Books Are Easy to Wrap

The first year I worked in a bookstore — a "real" bookstore, a new bookstore, not a used bookstore — everyone got books for Christmas. There was, I confess, an element of convenience and frugality. I was there all the time; my staff discount was 30%. But I've never in my life done anything for purely practical reasons. Selfish ones, sure, but practical, no.

These weren't selfish gifts, though. In fact, they might be some of the least selfish gifts I've ever given. They were the results of months of seeing books in the store and having epiphanies: "Mom would like this!" or "That would be perfect for my uncle!" The gifts came to me, like magic. I was the Santa Claus of literature those Christmases that I worked in a bookstore.

Almost everyone on my gift list is a reader (there are a few exceptions, damn them) and I love giving people books. It's harder, though, now that I don't spend all my time with books. When I go to the bookstore, I gravitate to the books I expect I will like. I've got a type (ha!) and I don't often see beyond it. Working in a bookstore, I came across things that would be all wrong for me and perfect for someone else. To compensate for this, I have, over the past few years, developed a list of books that, if you know me, odds are you'll sooner or later receive at least one of. These are books I enjoyed, some are books that I think have been under-noticed, books that I think anyone I like would have to like, because I don't like people with bad taste.

Two non-fiction titles have traditionally been on this list (though I suspect that starting this year there will be one or two added). I've given several copies of Simon Winchester's first look at the Oxford English Dictionary, The Professor and the Madman. It's been several years since I read it, but I remember being fascinated by Winchester's exploration of the corps of volunteers that gathered the citations for the book (reminiescent, in its way, of Wikipedia's collective information gathering) but most of all by the eccentricity and obsession of those who would dedicate themselves to such a massive project. Plus, who doesn't enjoy a tale about an unlikely friendship? The definitive guide to the English language as the product of an academic and convict; it's a great bit of imagery.

Article Author: Bonnie

Bonnie writes about books every Thursday at Fourth-Rate Reader, about everything else at Signifying Nothing, and sometimes she resorts to pictures. She lives in Toronto.

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