All of a sudden it is mid-November!  Thanksgiving Day is a week away.  So where has the fall gone?  It seems that just a couple of weeks ago we were at my son’s back to school event, “Shamrock Showcase.”  We were getting into the fall routine, which I tend to love, even though our temperatures here in central South Carolina remained very warm far into the fall (way too warm for me!). 

Now, stores are decorated for Christmas.  They have their stock pumped up for holiday sales.  Even before Halloween I was finding a mixture of Christmas merchandise intertwined with shelves of ghosts and goblins costumes.  These fall holidays just kind of run together.

Yes, Christmas is coming!  That means that if you haven’t already done so, you need to start making your gift list.  I have some ideas for you!  In this age of high tech gadgets, why don’t we go on an old fashioned route?  Let’s give each other books!  Books are timeless.  You can pick them up anytime, they don’t have to be plugged in, you can read them in a waiting room,  you can throw them into a suitcase, read them on an airplane, or better yet…on the beach!  Books also look great on your bookshelves.  Don’t you think that your friends who have a lot of books on their shelves seem more educated?  Ha!

I do have some book suggestions for you if you do choose to give someone special a special book.  These are just a few of the thousands and thousands of book possibilities out there.  Some of the books I am recommending are new this year but some have been available for a while.

Book Ideas for:

Wife:  In the Company of Others     by Jan Karon    Wife:  The Help     by  Kathryn Stockett       Husband:  The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey     by Candice Miller    Husband:  Moonlight Mile     by Dennis Lehane   Young Children:  The Classic Treasury of Childhood Wonders: Favorite Adventures, Stories, Poems, and Songs for Making Lasting Memories     by Susan Magsamen      Young Elementary Age:  The Boy Who Changed the World    by Andy Andrews    Young Elementary Age:  Of  Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters     by Barack Obama      Children:  The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero     by Rick Riordan     Children:  Ruby Holler     by Sharon Creech     Male Teen:  The Looking Glass Wars     by Frank Beddor     Female Teen:  Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1)     by Cassandra Clare     Parent or Grandparent:  Daily Guideposts 2011     Andrew Attaway (editor)     Coworker, Neighbor, Friend:  My Reading Life     by Pat Conroy     Your Political Friends:  The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court     by Jeffrey Toobin     Another one for your Political Friends:  The President’s Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office     by John Bredar     For the Person Who Does Your Yard Work, Repairs, etc.:  Back in the Day: 101 Things Everyone Used to Know How to Do     by Michael Powell  (this title actually sounds like a good one for all of us!).

Books are always my favorite gifts to receive.  And I guess because I love them so much, I find myself giving books to people regularly.  I hope you will, too!  And what if you do have that “techie” in your family or among your friends who doesn’t yet have an electronic book, such as Amazon’s Kindle or Barnes and Noble’s Nook (or any other of the many now available), consider going that route.  Maybe having an electronic book will get them to read and keep their eyes off the TV, Internet, or video game!

Merry Christmas shopping to all!

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