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"I've always loved the idea of being a matchmaker between a person and a book," says Elisabeth Harvor, author of All Times Have Been Modern. "I suppose it's a kind of heartfelt power trip."
Sure, you dream of giving your little sister that ultra-cool novel she'll thumb through until the cover falls off or maybe you imagine Great-Uncle Sam gleefully engrossed in a biography of Winston Churchill. But making those matches is no easy task.
Take buying for kids , for example. A columnist with The Globe and Mail and author of Pearls in Vinegar, Heather Mallick has a caustic wit that makes heads of state quake. Yet young readers get her shaking in her stilettos. "My girlfriend's daughter, aged ten, is so wise and beautiful she intimidates me," she says.
To win points with impossibly mature tweens, start with Egyptology and Dragonology, lavishly illustrated "journals" chronicling the secrets of ancient Egypt and the lore of dragons. For the less-serious, there's Flanimals, a suitably bizarre and hilarious field guide to animals from The Office star Ricky Gervais while hipsters-in-training will love Yellow Submarine, a picture book based on the Beatles' trippy song and 1968 film.
Of course, kids aren't the only ones to inspire gift-giving angst. Trish McGrath, executive director of The Word on the Street, has had a few trials choosing books for boyfriends. One year, she bought her long-distance beau a book she thought was about creativity in cyberspace. "When I heard back from him, he was a little strange," she says. "He was cagey; I was confused." Turns out she'd mailed him a book on online sex—which he opened at the dinner table with his parents!
To impress your partner—and their parents—books about current events are a little less risky. For those who love corporate intrigue there's Wrong Way, the inside scoop on Conrad Black's fall from grace. History buffs will enjoy The Mystery of Olga Chekhova, a chronicle of Chekhov's niece, who was Hitler's favourite actress and a Soviet agent, while Baptism by Ice, a road trip through Canadian hockey, is a sure score for sports junkies as well as those who want to understand our national obsession with ice time.
Another alternative when playing book-Santa is to think about the hobbies of those you're giving to. Kingston librarian Mary Claire Vandenburg admits she has a soft spot for dogs. "Generally I like books that include dogs. It does not matter how tangentially," she says. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Dogs Never Lie About Love, The Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home. But not Beowulf, a misleading title."
If there's a cook in your life, they're sure to drool over Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Heaven or the recipes collected in Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader. Those who prefer architectural confections will appreciate Daniel Libeskind's Breaking Ground: Adventures in Life and Architecture. As for bike enthusiasts, they'll get revved up for Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor's account of a 20,000-mile trek on a motorbike.
When chosen with care, the right novel can really go a long way. Hal Nedzviecki, the author of Hello, I'm Special, bought his girlfriend some fiction by Jack Kerouac for a long trip she took to the Middle East. "She loved the books," he says, "and eventually married me."
Your gift may not bring such a dramatic result but John le Carre's latest Absolute Friends is sure to be well-received. Similarly, Mark Mills's Amagansett a moving story of love, death, and redemption, is a good choice as is The Memory Artist by Jeffrey Moore.
Still stuck? Chris Hall, a bookseller at McNally Robinson in Winnipeg, recommends a little humour. Pick up copies of Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, Quizmas, or Molvania to give someone in your life a good belly laugh, because, heaven knows, after spending the holidays with family, they could probably use it.
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