Please, No Fruitcakes or Avian Flu

Kevin Coolidge

A book is longer lasting than a fruitcake, cheaper than a flat screen, and more fun than a partridge in a pear tree. I’ve always thought books were the perfect gift. They are affordable, portable, memorable, and easy to wrap. I love matching the right gift for the right person, but I hate wrapping presents. It’s so frustrating: I never seem to be able to cover the entire package. No matter how huge a sheet of paper I start with. Instead, I’m sticking with what I know best and help you choose the right book for the right person, and best of all every one of my suggestions can be purchased for less than $20.00.

Does your reader appreciate stories of the great outdoors? If your guy loves to fish, then you can’t go wrong with John Gierach. It’s fly-fishing and philosophy. He manages to explain the peculiarities of the fishing life in a way that will amuse novices and seasoned fly fishers alike. If he’s already stocked up on Gierach, then aim for some local flavor-such as Poacher Wars by William Wasserman, Of A Predatory Heart by Joe Parry, or Of Woods and Wild Things by Don Knaus.

Does your girl love romance and vampires? She can sink her teeth into the Twilight series. There’s a nice mix of romance, suspense with a paranormal twist that will leave you hungry for more, and the first book is available in mass-market paperback for $7.99. If your reader has already devoured the series, hunt down the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine, or the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris.

Does your reader adore animals? Fetch Marley & Me. It’s a memoir, with dog, and recounts the years the author and his family spent with his Labrador Retriever. Marley isn’t a bad dog. In fact, he’s loyal and playful-a wiggly, yellow, fur ball of a puppy that grew into a barreling bulldozer of a dog. If anything, Marley is too energetic, too playful, and sometimes just too, too much, but you don’t have to pay too much. It’s now available for $7.99. If your reader has already ripped into this funny book, then check out Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron, A Dickens of a Cat and other Stories of the Cats We Love edited by Callie Smith Grant, or From Baghdad with Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava by Jay Kopelman and Melinda Roth.

My Christmas shopping is finished, and it’s all books, because they are inexpensive, recyclable, transferable, and inspirational, and besides, a scented candle never changed anyone’s life. Let’s see--bags, bows, boxes, paper and ribbon, and where did I put the tape? Maybe I can just get these gift-wrapped???


What do you put out for Santa? Milk? Cookies? A shot of bourbon? A good book? If you are looking for ghosts of columns past, then haunt http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com/ Hobo already has a tuna sandwich and a cold beer waiting for the big guy in red, along with an autographed edition of his book, “Hobo Finds A Home” great for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years and Kwanzaa.