Author Scott Sparling (Wire to Wire) in his blog strongly suggests making Black Friday Book Friday. That day has passed, but his directive to go out and buy a book has not--and by go out, he means "to a physical bookstore with a real bookseller inside.... Go out and buy books for everyone."
Good advice. We often get stuck in a gift-giving rut, and books are a marvelous way to get unstuck. Give the mail carrier a tip and a (lightweight) book. Donate money and books to a homeless shelter. Show up for dinner with a book instead of flowers or a bottle of wine. A book like Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found by Sophie Blackall (Workman) is a perceptive book that makes the perfect gift for a friend, a host/hostess, a lover or even a passing crush on a city bus. Blackall, known for her award-winning children's books and editorial cartoons, here demonstrates her seemingly infinite insights into human nature. A brief, wry introduction explains how she became a convert to "missed connections," which led to a blog of illustrations, and then to a book.
Mourning the end of baseball season? Flip Flop Fly Ball: An Infographic Baseball Adventure by Craig Robinson (Bloomsbury) will tide you over until spring training and delight you beyond. Baseball is more than a sport to Robinson; it's a plethora of information to be organized, but not in a Jamesian way: "Baseball and the Wave" is a Venn diagram explaining the relationship they should have; road jerseys--the powder blue era; the Molina brothers; a red page that says "Ichiro Is Awesome (you didn't need a chart to convince you did you?)." Cool.
We have more gift suggestions below, and as one of our reviews said, channeling either a Zen master or Monty Python, "For the sort of people interested in this sort of book, this is exactly the sort of book they'll love." --Marilyn Dahl