Great Idea for Book Lovers (Like Me)

I received a lot of Christmas mailings and catalogs, most of which went into the trash. One, however, sparked some ideas! In my book club's Holiday Gift Guide, I found a whole flyer filled with "book baskets." Interesting idea, huh?

Each basket contained books based on a theme. Some also have a related item such as a Santoku knife included in the"Celebrity Chef's" basket, and a "Holiday Entertaining" CD in the "Art of Entertaining" basket. Of course, the price of the book collection was reduced from whatever the books would cost individually. Of course. In the picture, the books were actually placed in a red box, and wrapped up in cello and a bow to create a lovely gift basket.

I like the idea of book baskets. You know from my last post that I love to read, so if someone gave me a book basket, I would be thrilled, no matter what kind of books they were. I collect books, by the way.

In any case, my point here is that I thnk creating book baskets as gifts is a great idea. The only thing I would change is the red box, and the place where I get the books. I would select my own books from Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller. I have ordered books from this company for many years because they have a huge selection, their prices can't be beat, and best of all, they charge only $3.50 shipping no matter how large your order! Buying books from Hamilton would make book baskets a cinch to make. Here's an example:

First click on View Subject List. Now you can click on whatever subject your gift recipient might be interested in OR for really great prices, you can click on "Specials" at the top of the page. Then select Today's Price Cuts, Audio Books and Videos and scroll cown the list of titles. That's what I'll do here. Now let's assume our gift recipient loves quilting and needlework. This is what I found:

QUICK AND EASY CROSS STITCH DESIGNS INSPIRED BY YOUR GARDEN
By Anne & Michael Lane. Published at $24.95 - your price $3.95

EMBROIDERED TREASURES FOR CHILDREN
By Claire Garland. Published at $19.95 - your price $7.95

QUILTING FOR THE MEN IN YOUR LIFE
By Pearl Louise Krush. Published at $22.99 - your price $7.95

EMBROIDERY FOR THE HOME
By Jenny Bullen. Published at $35.00 - your price $8.95

DEBBIE MUMM'S BEST TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR QUICK COUNTRY QUILTING Video. Published at $19.95 - your price is $2.95

If you bought all of these books you would pay a whopping $32 plus $3.50 shipping. (You would save nearly $100 off the publisher's prices, by the way.) Get a cute basket, some tinted cellophane, and a bow at the dollar store and there you go! What a great gift for Valentines Day, don't you think?

The Reading Life...

I'm a reader. I love to read just about anything I come across. Every night I take time to read, just for pleasure. Not to learn, not to better my skills. Just to enjoy a good book.

Right now I am reading Everything That Rises Must Converge, one of three selections by Flannery O'Conner. This is a collection of tragic short stories, most dealing with eroding family relationships, race relations in the "new" South, and other equally compelling themes. I also recently read several thrillers by Charlotte Armstrong and have still more waiting their turn in my stack on the bedside table. I read God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, my first crack at Kurt Vonnegut, and enjoyed it. Then I began Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, which is written as a series of titled journal entries by "Jonah," who is attempting to write a book about what different Americans were doing the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. I put that one down for a while.

This past year I also read Michael Crichton's Prey. I like the fact that he is a scientist-turned-writer. Makes his science-fiction (including Jurassic Park, Congo, The Andromeda Strain) seem all the more plausible and believable.

I read The Street Lawyer again. Great read. Also Skipping Christmas, an unexpected one from John Grisham. I read two books about bones: Stephen King's Bag of Bones, which I read half-way, then lost in our move, then found a year later in a box and finished. A bit long, I think; the second half much better than the first. The other is The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. This is the story of a 14-year-old girl who is murdered by a neighbor. Amazingly, it is not gruesome or even sad, really. It's touching, loving, and even humorous. Hard to explain, really, you'll just have to read it.

My very favorite book of the year (by far) was The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. What can I say about this book? The story is about two boys growing up in Afghanistan, but that only touches on what you will encounter in this book. This is one of those books that you hope will never end, and when it does, it stays with you long after you finish reading. It is one of those books that you want to read again, even if you never read a book twice. Many others were affected as I was by this remarkable story. You can read their reviews here. Whatever you do, please find, buy, or borrow a copy and read this book. I can hardly wait for Dr. Hosseini's next book, to be published later this year.

I had a neighbor back in California who said reading was a "waste of time."

What??!!

He might as well have said learning is a waste of time or BREATHING is a waste of time. I could only surmise that he couldn't read, and his remark was his feeble attempt to rationalize away his illiteracy. I can't even imagine a life without books.

Those Little Ankle Biters!

Yesterday I found this story on the Internet: Pack of Angry Chihuahuas Attack Officer

Apparently, these Chihuahuas were not too happy when they realized that their 17-year-old owner had been escorted home by a police officer. So, they did what any devoted, redblooded, sharp-toothed, rat-sized canines would do. With nothing less than bow-wow gang-mentality (and possibly some awareness of their small size), they rushed the cop at the doorway and did as much damage as they could--to his ankles.

The cop was rushed to the hospital where he was treated and released, uh, two hours later. So apparently, the bites were, well, just little bites.

By the way, the cute little chihuahuas pictured at the top of this post are not, I repeat, not the perpetrators in this unfortunate incident. Their mugshots are currently unavailable. The above photo is only intended to provide the reader with some idea as to what this noble peace police officer found himself up against.

This is just one of many heart-stopping, gotta-have-it-right-now (slightly offbeat) news stories you wouldn't want to miss, and has been brought to you by me (of course) and this week's sponsors: