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Is a book still a good present?
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Books are good presents for readers, kids, and collectors. Probably not so great for people who don't fall into these categories :).
Marie Silk wrote: "Books are good presents for readers, kids, and collectors. Probably not so great for people who don't fall into these categories :)."With mine - kids are ruled out and I doubt suitability for other two categories as well -:)
Well of course they are. On mother's day, my children always give me books. I love it!
Well, I can see that giving one of the books you've written as a present might be a little, well, presumptuous maybe. In general, I only give books to fellow readers, and always a book that means something to me or that I think will appeal to them. I think it's always appropriate to give a child a book that you treasured as a child. In a perfect world, everyone would be a reader, and a good book would be the perfect present. Good books should be shared.
I am happy to receive books - in the genres I like. Or, any book my daughter thinks I should read is fine as a gift.When I was married, both times, my husbands liked books and I gave them as gifts. My kids, books have always been part of birthday and Christmas. That applies even now that they are late 20s and mid 30s. Of course, I give books to my granddaughter, age 3.
I read a trilogy by a goodreads author in this group and knew my daughter would like it. Bought it in paper format for her for Christmas a few years ago. Her S/O's mother saw it and asked to read it. Other times she will tell me she would like a certain book to add to her collection.
We used to do gift certificates for bookstores, but that was before so many went out of business. Because in my family we all like books.
I admit, when I buy a book for my daughter, I read it before I give it to her. She doesn't mind. (When we lived in the same town, we exchanged what we bought all the time.)
I used to donate lots of paperbacks to the prison library. Inmates like books. The prison libraries in Arizona are really lacking. Inmates are only allowed to own 10, so most of them will then donate whatever books they received to the library if not gifting them to another inmate.
When was the last time you received a book for a present?
Nik wrote: "When was the last time you received a book for a present?"Last Christmas.
As far as presents go, somehow ebooks don't quite make it, though. Giving a present of something that sometimes costs $1 somehow does not seem as if you care that much :-(
Absolutely! But only if you know the person well enough to pick the right book for them. Also, if it is a rare or out of print edition in good condition, that's even better.
"For the authors here: are your books good presents and whether you gift them frequently?"I gave my family signed copies of my book as everyday presents; not for special ocassions like birthdays or Christmas. If I were to give other book as presents, I'd choose something that is more significant to them than to me, something I knew from their favorite authors.
I enjoy giving and receiving books as gifts. My opinion is that someone who gifts a book, really has taken the time and energy to give a gift that is personalized to the receiver. I will not, however give a book to a person I know will not read it. If they have indicated they are not a reader, I may suggest an audiobook. Some people are not interested in hearing or reading, so in that case, NO Book. I love rare books or books from previous centuries. I believe these rare gems are priceless.
Ian wrote: "Nik wrote: "When was the last time you received a book for a present?"Last Christmas.
As far as presents go, somehow ebooks don't quite make it, though. Giving a present of something that somet..."
Haha I just gave one as a gift today, for a friends birthday. The last time I received a book as a gift was Tuesday June 25th 2019.
My mom always consults my Amazon wish list. She loves it because she can just choose a random book from the list, and have it sent to me on my birthday.I once received a copy of a book written by the mother of a good friend of mine. It wasn't a very good book, but the author was such a wonderful woman and now she has passed away, so that signed copy is a lovely memory of her.
My son gave me a book last year for my birthday. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but I read it and we talked about it. He knows how much I enjoy reading, and I was happy that he shared something he liked.
Books would make great presents,but then they have to match the taste of the person receiving them.
Although if they're real readers and have an open mind, you might take a chance on something challenging.
I recently bought my dad a copy of Krauthammer's posthumously published book The Point of It All. He's enjoying it, so it was a good present.
