2010 Holiday Gift Giving (Click to Listen) or download http://www.box.net/files#/files/0/item/f_662874425/1/f_662874425 now.
Happy Holidays to our listeners. Blessed are the readers, as they say (or maybe that’s just what we say!).
We keep hearing from people who need gift ideas – for office mates, for birthdays, winter solstice celebrations, for the first snow, for host/hostess gifts or just because.To help those of you searching for that perfect gift of a book, we have some ideas. Even if it’s the last minute you should still be able to find these titles at your local bookstore.
First, two cookbooks:
The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe from Each Year 1941-2009 by Gourmet Magazine. Beautiful graphics, some great history of american cooking and life. Good recipes that yield delicious cookies. And these in turn could become superb gifts. A nice cycle heh?
Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan – This master of the French Table provides recipes that inspire and allow you to enjoy one delicious meal after another. Yes, it is French cooking. But it has a modern slant and tells you what the French are eating today – both at home and in restaurants.
Then some non fiction.
Always Entertaining, Julia Child
As Always Julia: The letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto — a collection of 200 letters exchanged between Julia and Avis DeVoto, her friend and unofficial literary agent. The letters show a unique and lifelong friendship between the two women. They also illustrate the often challenging process of creating Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We recommend reading this, cooking a good french meal from Around the French Table and then watching Julie and Julia.
Now for some fiction.
Vida by Patricia Engel – a collection of related short stories about a Colombian-American woman who grows up in New Jersey as the daughter of Colombian immigrants. The characters who inhabit these stories will move you and stay with you long after you close the book. This book is reminescent of Lahiri’s collections, but stands well on its own with a firmly Latin flavor.
We now have two picture books for kids and the adults who love them
- Shhhhhhh…..It’s bedtime
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska – This book explores the different kinds of quiet with kind words and amazing illustrations. Could calm the most frazzled holiday shopper and many many children. A great going to bed book.
Alfie Runs Away by Ken Cadow – This is a lovely story of a boy who runs away to home with a little help from his mother.
Now, one for chapter book readers (or those who are reading to chapter book readers).
Danger Box by Blue Balliet – A great old fashioned adventure story set in modern day Michigan. This tale incorporates an engaging mystery, small town life, surviving today’s recession, life with disabilities, growing up with beloved grandparents, finding friends and Darwin. Yes, it manages all that!
Other books we thought of but did not mention during the podcast.
Fiction
Room: A novel by Emma Donoghue – A stunning novel about survival. Despite a disturbing concept – a boy and his mother are held hostage in a room, it remains uplifting – Lisa LC promises.
Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong – Great fiction for anyone needing a well written book that leaves you feeling good at the end.
Non fiction
Spoon Fed: How eight cooks saved my life by Kim Severson – You will love the time you spend with Ms. Severson.
Chapter books
The 68 Rooms by Marianne Malone – A superb story reminiscent of The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler.
