Thursday, December 2, 2010

Literary Gifts

December is upon us, and that means shopping, parties, celebrating (and for Miss Havisham, final exams...yuck!) In the spirit of the season, and as I plan my trips to the mall, I'm curious about the best literary gifts to give (and receive).

I have a long history of asking for books as gifts. As a child, my list for Santa Claus was primarily a wish list of Nancy Drew titles. But I also loved the "surprise" books that I sometimes received...you know, the books that someone purchased for me, that weren't even on my radar, and that I ended up loving. Books like Johnny Tremain, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Number the Stars (thanks Aunt J, Mom and Grandma for opening my imagination to these wonderful stories!)

When I was fourteen, I asked for my own copy of Gone With the Wind, which I had checked out of the library at least four times the previous year. I still have that copy, although it has been read so many times that the pages have completely fallen out of the spine (and a few have fallen out of chronological order).

However, books as gifts can also be problematic. This summer I received a copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest from a well-meaning giver. The only problem: I haven't read the first two in the series (or is Hornet's Nest second? I'm not even sure) Now I feel obligated to go out and purchase the other two, even though I really had no interest in reading any of them.

Let's not forget the writing element of literacy. When I was a teenager I looked forward to receiving a new journal every year for Christmas. Regardless of whether the old journal was half-full or overflowing, I would start a new one every year on New Year's Eve. I haven't kept a journal since senior year of college, but I'm seriously thinking of starting one up again...

I'm curious...what are your favorite literary gifts to give and receive?

2 comments:

  1. Hello! Long time no post!

    Rebecca, I don't remember ever asking for many books as a kid - mostly because I had all of your hand-me-downs to get through. And I must say, Number the Stars was probably my favorite book at age 10 -- that's awesome that it was a gift!

    Actually, senior year of high school I was going through a huge Hemingway phase after reading The Sun Also Rises and ended up asking and receiving several of his books. Unfortunately I ended up not liking much of his work besides The Sun Also Rises. Too much bullfighting! But it did help me on my AP English exam because I was able to write about Farewell to Arms.

    I do enjoy GIVING literary gifts though! The year I read Eat Pray Love I ended up giving it as a gift to half my girl friends (and mom!).

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  2. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE A Farewell to Arms! Haven't read it since I was seventeen...spent half of this summer talking about it...I think I need to get a copy and re-read it over Christmas!

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