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Everyone’s Madly Busy: Would You Make Some Fast Book Recommendations for Gift Giving?
Dec 21st, 2008 | 10 responses
A suggested list of your recommendations on books to give as gifts this Holiday?
First thought, right thought. Just do it fast?
You can see my and other commenters’ recommendations here
1. Books for Strength
2. Books of Humor and/or Creativity
3. Books of /for Thinking, Depth, Sanity
4. Books for Males in your life
5. Books of your Guilty Pleasures
6. Bestsellers, Backlist, Midlist books
7. Poetry books
8. Books you loved as a child
9. Books you love as an adult
10. Category of your choice
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CODA
re #4, books for males… I placed this here because I hear quite often that women buy more books for men, than men buy for themselves. I do not know if this is true, or sort of a strange publishing urban legend. But, just in case, I put it on the list. For my husband this Christmas, he asked for a book by a master woodworker/ lathe artist, for instance. A good many of us appreciate ‘hints.’
P.S. Please buy books from your local indie bookseller. We don’t want the days of being able to actually talk to salespeople who read books, and know the works of authors all the way back to the 1900s to the present, to disappear… let alone the handselling of books that indies are known for… you know, where they find out your interests, and then are always looking out for you, finding cool books to show you most every time you come in.
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10 Responses to “Everyone’s Madly Busy: Would You Make Some Fast Book Recommendations for Gift Giving?”
Dr. E, About “3. Books of /for Thinking, Depth, Sanity”, I like “Women Who Run With the Wolves.” Seriously. I love a good mix of stories and shared consciousness and psychology. I love stories, and I really like your explanations. So, hmmm, maybe it fits in the #9 category, too?
Sorry, I can't help you with finding something new. I'm only good for one title per comment. 
I like “The Tao of Pooh”. I'm not sure what category that's in. Pooh explains …
I like “The Artist's Way”. It's about creativity, how easily it is denied and how to find it again.
I like books of information simply presented, like dictionaries for children and anatomy and physiology for non-medical people. I don't recall the name of my favorite in that category, but it has drawings of organs in various disease states (with information about those conditions).
I'm years behind on reading. Don't mind me.
by email from FloridaGolfer_Avid Reader
favorite books:
The Wholeness of a Broken Heart – Katie Singer
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
The Clan of the Cave Bear – Jean Auel
Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
I love antique books. I love to read something that people were reading a 100 years ago. It is even better if the book itself is 100 years old. I buy things on eBay at used bookstores, and reprints. I have quite a genealogy library… I like to know what my ancestors were up to.
As a child:
Any biography. They used to have these little books that had various pictures of the historic person's life on the front. They were specifically written for children. I remember reading so many. I really liked Marie Curie, Molly Pitcher, Clara Barton and Susan B. Anthony, George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln and Little Turtle to name a few.
The Boxcar Children series
The Trixie Beldon series
Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys
Little House on the Prairie (all)
[Regarding] My Children:
The Sniper – Theodore Taylor
The Magic Treehouse Series
Junie B. Series
[My son] loves the classics, especially anything with swashbuckling in it…Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea…
[re] Husbands:
Mine is a prolific reader. I buy him anything analyzing the mideast situation. He especially likes Thomas Friedman. Any Biography of a historical person he is interested in… loves fiction, too. He will devour a book and I will hear him laughing in the next room. A Prayer for Owen Meanie, The Looming Tower, The Shipping News, Guns of August, Conspiracy of Fools, From Beirut to Jerusalem…
Oh, and guilty pleasures are:
Three Sisters Trilogy – Nora Roberts
Any “Highlander” book by Karen Moning
I love books, bookstores, book aisles…Just put a table of books out and I must stop and look.
FloridaGolfer_Avid Reader
here's a short list from a friend who is a 'misfit reader,' he's a lawyer who says he has no time to read, other than cases. But he reads more nearly than I do…
1. serious reading for strength: Pogo (the realist)
2. Humorous reading, anything by Blount and Harlan Ellison
3. Sanity, Cathcher in the Rye, just to remember how helacious it all used to be
4. Anything by a thinker who has info about other parts of the world and people who are different than me
5. As important what I wont read: crapola by screaming hysterical haters who think they're oh so clever, when in fact they're all so pud-ful
6. To sleep and dream: Pessoa
7. Books for men, anything on real modern day gladiators; vince lombardi still stands the test of time in most ways. Any of the books by good sane coaches
8. Kids books: my kids liked Judy Blume when they were meeting the world for the first time, and any of the DK books, hell I like the DK books. Just read one on R&R, excellent
9. Guilty pleasures: will read Gerry Spence, and will read Agatha, but prefer Stephen King, and anything on how to play a better game. Like to read books about how politicians bs the public. True crime.
I am late but maybe this will help someone down the road.
