Books as gifts for the holidays

Are you giving or requesting books for the holidays? What books should wind up under the tree?

My brother's family are a book loving group, so I've bought books for all:

Brother:
The Shroud of the Thwacker - A real love it or hate it book from a love him or hate him comedian.

World War Z

Sister in law:
The Glass Castle - This has been on my 'to be read' list for a while. I still don't have my own copy.

Niece (this is my favorite person to buy gifts for. I love picking out kids books):

The Westing Game - I wish I'd read this as a kid. It sounds great!

The City of Ember

The Tale of Despereaux

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective - I loved this series as a kid.

Oh, The Westing Game was one of my favorite books as a kid! Fantastic gift!

I'm getting A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton for my Mom (it's a sequel to a book she really liked); L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon for my mother-in-law, who makes yearly trips to the L.L.Bean store in Maine, she loves it so much; and Rebel for one of my brothers, who loves civil war fiction.

Looks like I missed something having never read The Westing Game myself. Maybe I'll have to pick it up.

My mother-in-law has weird taste, so I bought her the Mutter Museum photograph book.

I bought my sister-in-law the first Tuesday Next book last year and she quickly read through them all, so I think I'm going to buy her The Big Over-Easy.

I think books make great gifts if done right. Personalizing the choices can be fun.

I've ended up getting quite a few books for people:

Sister:
She's a Buffy fan, so I got her Tales of the Slayer book 1

Brother in Law:
Paid me the huge compliment that I'm the only person he knows who loans or gives him interesting books.
The Righteous Men
Rumours of a Hurricane

Mam:
Loves crime and medical thrillers.
Broken Skin
Blood of Angels
The 5th Horseman

Step Dad:
Loves rock so I got him a biography about The Who

Grom:
Loves inspector Morse.
My Life with John Thaw

My 3-y-o niece:
3 Mr. Men books with Christmas themes

My 10-y-o cousin:
The Supernaturalist

Her 7-y-o sister:
Troll Fell

My hubby:
He's the world's biggest Dream Theater fan, so I've ordered him the new book by them with a CD included. And, best yet, his name is printed inside the book on the roll of honour - I am the best wife in the world ever!

I also got a book for a friend, but she's a member on LT, so I'm not saying what it is!

I rarely give books as gifts - usually only if specifically requested. To me they are too personal and subjective for me to guess at.

Kell,

Have you read Blood of Angels yourself? I bought The Straw Men mostly because of the Stephen King blurb on the cover, but just didn't get into it. Never felt like it went anywhere. Does the story pick up (and resolve) during the next two books?

Bookmarque,

For me I love giving a book to someone if I think there will be a click. They won't always be gold, but when I gave my sister-in-law the Jasper Fforde book (or when I gave a different sister-in-law Reading Lolita in Tehran) and see how much they enjoyed it, it's just the gift that keeps on giving (if you'll pardon my cheesiness).

Oddly enough, I'm getting my grandmother (by her request) and my brother-in-law (by my sister's suggestion) the same book: Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy. I hope they like it!

jseger9000 - No, I haven't read Blood of Angels - it just struck me as a book that would interest my Mam.