Hurry up and finish your shopping so we can work on that mulled wine recipe together. (Not that I'm judging, I only bought my office Secret Santa present yesterday for presentation... today.)
1 day ago
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
20 December 2011
19 December 2011
Treat Yourself 2011: What More Can I Give?
So maybe you don't need more reading material, much less reading material packaged up in pretty boxes. Maybe your intended recipient has enough knicknacks and blank books. Why not make a donation in her or his name to some kind of reading-related charity to show that your love of books is more than just between the two of you? There are thousands of options, but here are just five:
FirstBook: I'm a huge booster of FirstBook (not that I can find the last time I wrote about them, so maybe it's time to make another donation myself?) but I think the pitch is pretty irresistible. Chances are if you're reading this you grew up in a house of books, and it's hard to imagine that there are kids out there who don't have any books to call their own. First Book takes your donations and buys books wholesale so kids can have their own to read a billion times over. If I can't convince you, perhaps Nick Kristof will. Charity Navigator, a nonprofit grading other nonprofits on their financial health and transparency, gave this organization three stars.
Donors Choose: If you know any k-12 school teachers, you've probably been exposed to this online charity where teachers put up their "projects" and what they plan to buy with donations -- from projectors to lab equipment to craft supplies. Classroom sets of books are a popular choice -- you can even find out if they're still teaching your old favorites by running a search (although hey, look, THE HUNGER GAMES is trending!) Charity Navigator gave this organization four stars.
Reading Partners: Especially for those of us in New York, Washington D.C. and California, but expanding to Baltimore and other cities next year, this group recruits adult tutors for kindergarten through fifth grade students who have fallen behind in reading to offer them some extra help behind the scenes. It's a great program to support financially if you aren't able to volunteer during the school day when tutoring happens (no judgment here). Charity Navigator gave this organization four stars.
Books for Soldiers: While you're fulfilling the wish lists of family and friends, sign up for this site and send an active-duty member of the military a book that he or she wants. (Just because we're at the end of combat operations in Iraq... you know what I'm saying.) Charity Navigator didn't rate Books for Soldiers; I'm including it here because it does have nonprofit status, although it is church-affiliated if that information is important to you.
Your local library. I assume if the New York Public Library is asking for donations all the time, if even a city with a lot of rich people isn't turning out its pockets fast enough for the public library, then they probably could all use the help. And again, as with FirstBook: Dig around for your formative experiences in public libraries. Chances are you have a few. Everybody deserves that. (And that's how she demonstrated why she doesn't write fundraising campaigns for a living.)
FirstBook: I'm a huge booster of FirstBook (not that I can find the last time I wrote about them, so maybe it's time to make another donation myself?) but I think the pitch is pretty irresistible. Chances are if you're reading this you grew up in a house of books, and it's hard to imagine that there are kids out there who don't have any books to call their own. First Book takes your donations and buys books wholesale so kids can have their own to read a billion times over. If I can't convince you, perhaps Nick Kristof will. Charity Navigator, a nonprofit grading other nonprofits on their financial health and transparency, gave this organization three stars.
Donors Choose: If you know any k-12 school teachers, you've probably been exposed to this online charity where teachers put up their "projects" and what they plan to buy with donations -- from projectors to lab equipment to craft supplies. Classroom sets of books are a popular choice -- you can even find out if they're still teaching your old favorites by running a search (although hey, look, THE HUNGER GAMES is trending!) Charity Navigator gave this organization four stars.
Reading Partners: Especially for those of us in New York, Washington D.C. and California, but expanding to Baltimore and other cities next year, this group recruits adult tutors for kindergarten through fifth grade students who have fallen behind in reading to offer them some extra help behind the scenes. It's a great program to support financially if you aren't able to volunteer during the school day when tutoring happens (no judgment here). Charity Navigator gave this organization four stars.
