MPR News Producer Tracy Mumford and Books and Bars Host Jeff Kamin stopped by Oake & Riley in the Morning to share their top recommendations for watching and reading over the holiday. Whether you want to sit down with the family or avoid the heck out of them, we've got you covered.

Book recommendations from Tracy:

"Mr. Splitfoot" by Samantha Hunt
I read "Mr. Splitfoot" in February and I've since bought four more copies, because I keep loaning them to people who don't give them back. There's two parallel storylines in this book: The first is about a pair of teenagers who seem to develop the ability to speak to the dead. They start holding seances, but the line between hoax and truth is very blurry. The second takes places decades later, when a woman starts walking and can't stop, led by something she can't explain. It's an eerie stay-up-all-night kind of a book.

"The Regional Office is Under Attack!" by Manuel Gonzalez
This book is kind of like if someone turned the good parts of "Alias" into a novel and then added an all-knowing oracle and a robotic arm. It's about a group of secret, highly-trained women assassins who work out of a subterranean office hidden beneath a travel agency. The book jumps back and forth between a siege of their headquarters and the mysterious origins of the group.

Book recommendations from Jeff:

"Kill or Be Killed" by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser
Described by writer noir-king Brubaker as Death Wish meets Breaking Bad and 1970s Spider-man comics. Imagine if you were forced by a demon (or is it a voice in your head) to kill one bad person of your choice a month, or you would die. Who deserves to die so you can live? Now stop imaging your family and get back to the party! There's a mystery here that has not been fully revealed.

The Kind Worth Killing" by Peter Swanson (hey, more thoughts of killing around your family and the holidays? Come on, they can't be that bad!)
Just out in paperback, it's this season's The Gone Girl on the Plane in the style of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith. Get on board for this thriller with many twists and turns. And if you're interested you can discuss with Books & Bars (booksandbars.com) at Happy Gnome Jan 3rd, or Indeed Brewery on Jan 10th.

"The Fix" by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber
Think buddy cop 80s action movie if the cops were as crooked and funny as the hitmen in Pulp Fiction. It's a modern day LA crime story with a dog sidekick. This one is grounded in reality so a good first step back into comics if you're unsure about these other flights of fancy.

TV recommendations from Tracy:

"Atlanta"
You may have seen Donald Glover on "Community" or touring under his stage name Childish Gambino, but his new show "Atlanta," which he created and stars in, is a whole different game. It gets my vote for most revolutionary series on TV this year: No two episodes are the same and its mix of dark humor and social commentary is watch-it-again brilliant. On the surface, it's the story of a young Princeton drop-out who is trying to steer his cousin to a rap career after a viral video hit. But it's also an at-times surreal portrait of being young, black and poor in a city that rarely gets the TV show treatment. It doesn't feel like anything else on TV.

"Search Party"
I wasn't sure I was going to like this one, and then suddenly ten hours of my life had passed. This is a noir comedy about being lost in your 20s - literally and figuratively. Alia Shawkat, a familiar face from "Arrested Development," plays Dory, a twenty-something with a "meh" boyfriend, self-absorbed friends and no real direction in life, who becomes obsessed when a former classmate goes missing. Basically: How would you solve a crime if you'd only watched a bunch of "Law & Order"?

"Quarry"
I'm cheating: Here's a third show I loved and spent an entire weekend watching. It's based on a series of books, so you could binge on those too. The show follows Mac Conway, a Vietnam vet who returns home to Memphis in 1972 to find protesters staking out the airport for him. He can't find a job, his wife seems distant, and not even his dad wants to invite him over. The only offer he does get is from a crime boss who wants to turn Mac into one of his henchmen. It's a gritty crime show that sucks you in, and it has arguably the best soundtrack of the year.

TV recommendations from Jeff:

"Baskets" - half hour, you can do it!
No matter how crazy you think your family is during this holiday season, they'd be hard pressed to top the Baskets. Chip (Zach Galifianakis) wants to be an arty French clown, but he ends up a rodeo clown living back at home with his mother played by local fave Louie Anderson, a recent Emmy-winner for his performance as a woman. Galifianakis (Between Two Ferns) stars in a dual role as brother Dale who runs an on-line college. Baskets isn't always laugh out funny, but it's absurd and weird like family life. You can catch up now on the short first season (avail on Hulu) before it returns January 19th on FX. See also Fleabag on Amazon for the 30 minute dramedy.

"The OA" (Netflix)
The less you know about this one, the better. You don't even want to know what the initials stand for, yet. Just go in blindly and you'll be unable to stop. It has its detractors, but ultimately it's about how we need stories. Kind of the perfect analogy for our binge watching culture. See for yourself.

"Luke Cage" (Netflix)
Could Mike Colter's Cage be the most likable character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? He returns home to modern day Harlem with unbreakable skin. You won't soon forget the images of a black man in a hoodie as a hero. It's a powerful statement from Marvel and so refreshing to see more diversity in the super hero world. And every episode contains a musical performance, even one with the late great Sharon Jones. If you like it, join in for the fun as season two and the whole team of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist team up with Luke Cage for the upcoming Defenders series.