By Pam
My husband has always been easy to buy gifts for at Christmas time. He always has a long list of books he wants to read- or he’s happy with a gift card from the local book store. The first year he asked for a book store gift card, I wasn’t keen on the idea. I felt like that was not much of a unique gift. He explained to me that having a gift card gave him a certain sense of freedom to go crazy in the book store and purchase books he might not buy on his own.
However, this year I will not have the luxury of gifting him with books or a gift card- we purchased the Kindle for him for Father’s Day and he absolutely loves it. The Kindle is tied into his credit card and he electronically picks the next book on his list with the same ease that you select movies from Netflix.
So I have decided that this year I will place several different books on my Christmas list. Books are affordable, provide hours of entertainment and most importantly will be easy for my husband to wrap! One book that will be on my list this year is An Uncommon History of Common Things by Bethanne Patrick and John Thompson – A lively, incomparably browsable read for history buffs, pop culture lovers, and anyone who relishes the odd and extraordinary details hidden in the everyday. Another book that will make that list is our own Gwen Morrison’s novel: Ivy: The Story of a Friendship. Both of these books as well as the Kindle can be purchased in the Imperfect Women’s Book Store.
There is a book for every special person in your life. An adventure, a romance, a mystery, a self-help or a comedy. They can cause someone to laugh, cry, ponder or even change their life. What books are you giving as gifts this holiday season? Do you have any special books that are on your Christmas wish list?
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10 Responses to Books Make A Great Gift
Where to start! And now, you have just caused me to add two more books to my list – the ones you mentioned!
I love giving and getting books and thankfully nobody in my immediate gift-giving circle has a Kindle yet!
My sister and I already agreed we are getting these two books for Christmas (she will get one, I will get the other and then we will “switch” when we are done reading):
-Half Broke Horses: By Jeannette Walls
-Her Fearful Symmetry:
My aunt is easy to buy for – she will read anything by Phillipa Gregory and other authors in the same genre.
Anya,
I just looked at Half Broke Horses and that looks very interesting.
Jeannette Walls’ first memoir, The Glass Castle, was fabulous.
Every time I go into the bookstore, especially at this time of year, I find tons of new books that I’m interested in reading. I sometimes will jot down the authors and titles so I don’t forget them. I need to do that soon in case there’s anything I particularly want to ask Santa to bring me.
Kindle sounds awesome, but I don’t have the luxury of reading that many books (just like Netflix offers too many videos). But I love the book store gift card. Though it might seem impersonal to some, I think your husband nailed it by saying it IS a gift to him to shop guilt-free. This year I’m getting my father-in-law a gift card to the bookstore as well. To make it more personal, my kids are all making him bookmarks. He gets the freedom to shop with a homemade touch. Everybody is happy.
Shelley,
What a great idea having your kids make bookmarks to go along with that gift card. Their grandfather will think of them every time he opens his book.
I agree, it’s so fun to go wild in a bookstore. Even in flusher days, I had to limit walk-ins at the store because there were just so many that I wanted and would indulge in overload. My bookshelves are pretty full now because of that, so I mostly only add to the series that I have. I do love my library. Some of them are Christmas presents from childhood and the ones that were paperbacks (CS Lewis and Little House) are falling apart w/age . But, I love them and can’t part w/them even though they’re not readable. Lol, I never forgave my brother for breaking the backs of my Lord of The Rings series that was a gift from my parents to me. I was always careful.
Shelley, I too love the bookmark idea, they’ll be little treasures to their grandfather.
One thing I did a few times that was well-received was to give a copy Little Women when a friend would have a baby girl. I think every girl should have a copy and it’s a good Christmas present too.
My daughter will be getting more of the Jane Austen books. She’s read P&P several times, so I am sure she’ll love Emma. My husband is getting a trail guide to the Appalachain trail so he can run on it and a nutrition book for runners published by Rodale. Another child is getting puppy training (and the puppy to go with it) and a few other puppy books. I didn’t put books on my list yet. I much prefer the guilt-free shopping card. Last year I got Multiple Blessings, from my sister-in-law!
Books are my absolute favorite gift to receive AND to give. The book I am giving some of my women friends this year is called Half the Sky. I bought the Kindle version and it’s great. Non-fiction.
I am currently reading Elizabeth Berg’s Home Safe and I love that too. I bought it in hardcover. Even though I have a Kindle, I still buy “real” books. I have a huge library of books that line a wall in my office and I need books around me in order to write!
Thanks for picking my book for your Christmas list! I am flattered. I kinda like it..
Pam, maybe you could buy your husband an Amazon gift card? I’m hoping to get one. That way whenever I see a new book on Kindle, I can just click and no guilt! Pre-paid download!
Thanks for the suggestion Gwen, I did follow through with that Amazon gift card. I never thought about that.
Home Safe looks like a good read as well as other books suggested in this thread. So many books and so little time.
My parents are big readers and so am I and so are my kids, so when they came for Christmas one of the things in everyone’s stocking was a Barnes and Noble gift card. My parents always give a pretty big chunk of cash and my mom is happy not to have to wrap gifts and stand in line at the post office as she is getting on to 70.
We always had the Christmas tradition of going to the movies on Christmas, so we still do that, however now we have a new tradition the past couple years, which is to all go together on Boxing Day and take our gift cards to B&N and go nuts. The younger kids collaborate on which ones they both want so they are getting twice as many, and you can get a lot of books for $100. We spend a couple hours choosing books then have hot chocolate in the Starbucks which is in our local bookstore and each share what we got. It is more personal than just getting a gift card. I usually get a couple jigsaws as well because we’ve got a long cold vacation to sit in the house together in the evenings, and having all those new books and puzzles is a great distraction. At night all you heard was the fire crackling, pages turning, and once in a while someone getting up for a piece of pie or a fresh cup of coffee or glass of eggnog.
BLISS.