Books for Soldiers: While you're fulfilling the wish lists of family and friends, sign up for this site and send an active-duty member of the military a book that he or she wants. (Just because we're at the end of combat operations in Iraq... you know what I'm saying.) Charity Navigator didn't rate Books for Soldiers; I'm including it here because it does have nonprofit status, although it is church-affiliated if that information is important to you.
Your local library. I assume if the New York Public Library is asking for donations all the time, if even a city with a lot of rich people isn't turning out its pockets fast enough for the public library, then they probably could all use the help. And again, as with FirstBook: Dig around for your formative experiences in public libraries. Chances are you have a few. Everybody deserves that. (And that's how she demonstrated why she doesn't write fundraising campaigns for a living.)
18 December 2011
Treat Yourself 2011: Scribble, scribble, scribble
The short answer for where I write my book-related thoughts is "Everywhere." I used to keep a proper reading journal with a page for each book, and then I fell behind on it for some reason, and then I started blogging more... and I never picked the habit back up.
If you want to get into the habit of writing things down again, either about books or on a broader range of topics, here are some writing materials I like:
Any paper notebook can be a reading journal and there are a lot out there, but I liked the craftsmanship of and recommendations in Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Journal ($12.95, Sasquatch) Pearl is a librarian and overall reading booster, and I believe wrote a book called BOOK LUST to those ends... this is a handsome little piece though. She also sells a journal for kids called Book Crush in case you, I don't know, can't find a PG way of explaining what lust is to your kids, or something.
As far as Moleskines go, I am the stereotype. I love them and tell myself that if I use them, it's okay to pay slightly too much for notebooks that are good but don't actually make me write any better. (But I'm using a spiral notebook right now, for throwback value.) My substitute obsession are the Moleskine knockoffs at Staples, in black leather, brown leather or even a sort of nifty plaid. They're listed on the website at $12.99 but usually I see them on sale for $6-$8, probably because there's a tiny scuff mark on them rendering them Business Unsuitable (don't care).
The environmentally friendly alternative to both of those are the Ecosystem notebooks, which I remember Borders plugging fairly heavily just before its demise (RIP). They're marked out by "architect" (gridded), "artist" (blank) or "author" (lined) and they're quite pretty, although in line with Moleskine pricing at $14.95 for a medium.
An idea that's been around for centuries but resurfaced in 2011 is that of writing shorter entries but maintaining consistency. Credited for bringing this back: Gretchen Rubin, author of the blockbuster THE HAPPINESS PROJECT (a book I liked! and even own) who committed to writing a sentence a day in her journal to remember those things that would otherwise go unnoticed. She has since come out with a HAPPINESS PROJECT-branded one-sentence journal designed to take you through 5 years, though there are others on the market already. It's a cute idea as long as you're not prone to losing things (ahem).
But if you really really want to start writing on paper again, my advice would be to keep the stakes low. Buy a plain notebook or even one of those two-column steno books and save the fancy stuff for later. All you have to do is start.
If you want to get into the habit of writing things down again, either about books or on a broader range of topics, here are some writing materials I like:
Any paper notebook can be a reading journal and there are a lot out there, but I liked the craftsmanship of and recommendations in Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Journal ($12.95, Sasquatch) Pearl is a librarian and overall reading booster, and I believe wrote a book called BOOK LUST to those ends... this is a handsome little piece though. She also sells a journal for kids called Book Crush in case you, I don't know, can't find a PG way of explaining what lust is to your kids, or something.
As far as Moleskines go, I am the stereotype. I love them and tell myself that if I use them, it's okay to pay slightly too much for notebooks that are good but don't actually make me write any better. (But I'm using a spiral notebook right now, for throwback value.) My substitute obsession are the Moleskine knockoffs at Staples, in black leather, brown leather or even a sort of nifty plaid. They're listed on the website at $12.99 but usually I see them on sale for $6-$8, probably because there's a tiny scuff mark on them rendering them Business Unsuitable (don't care).
