Dive Deep into Creativity: Discover, Share, Inspire
Hi all, JoAnn here.
Since January is what we retail folks call The Season of Returns, and Valentine’s Day is closing in quick, I figured it might be time for a quick and dirty “Books as Gifts Guide.”
First things first, I will pretty much always advocate that there is a book for just about everyone.
Narrowing down what is the appropriate book for a given person is the more difficult part.
Did the person you are buying your gift for request a specific title?
Yes: easy peasy.
Your local bookseller should be able to help you lay your hands on that which you seek.
No: less easy but no less peasy.
Did they not give you a title because they couldn’t remember it or because your plan was to go to your local bookstore and see what spoke to you?
If they couldn’t remember the title, booksellers will gladly attempt to Sherlock Holmes their way to what you are looking for. If you don’t have a title or author, being able to tell a bookseller a few basic things about the book you are looking for (what it’s about, name of a character if you are looking for a novel or a series, where the person heard about the book, etc) can make things so much easier. Many times the Google on the Internet Machine has helped me put a name to broken pieces of information and allowed me to put the proper title in the hands of a customer.
And now, for the person that didn’t ask for a book but is on your list to be given one.
The difficulty with this bit is that if someone does not consider themselves a reader and/or doesn’t like books (gasp), there really isn’t anything you can do to force the change upon them. The book you give them will, most likely, sit on a case and gather dust.
Story time: I have a friend named Jon. Jon is an electrician by trade and a mechanic by hobby. He does not like to read novels. He flat out says he is not a reader. He will buy huge, densely written technical manuals and read them for fun. I shit you not, these books are written in such a way that if I try to read them I feel like I’m having a stroke. He will devour these while loudly ranting about how he doesn’t like to read. He does not recognize the contradiction.
For Jon, the best thing to get him book-wise is, you guessed it, a technical manual for something in his wheelhouse. Or a highly inappropriate humor book with lots of pictures. But that is just because I know what makes Jon laugh.
The following questions are a few tools that booksellers will typically use to help you figure out what direction to point you in if you are looking for a book but aren’t sure what book is right for your situation:
1) What is the last book you/insert person here read and loved? 2) What type of books do you/insert person here like to read? 3) What movie was the last movie that you/insert person here really enjoyed?
Question number three I’ve started tossing in my bag of tricks since a bunch of books that have done well in book format have been getting turned into movies. While many of the more literary snobs may pooh-pooh such things, I love it because the books start to fly off the shelves around the time the movie gets closer to hitting theaters and then I can suggest other titles that might tickle someone’s fancy.
At the end of the day, trust your judgment. You know the person that you are buying for. You know their personality and what they like. You can do this, I believe in you.