the right direction. All you need to do is tell that staffer a little bit about your aunt.

This time of year, bookstore employees are inundated with questions from holiday shoppers. According to Stefanie Kiper, events coordinator at Water Street Bookstore in downtown Exeter, the key to making an accurate recommendation is learning as much as possible about the gift recipient.

“We usually ask who it’s for and then what they like to read, and if they say ‘history,’ then we just try to delve a little deeper—popular history? A certain era? ... We just keep asking questions,” Kiper said.

Being able to cite a favorite book someone has read in the past is immensely helpful for gauging his or her reading habits, Kiper said.

“Most people, I find, can say at least one book that the person’s read, and from there it’s a piece of cake,” she said. “That’s the key: one book.”

History books tend to do particularly well around the holidays. Last year, for instance, Stacy Schiff’s “Cleopatra” was a notable success. This year, Kiper said, Robert Massie’s “Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman” will likely be a big seller, along with Stephen Greenblatt’s “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern.”

Some of the season’s hottest fiction books include “The Marriage Plot,” by Jeffrey Eugenides, and “There but for the,” by Ali Smith. Kiper said she’s personally excited about Joan Didion’s new memoir, “Blue Nights.”

Kiper’s personal suggestions, along with those of Water Street owner Dan Chartrand and other staff members, are on display at the business. They can also be found on the store’s website, complete with staff descriptions of each book.

The same is true at RiverRun Bookstore in downtown Portsmouth. Among the staff picks displayed prominently on the wall are several books by local authors, including Durham resident Toby Ball’s noir mystery novels “The Vaults” and “Scorch City,” Portsmouth resident Louis J. Salome’s journalistic memoir “Violence, Veils and Bloodlines,” and Exeter resident Joe Hill’s horror novel “Horns.”

RiverRun owner Tom Holbrook said some customers come into the store with a list of descriptions of the people for whom they’re buying gifts, “and we match them up with good stuff,” he said.

It’s useful to know what the person does for a living, Holbrook said, and then get something loosely related. If the person is a sailor, for instance, don’t get them a book about sailing, but maybe a novel about an adventure at sea.

“I try not to be too literal in interpreting, because then you wind up getting them something they already have,” Holbrook said.

For some readers, a comic book or graphic novel might be a safer bet. There is an astonishing wealth and variety of material out there; the trick is in knowing what type of comic to get for someone.

Richard Brunelle, manager of Jetpack Comics in downtown Rochester, said customers commonly ask questions like this: “I know my son (or boyfriend or niece) is into comic books, but I don’t know anything about comics. What do you suggest?”

Again, the right track is to know at least one comic or character the person has enjoyed in the past. A fan of Batman? Try writer/illustrator Lee Bermejo’s new hardcover graphic novel “Batman: Noel,” which is “basically like a retelling of ‘A Christmas Carol’ over a Batman story,” Brunelle said.

Other intriguing gift options are available at used bookstores, where obscure gems and rarities can often be found. Local options include Sheafe Street Books in Portsmouth (which carries some new items), Drake Farm in North Hampton, Crackskull’s Coffee & Books in Newmarket, and Baldface Books in Dover.

Baldface owner Clyde Allen said it’s helpful to know the age and interests of the person a customer is shopping for. He has a wide selection of history books and biographies, including many about famous musicians. The store also carries records and CDs. Why not get Dad a biography of Keith Richards and a vinyl Stones album?

Crackskull’s owner Michelle Graves said books that deal with local history are especially popular around the holidays. Depending on whether a person prefers fiction or nonfiction, she often recommends history books or historical fiction.

Graves can also count on selling old copies of classic novels by Hemingway and other timeless standbys. The nice thing about used bookstores, she said, is that the stock is always changing—you never know what you might find.

“Every day is Christmas for me,” she said.