The environmentally friendly alternative to both of those are the Ecosystem notebooks, which I remember Borders plugging fairly heavily just before its demise (RIP). They're marked out by "architect" (gridded), "artist" (blank) or "author" (lined) and they're quite pretty, although in line with Moleskine pricing at $14.95 for a medium.
An idea that's been around for centuries but resurfaced in 2011 is that of writing shorter entries but maintaining consistency. Credited for bringing this back: Gretchen Rubin, author of the blockbuster THE HAPPINESS PROJECT (a book I liked! and even own) who committed to writing a sentence a day in her journal to remember those things that would otherwise go unnoticed. She has since come out with a HAPPINESS PROJECT-branded one-sentence journal designed to take you through 5 years, though there are others on the market already. It's a cute idea as long as you're not prone to losing things (ahem).
But if you really really want to start writing on paper again, my advice would be to keep the stakes low. Buy a plain notebook or even one of those two-column steno books and save the fancy stuff for later. All you have to do is start.
16 December 2011
Treat Yourself 2011: Knicknacks You Don't Need (But Probably Want Anyway)
Before I got hooked on writing in the books I owned, I went through a Post-It note phase and I still go through way too many for this so-called paperless society. Novelty Post-Its are the kind of stocking stuffer I actually use, particularly when they're funny -- like these floppy disk sticky notes (MoMA Store, $9.95). For a standalone gift, maybe pair them with some sushi notepads (MoMA Store, $18.95) -- fitting, as earlier, for that coworker you drew in Secret Santa but who you don't actually know.
For when you run out of charity address labels (or move)... set your library apart with a personalized embosser (Neiman Marcus, $26). Impossibly classy. I don't even think libraries use these any more.
It won't do anything to assuage your guilt about going digital, but a Kindle cover that picks up on a classic book cover (like ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST or THE GREAT GATSBY) is mighty clever. You can also design your own literary-themed case on the site. (M-Edge, $30).
This might actually cross the border into need: On one of my flights over Thanksgiving I was stuck in a seat whose overhead light was broken, and me with a stack of books I was dying to get into. I thought longingly of all the book lights I had owned over the years... where were they now? This is one area where you don't really need to spend more to get something better (see: SE Clip-On Light, Amazon.com, $3.20) unless you're design-finicky, in which case I suggest The Really Tiny Booklight (MOMA Store, $14).
Love: A fully charged Kindle. Hate: Tripping over its cord (and the 800 others to which I seem to be constantly attached) when trying to charge up. For making sure my Kindle (or, for your Kindle-app-enabled device) has enough juice to make good on its dozens of books, I'm looking for a charging station like this whimsical Kikkerland Grass Charging Station (Amazon.com, $25).It's one of those gifts that other people will actually take an interest in when your recipient unwraps it. (Also something I assume you could make if you're handy with an X-Acto knife, which I am not.)
For when you run out of charity address labels (or move)... set your library apart with a personalized embosser (Neiman Marcus, $26). Impossibly classy. I don't even think libraries use these any more.
It won't do anything to assuage your guilt about going digital, but a Kindle cover that picks up on a classic book cover (like ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST or THE GREAT GATSBY) is mighty clever. You can also design your own literary-themed case on the site. (M-Edge, $30).
This might actually cross the border into need: On one of my flights over Thanksgiving I was stuck in a seat whose overhead light was broken, and me with a stack of books I was dying to get into. I thought longingly of all the book lights I had owned over the years... where were they now? This is one area where you don't really need to spend more to get something better (see: SE Clip-On Light, Amazon.com, $3.20) unless you're design-finicky, in which case I suggest The Really Tiny Booklight (MOMA Store, $14).
