Books for Christmas Part 2: What Santa Gave

Yesterday I shared the collection of books we received this year. Today, I thought I would share some of the books we gave as gifts.

For the past couple of years we have been scaling back the gift exchanges with our extended family. Not because we don’t like presents, but because we are all very blessed with what we have and don’t need more “stuff.” That philosophy makes buying books for the holidays (or any gift-giving time) the perfect choice. Here are our gifts to those we love this year.

For my husband …

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.  As I mentioned yesterday, Bill has wanted this book for a l-o-n-g time. We have copies of Listen to the Wind and the young reader’s edition of Three Cups of Tea, but he wanted the original.  Santa delivered!

For my 13-year-old nephew …

Million Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica. When my Mom told me that “Sam” liked Mike Lupica, I was tickled pink. I had gotten a signed ARC at Book Expo America this year that I’d tucked away for my sports-loving husband. Needless to say, Santa made a quick switch when she learned who would treasure the book more. As you might remember, I wrote about Sam’s love of Lupica books in this post at Booklights. My folks gave him ALL of Lupica’s books for kids! Thanks to Melinda’s comment on that post, I asked Sam if he’d read any John Feinstein, he said no. Dad went upstairs to his library and pulled some for him to pick from!

Escape from Horrorland by R. L. Stine. One of the series that got Sam hooked on reading was the Goosebumps books. Even though I knew he was probably past the series, I thought he would get a kick out of having a signed copy of the newest book.  When he opened it, he talked about how he liked these books and thought it was cool that it was signed. Of course, he is 13, so he didn’t use a lot of words!

For my Dad …

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Dad buys books all the time, so it isn’t easy finding one he doesn’t have. When I picked up The Book Thief, I was hoping against hope that he didn’t have it. Dad LOVES history (particularly European history), was born in 1940, and treasures books and reading. He had heard of it, but had not yet gotten it. I got a bookstore gift card to go with it!

Now, before you say what about Catherine, I knew which books my folks were giving her, AND she got three Christmas books as part of a tradition where one of Santa’s elves leaves PJs and books under the tree the Sunday before Christmas.

Until I re-read this list, I hadn’t realized that we got books for all of the men in our lives. That’s pretty cool, and oh so lucky for the next generation of readers.  Speaking of boys and reading … Jen talks about dads, grandfathers, and uncles being a reading role model in her Tips for Growing Bookworms series at Booklights.