1. Books for Strength
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
http://powells.com/biblio/2-9781570624094-2
Invisible Sisters by Jessica Handler
http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairs…
Freedom From Fear Revised Edition by Aung San Suu Kyi
http://powells.com/biblio/17-9780140253177-1
Radical Gratitude and other life lessons learned in Siberia by Andrew Bienkowski and Mary Akers
http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=…
2. Books of Humor and/or Creativity
The Gift by Lewis Hyde
http://www.lewishyde.com/pub/gift.html
The Life of Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isb…
3. Books of /for Thinking, Depth, Sanity
Common Sense Thomas Paine
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780140390162-7
4. Books for Males in your life
O Holy Cow!: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isb…
Fathers Playing Catch with Sons: Essays on Sport (Mostly Baseball) by Donald Hall
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isb…
5. Books of your Guilty Pleasures (fantasy books)
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
http://powells.com/biblio/2-9780765300348-2
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
http://powells.com/biblio/17-9780345350497-5
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780671721046-0
6. Bestsellers, Backlist, Midlist books
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780060782344-4
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
http://powells.com/biblio/18-9780385340991-0
7. Poetry books
Cadaver Dogs by Rebecca Loudon
http://www.notellbooks.org/individual_title.php…
Crow From the Life & Songs of the Crow by Ted Hughes
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780571202355-0
Extremities by Timothy Kelly
http://powells.com/biblio/61-9780932440334-0
Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gailey
http://www.wku.edu/~tom.hunley/steeltoebooks/vi…
8. Books you loved as a child
Petunia's Christmas by Roger Duvoisin
http://powells.com/biblio/2-9780394808680-1
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Burton
http://powells.com/biblio/2-9780395259399-1
Mr. Pine's Purple House: 40th Anniversary Edition (Mr. Pine) by Leonard P. Kessler
http://powells.com/biblio/62-9781930900325-0
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
http://powells.com/biblio/2-9781593082772-0
Fox in Socks by Dr Seuss
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780394800387-2
9. Books you love as an adult
Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet by Roberta Reeder
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780312134297-8
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'connor
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780374515362-0
10. Category of your choice (science)
Signor Marconi's Magic Box: The Most Remarkable Invention of the 19th Century and the Amatuer Inventor Whose Genius Sparked a Revolution by Gavin Weightman
http://powells.com/biblio/17-9780306812750-3
The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers by Tom Standage
http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780802716040-0
dang my comment got eaten.
oh no Jilly> try again? I will check back. I'd love to know what y ou recommend
dr.e
1. Books for Strength
Invisible Sisters by Jessica Handler (being published in April – my friend's memoir)
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness by Pema Chodron
Radical Gratitude And Other Life Lessons Learned in Siberia by Andrew Bienkowski and Mary Akers
2. Books of Humor and/or Creativity
The Gift by Lewis Hyde
Poetry and Commitment by Adrienne Rich and Mark Doty
The Life of Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser
3. Books of /for Thinking, Depth, Sanity
The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You Through the Day by Ray Oldenburg
Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 by Neil Howe & William Strauss
4. Books for Males in your life
Fathers Playing Catch with Sons: Essays on Sport (Mostly Baseball) by Donald Hall
The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake by Breece D'J Pancake
Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr.
5. Books of your Guilty Pleasures (fantasy books)
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Harry Potter books
6. Bestsellers, Backlist, Midlist books
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts
7. Poetry books
Extremities by Timothy Kelly
Cadaver Dogs by Rebecca Loudon
Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gailey
Complete Poems of Akhmatova by Anna Akhmatova
8. Books you loved as a child
Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Mr. Pine's Purple House by Leonard Kessler
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Beatinest Boy by Jesse Stuart
9. Books you love as an adult
The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor by Flannery O'Connor
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
10. Category of your choice (science)
The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers by Tom Standage
Signor Marconi's Magic Box: The Most Remarkable Invention Of The 19th Century & The Amateur Inventor Whose Genius Sparked A Revolution by Gavin Weightman
Pain in America – and how our government makes it worse! by John P. Flannery II & Holly S. Flannery
Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic by Gina Kolata
more poetry books I thought of & I'll stop haha
Diva by Rafael Campo
Hoops by Major Jackson
Blood Run by Allison Hedge Coke
Calendars by Annie Finch
Letters to a Stranger by Thomas James
Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith
those are excellent Jilly… Mr Pine's Purple House!!
and no doubt you have read various about Tesla; just in case, I'd recommend to you any of the works that show the rattlesnake versus roadrunner fights that went on between him and Edison.
ANd Akhmatova… I dont think I have yet gotten through the collected works, but that it is such a thick book of her thoughts is satisfying… especially since her work was nearly lost forever in the russian purges. I see some books in your list I and many others I know would like to read very much. Thank you!
dr.e