Publishers send dozens of review cookbooks to newspapers across the country this time of year. From the collection that has arrived on our features desk, we’ve picked a few we think are gift-worthy.

"Pure Vanilla" would make a great holiday gift for use throughout the year. (Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

—Some of us have friends who really don’t care for chocolate. Here’s the cookbook for them: “Pure Vanilla” by Shauna Sever (Quirk, $22.95). It looks at the history of vanilla from orchid to extract, and gives tasting notes for all of today’s varieties. Recipes include vanilla cream pie, glazed vanilla bean doughnuts, frosted vanilla almonds and vanilla mojito.

—”The Foothills Cuisine of Blackberry Farm” by Sam Beall (Clarkson Potter, $60) has seasonal recipes that are served at the resort in the Smoky Mountains in Walland, Tenn. Blackberry Farm’s farm-to-table food features homegrown ingredients and artisanal products such as cheese, preserves and cured meats made on the farm.

—If you can’t decide between a cocktail book and a recipe book, opt for both. When you flip Rachael Ray’s “My Year in Meals” (Artia, $29.99), you have John Cusimano’s “My Year in Cocktails.” Ray’s half of the book reveals what she has cooked for family and friends in the course of a year. Her husband, John Cusimano, lead singer in the rock band The Cringe, shares a year’s worth of cocktail recipes.

Who wouldn’t love a new Southern Living cookbook?

—”Southern Living Around the Southern Table” by Rebecca Lang (Oxmoor House, $29.95) delivers soul-satisfying recipes for every meal. It includes tributes from noted Southerners who share what they love about the Southern table.

—”Southern Living Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook” (Oxmoor House, $14.95) is the choice for the novice cook on your list. It includes dozens of recipes for turning a cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli into wholesome family meals.

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