It's Christmas. Top Dozen Tips for Book Gift Giving

A book is always a great gift … especially if you take the time to match the recipient’s taste in fiction or nonfiction. Suddenly, your thoughtfulness becomes part of the gift. Whether your relatives or friends are interested in the Civil War, literature, romance novels, westerns, paranormal fiction, railroads, guns, cooking, collecting old comic books, antique automobiles, or anything else, there's always a book that will bring a smile to their face.

I'm giving my granddaughter a unique gift this year. She's twelve and wrote a short story as a class assignment. The six thousand word story received a 100% from her teacher. My gift is that I published it on Amazon as a 5X8 paperback and a Kindle book. She'll be surprised to find the paperback in her stocking on Christmas morning. Cool, huh?

The episode reminded me that the most popular post on this blog is my Top 10 Tips on book gift giving. I decided it needed updating ... so here are my twelve tips.

Top Dozen Tips for Book Gift Giving

1. There are books about every hobby and interest in the world. Picking the right book shows you care.
2. Write a personal message on the flyleaf that won't get tossed out like last year's Christmas card.
3. Write surprise messages in the margin of random pages.
4. Search out an author signing for your recipient’s favorite author, or give a collector’s version of the recipient’s favorite book.
5. If you need professional help or want something unique, shop at an independent or specialty bookstore.
6. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime then shipping is free, or mail books early to take advantage of media class at the Post Office.
7. Give a book as a piece of art, like a fine print book, unique coffee table book, favorite book as a child, or collectible cover art.
8. Make a highly personal photo book with ShutterFly or Apple Photos.
9. Give a bookseller gift card for e-book and audio book enthusiasts.
10. College students will appreciate a gift card for their campus bookstore. For fun, you can put it inside a trash novel.
11. Tuck crisp currency into the flyleaf as a bookmark.
12. If your friend or relative already owns piles of books, give a unique set of book ends to hold them in their proper place.

One final tip that comes close to re-gifting—find an Amazon print book that includes a “Match Book” deal. Gift the printed version and download the e-book for yourself.

Children's books are also great gifts. We search for autographed storybooks for our grandkids. Bookstores always have children book signings around the holidays, and this is one area where we join the crowd. The icing on the cake is that we get to read from one of these books when we visit.

Books are a great entertainment value. They provide hour upon hour of personal pleasure, and then they can be passed on to another person. What could be better?

You might even gift one of these.

Which bestselling author is on American currency?

Money is printed by the government, so the faces on our various bills tend to be politicians. Okay, they’re all politicians. Three were not presidents: Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill, Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill, and Salmon P. Chase on the discontinued $10,000 bill. Only one visage on U.S. currency was a bestselling author. In fact, this individual became fabulously wealthy because nearly every home in America owned a copy of one of his books. He also wrote a famous autobiography that has never been out of print.

Most politicians write memoirs or autobiographies to set the record straight, but Benjamin Franklin would probably have taken umbrage at being called a politician. He was a businessman, inventor, philanthropist, scientist, and writer. He just dabbled in politics. Benjamin Franklin was America’s true Renaissance Man. 

His writing made him one of the top 100 richest Americans in history. For nearly thirty years, only the Bible outsold Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, and his articles made the Pennsylvania Gazette the most successful newspaper in the colonies. Even today, schoolchildren can still recite his words. Mostly he wrote nonfiction, but he had the novelist talent for bending the truth to tell a good story. 

William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens have graced British currency, and in 2017 Jane Austen will join their ranks on the £10 note. They were fine writers as well, but here in America, the Franklin is a fine tribute to all of our great and striving authors.

Jane Austen is finally in the money

I guess it would be more accurate to say Jane Austen is on the money. I’m proud of her since she didn’t make a fortune with her writing while she was alive. Starting in 2017, the author will be the image on the ubiquitous £10 note. If authors didn’t self-doubt enough, now they won’t receive full validation until their visage is in everyone’s wallet or pocketbook.

Pride and Prejudice Quote on note - "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!"

Evidently, there was a hue and cry by Caroline Criado-Perez to have more women on British currency. To heck with that, what about authors being eulogized on the most important thing in many people’s lives? Ms. Austen is actually the third writer to grace a British note. William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens preceded her. And how many authors have been on United Sates Currency? None. That’s right, none. Politicians hog all the space. William McKinley has even graced the $500 bill. Now, I ask you, who has done more for Americans, William McKinley or Mark Twain?

Whoops, I just realized something. One of the top selling authors of all time is on American currency. His books were the number 2 bestseller for twenty-six years. (The Bible was number 1.) His writing made him one of the top 100 richest Americans in history. Every school kid can recite his words. It’s easy to forget that Benjamin Franklin was one of the great authors of all time and that there were few homes in colonial America without a copy of Poor Richard’s Almanac. In fact, Ben is not only on the $100 bill, it is popularly called a Franklin. So we do have a great writer on our money. Take that England.

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