I received a gift of 3 e-books from a total stranger as a result of a FB discussion that hooked me on the Aeon14 Universe. My kids don't gift me books anymore because they don't know what I have already bought as a result of the e-reader. They do still expect to receive books from me on Christmas and birthdays, which I always have since their first year of life. (They are 29 and 34.) I buy my granddaughter (now 4) used books from the library so she gets a stack of them for Christmas.I have had friends who liked certain series of books. Others who like to cook, so I search for cookbooks. If I don't know a person likes books and reading, then I wouldn't gift a book.
For gift exchanges or Secret Santas type things, I have done theme type baskets, like tea, coffee or pasta, and I sometimes put a book on that subject with those.
I bought my daughter-in-law an Amazon Kindle gift card for Christmas. I hope it's a good present. Anyone else giving books or e-cards for a gift?
I do, to grand daughters, and to my sister. For the first, got to encourage them to read, and for my sister, she seems to enjoy them.
Scout wrote: "I bought my daughter-in-law an Amazon Kindle gift card for Christmas. I hope it's a good present. Anyone else giving books or e-cards for a gift?"I have multiples for my granddaughter, and at least 2 for my son and 2 for my daughter.
I give books all of the time. Just be careful on what you give to whom. make sure you now your audience.
I agree. I've found, though, that some people will say, if you ask them what they read, they'll say that they like anything. Difficult to buy for those guys. Because they probably don't really like just anything :-)
Acquaintance-type friends, I may not know what they like to read but I usually know topics or hobbies that interest them. So I put a history of tea type book with some special tea or a book on gardening or herbs with a plant. Immediate family is easy.
During the last presidential election my son has asked me about politics and government. I looked up some books in search of what to buy him. The best one I found was actually a textbook on government through popular culture. It was almost $100. I had kept it on my list and last month it showed up in my email as a dropped price. I got it for $6, because the new version of that textbook came out with a $96 price tag.
I know my son likes non-fiction. I know of a couple of authors he really liked, because I had sent him different ones while he was in prison and he talked about them. He likes sociology and psychology. He is more difficult to purchase for than my daughter because reading was never habitual with him before being limited on what he could do with his day. Now, with fulltime college classes, he doesn't have a lot of time to read outside of class requirements. But between his birthday and Christmas last month, he is stocked up for the year with the 5 I gave him.
My daughter I can always give her a gift certificate at any major book store or Amazon. She buys most of the books she wants that are not in the genres I read. There are certain series that she likes but that she wouldn't buy for herself, such as Evanovich's Plum novels. I buy them in hard cover, because I know she keeps them. I read them and then wrap them to give to her. Other times, I come across a sci-fi that I know she will really like, such as Leonie's Frontier series.
, which was read by me, the other grandmother and her. I purchase through Amazon because as a gift she can always return it and get something else (she never has thus far) . Other times, she will mention a book or series that she wants. If it's a series that I know she owns, I will ask her if she has or plans to purchase a new release, such as Bujold's Vorkosigan novel in 2015. Then I have to tell her don't buy it. Not a surprise at Christmas or her birthday but on a teacher's salary knowing that's $25 she can use for something else helps.Granddaughter is easy. She is starting to learn to read so it will probably be more difficult by next Christmas when she is 5.
I could probably pick out a book easily for either of my ex-spouses, not that I am inclined to spend my money on them. :)
Nik wrote: "Unless asked for and have a copy handy, I don't give my stuff as presents. Just a little immodest for me. A friend of mine in NY on the other hand used to buy 2-3 books of mine and hand them out a..."
My grandmother is a voracious reader, so every Christmas, my mother and I each buy her two books from some of her favorite authors. I always ask for a couple books myself on such occasions as well.
And since my grandmother reads my work (!!), I've toyed with the idea of gifting her my next book when it releases. She doesn't have a computer, so she's not gonna be able to buy my books online -- and I'm not about to charge my own grandmother for one of my books. She's one of two people on this planet who gets my stuff for free.
A friend of mine in NY on the other hand used to buy 2-3 books of mine and hand them out as Christmas presents. Can only hope that he remained on friendly footing with the recipients in the aftermath -:)
Are books still good presents?
For the authors here: are your books good presents and whether you gift them frequently?