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“Have you started your Christmas shopping?” I know we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet, but if your friends are anything like mine, you will already have heard that question—often from a smugly well-organized person who has finished their shopping. The only appropriate response, to my thinking, is a well-practiced glare.
The nudging reminder, however guilt-inducing, is appropriate, though. The season is nearly upon us and being able to give just the right present to a friend or family member can be a large part of the joy of the season. But it can also be one of the trickiest challenges.
In his delightful book, Once Upon a Tome, Oliver Darkshire warns: “Purchasing a book for someone isn’t like running to the shop and picking up a box of decorative soaps, or a bottle of whiskey. You can’t just take a stab in the dark and hope for the best. In the best-case scenario, a well-chosen book shows just how intimately you know a person, their interests, their politics . . . their very sense of self. In the worst case, it can show that you barely have any interest in who they are.”
So, for the booklovers on your list, start by thinking carefully about that person: What do they love? What’s going on in their life? What are their goals? What are their favorite memories? Hobbies? Problems? Can you find a book that will bring back memories of something you have done together? If you know their favorite author or genre, try to find something similar, but that they haven’t read. And, always appropriate—give them a book you love.
As one online writer said, Books “don’t make you fat, they don’t wilt, one-size-fits-all, and they are a lot more interesting than socks.” A carefully chosen book is like giving your friend a friend—now that’s a perfect gift!
What book will you be gifting to the book lover in your life this Christmas?
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Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has published some 50 books of history, mystery, and romance in a long career. For this Christmas she offers Going There, Tales from the Riviera and Beyond, in a special full-color, hardback gift edition. Available December 1st on Amazon.
You can see all Donna’s books at DonnaFletcherCrow.com.
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