Well, we’re at that time of year again, folks – the email from the editor, reminding us that there isn’t one but TWO back-to-back early deadlines for the newspaper, to end the year right as New Year’s follows Christmas in less than one week. It’s also the time for those few last minute gifts: gifts for the office party where, thankfully, a reasonable spending limit has been set; stocking presents; presents for your second cousin’s boyfriend who is coming to the family Christmas get-together after all; and, best of all, it’s time for your favorite book columnists to give you our yearly small price-list book-list. In years past, we’ve called it our stocking stuffer book list, or our budget gift book list, as we’ve extolled the virtues of the mass-market paperback, or the big-bang-for-your-buck factor of gifting a book. Here, then, once again, to help make certain your “ho-ho-ho!” doesn’t turn to “oh no, no, no!” is this year’s rendition, the “10 Books for under $10” list.
Here are some of our favorites, with something for everyone on your list….
No. 1 Draw Thumb Animals: Fine Art at Your Fingertips, by Klutz Press, cover price $6.95. Klutz specializes in creative books, featuring either crafts or games, and the materials necessary to engage in said activities. These fine books, directed mostly at children, are also loved by adults for either (a)giving the family something to do together or (b)giving the children something fun to do so the adults don’t kill the whining children who are now bored at the end of their Christmas vacation or on the drive back from Grandma’s house.
No. 2 Track Pack by Ed Gray and Decourcy L. Taylor, published by Stackpole Books, cover price $9.95. Making the lists for at least the third year in a row, I can’t say enough about this awesome little outdoor guide. Thin and tall enough to fit in a back pocket, backpack pocket, or inside jacket pocket, page for page, this book is packed with more information than most books five times its size or expense. Spiral-bound for easy use, each page shows the life-size paw print of at least one wild animal, complete with fold-out pages for the big ones (like the grizzly bear! cool!) and a little map showing the animal’s range in North America. Users can put the book right down on the ground next to a print for comparison. Now you can really see if those “reindeer” prints are caribou, or white tails.
No. 3 From the “Little Golden Guide” series that has been around for generations, Stars, by Zim, Baker, and Chartrand, with illustrator Irving, published now by St. Martin’s Press, cover price $6.95. I chose the one on Stars because I love explaining to folks how these books – full of pictures, charts, diagrams – are great for kids, but have enough information that my brother was required to buy this one for his college class on introduction to astronomy. Grab one of these and take the family to Cherry Springs’ Dark Sky Park.
No. 4 The first book in the Shakespeare series by Charlaine Harris, entitled Shakespeare’s Landlord, published by Berkeley Prime Crime, cover price $7.99. Though it was her “Southern Vampire” series that vaulted Harris to national fame when HBO picked up the books for the basis of their “True Blood” series, forget all of that, at least for a little while. Grab a great mystery with a complex main character, a young woman made too old for her years since she was the victim of a horrific crime. Lily Bard moves to a small town to start again, becoming as low-profile as possible. She chooses Shakespeare, Arkansas to amuse herself with its tie into her last name, and paces the streets at night as she wrestles with her PTSD. Unfortunately, she witnesses someone depositing a body in the local cemetery, and feels compelled to report the crime….
No. 5 The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, cover price $8.99, from Daw Books. This one is definitely for the fantasy, epic journey reader on your list, but, even better, it’s for the folks who DON’T normally read in this genre, either. Rothfuss is a word craftsman, a really skilled technical writer, as well as a heck of a storyteller. Dive into this rich, adventurous novel, and join the rest of us who are dying for the sequel.
No. 6 Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure, edited by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith, published by Harper Perennial, cover price $12. Okay, I know I’m cheating here a little bit on the price, but most bookstores have some kind of discount program; I happen to know an especially good one in this area. :)This is a great book for just about anyone: can you write your life’s story in six words? These six-word memoirs are fascinating, especially as you imagine the story behind them.
No. 7 Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Living on a Budget (2nd revised edition), by Peter Sander, published by Alpha Press, cover price $9.95. Out of the many books on the subject, don’t you agree it’s better to start simple, keep it simple, and best of all, it’s one of the least expensive books on the subject!
No. 8 My Name is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic, by Charles Saatchi, published by Phaidon Press, cover price $9.95. Phaidon Press published hundreds of great titles, focusing on art, art history, and the work of specific artists, and many of these books are fantastic paperbacks listed at $9.95. Saatchi, with his brother, was the co-founder of one of the largest and most influential global advertising agencies, and his art collection rivaled his business fame. This new title by the normally reclusive Saatchi is a fascinating look at the strange economics of contemporary art.
No. 9 Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, now published by Dell, cover price $7.99: eighteen years after its first publication, this first book in an epic series combining history, romance and fantasy, still regularly populates bestseller lists. I’ve seen many couples who read this series together, following the two main characters back and forth in time from Scotland in the mid 1700s to the Civil War in America to the battlefields of World War II. This is romance with substance and hundreds of pages of adventures.
No. 10 The Bible – for some, a controversial selection; for others, a given. Whether you are a Christian or not, and whether the recipient is a Christian or not, a Bible is still (a) one of the bestselling books, not just of all time, but for any given fiscal year; (b) one of the most-often gifted books, under many different circumstances; (c) a fascinating, confusing, engaging, culturally-relevant read which has the potential to enrich the mind, education, spirit, conversational ability and overall life of the reader. As far as price is concerned, a person can spend a great deal on a Bible, but there are many varieties available for under $10.
So, my friends, I hope you are able to use this list as a springboard: you can still stretch your dollars to stretch your mind, learn a lot, laugh out loud, escape your life, enhance your life and/or change the life of the person with whom you share a book. Happy holidays, and happy reading!
Hobo is too busy getting as close to the heater as possible to comment. He has to concentrate so his fur doesn’t scorch. He says Kasey wrote enough here, anyway, except she forgot to mention that “Hobo Finds A Home” is also less than $10, if you know the right people to ask.
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