The Key to a Woman’s Heart is Through Her Library

There is nothing more wonderful than receiving a book as a gift, especially if the gift giver is someone with whom you are romantically involved (or wish you were). Romance aside, I absolutely love it when someone, anyone, gives me a book. It doesn’t even have to be for a special occasion.

A book gift is very personal. It means that someone has taken the time to think about you and to find a book that will speak to you specifically. Someone wants you to have an enjoyable experience so much that they bought something that will aid in the process. I also love it when someone listens to you rant and rave about a book you’ve always wanted to read and then a few days later, that book magically appears on your front door step.

My aunt was a book editor for a newspaper for many, many years and each Christmas, she always sent everyone in our extended family a book. Each book was tailored to our own preferences and the types of works that we most enjoyed reading. Each Christmas, I could look forward to a delicious new work of fiction, often with a literary tie as my aunt knew my love of writing. These were the types of books that were pager-rippers–so engaging, that I practically tore the pages from the spine.

Another fond memory I have of getting a book as a gift came at the end of my senior year of college. It was Valentine’s Day weekend and I was competing in my final swim meet of my 14 year swimming career. My mom and dad drove all the way to watch me swim as they so often did throughout my life as a swimmer. At the end of the meet, after my final race, my mom and dad gave me a rose, a card, and a copy a childhood favorite, Goodnight Moon. On this milestone of getting older, receiving Goodnight Moon was a nod to my younger days. The book still sits on my bookshelf.

There is something so special about being given a book.  Here are five books that I would be delirious with delight if someone gave to me as a gift:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You can never have too many copies of your favorite book!
2. Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade by Barthe DeClements. I received this as a gift from a cool baby-sitter in first grade, when I was sick. I read this book so many times that the cover fell off. I loved reading about the drama of fifth grade girls who were forced to get along with a new girl that they didn’t like.
3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (an older edition). Another one of my all-time favorite books, it would be cool to have an older edition of this book for my collection.
4. Any collection of Yeats’ poems. Who doesn’t love to receive poetry as a gift, especially when its written by your favorite poet?Bonus if “He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven” is included in said collection.
5. The Best Loved Doll by Rebecca Caudill. My grandmother, who also happened to collect dolls, had given this book to my sister and me. We loved this book because we loved to play with dolls and we could relate to the main character and her “best-loved” doll.