Monday Discussion: Gift Books

People love to give and get books for the holidays. My friends and family expect me, the RA extrodinaire, to get them the perfect holiday book.  But I am not the only one out there buying books for the people on my list.

To start off this "Cyber Monday," I thought I would point you to some of the better book holiday guides and share some of my favorite gift books for the hard to buy people on your list:

• The popular New York Times Gift Guide will not be published until 12/5 but you can view it online right now.
• Books on the Nightstand Holiday Gift Guide is also a good place to look since they group books by appeal.
• Cookbooks are also always a popular choice at the holidays.  Here is the NPR Best Cookbooks 2010.
• Amazon has an entire section of holiday gift ideas.

Now on to my secrets.  Books are a great gift for the person who has everything.  One of my favorite books to give out at the holidays is The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford.  It is a moving tribute to a holiday classic. It is short but interesting, and you could reread it every year. Also, many people do not already own it.  Click here (and scroll to the bottom of the post) to see a full report about when I read this book.

I also suggest buying a nice illustrated copy of Dicken's A Christmas Carol or O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.  Both are books that capture the holiday spirit for a general audience.  In fact, this year, I am buying all of my kids' teachers a copy of A Christmas Carol and letting the kids inscribe it. Either they can bring it home, or, if they already own it, they can use it in the classroom. Either way, it is a personalized and meaningful gift.

For kids from 5-16, you cannot go wrong with one of the DK Eyewitness Books.  They have a book on every topic you could imagine.  For example, my daughter is in to weather and mummies right now and my son loves dinosaurs, birds, and Star Wars.  Each link will lead you to a well researched book, with quality photos and text.  They give my kids hours of enjoyment, and adults will enjoy looking through them too.  This is my go-to gift book series for kids.

Now it is your turn.  For today's Monday Discussion: what books are you giving as gifts this year? Is there a favorite book you like to give to people as a gift?  Let me know.

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