Love: A fully charged Kindle. Hate: Tripping over its cord (and the 800 others to which I seem to be constantly attached) when trying to charge up. For making sure my Kindle (or, for your Kindle-app-enabled device) has enough juice to make good on its dozens of books, I'm looking for a charging station like this whimsical Kikkerland Grass Charging Station (Amazon.com, $25).It's one of those gifts that other people will actually take an interest in when your recipient unwraps it. (Also something I assume you could make if you're handy with an X-Acto knife, which I am not.)
15 December 2011
Treat Yourself 2011: Paperbacks For Days!
I love paperbacks as gifts. I think all the books I'm giving as gifts this year are paperbacks (don't worry, I won't spoil them in case anyone from my family is reading), and most of them hearken back to experiences I and the recipient have shared, jokes we have made or topics we both generally enjoy. In that sense it's really as fun to pick them out as to go down on Christmas morning and see what they've picked out for me. Because, while not materialistic in general, I really enjoy looking for gifts.
Here are some paperbacks I enjoyed in 2011 that you may find useful for your gifting needs:
For the current events addict taking a busman's holiday: I never get tired of talking about Leslie Chang's great investigative book FACTORY GIRLS, on China's marketing boom and its effects on young members of the population leaving their homes to chase new opportunities. I thought of it even more after reviewing (and liking) Tom Scocca's BEIJING WELCOMES YOU this August, in case you want to splurge on a hardcover and a paperback (for that special someone). Potential 2011 hooks: The death of Steve Jobs and the controversy over worker deaths in Apple factories abroad; the fact that three women were named as sharing the honor of the Nobel Peace Prize; American unemployment rates and the Republican presidential field's solutions (or, depending on the relative, failure to come up with solutions).
For anybody obsessed with THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO: Symptoms include desire to read about mysterious murders constantly, supernatural motive assignation, inability to stop talking about DRAGON TATTOO, and the fruitless purchase of other novels whose authors bear vaguely Scandinavian last names. Try Laura Kasischke's THE RAISING, which brings the creepiness crossed with some SECRET HISTORY-style coverup on a college campus -- but no lessons. No hugging and no learning!
For friends who are girls, or possibly girlfriends: I didn't realize how well Elaine Dundy's THE DUD AVOCADO went over as a pick at my book club until we were going over the year in pints 'n' discussions. Originally published in 1958, it's a kind of zany travelogue anchored by Sally Jay Gorse, an American wannabe actress in Paris who gets herself into a variety of scrapes and to me was reminiscent of the plucky Lucy Maud Montgomery heroines of my youth -- though not without consequences.
For fellow Top 10 list junkies: One of the problems with end-of-the-year best-of book lists is that keeping up with them can be so pricey, and if you can drop $200 on the New York Times best books of the year without blinking, I envy your resolve. So I'm happy to highlight two books making frequent appearances on these lists that also just came out in paperback, Tea Obreht's THE TIGER'S WIFE (also a National Book Award finalist) and Karen Russell's SWAMPLANDIA -- as examples of a trend I would like to see more of in the future.
For your younger cousin who is planning to major in English just like you and wants to talk about how theories are blowing his/her mind all the time: Yeah, I don't know anyone like that here... but if I did I would definitely go back in time and give that girl a copy of THE BROOM OF THE SYSTEM for that inevitable moment when Winter Break feels completely claustrophobic and the ol' thinking muscles are starting to atrophy.
Additionally two of the new books I put on my Top 10 of 2011 So Far list, THE BLOW-OFF and THE MOMENT, are available in paperback -- read and love them, please! (And BOSSYPANTS is out Jan. 3, in case you are planning to swap presents late enough to make that information useful.)
(While we're on that topic, I recently read a Salon op-ed by an author who made one of these interim lists, only to feel completely destroyed when she didn't make the top 10 of the year on Amazon. What I would like to say to this author, and I don't mean to downplay her achievement, but: No one is going to assume that your book lost greatness from now until then. No one's going to remember! And only a real jerk would point out that you were on the list "for a while" -- in part because Amazon's internal layout is so confusing that said real jerk would have to spend a long time rebutting you. So disregard that real jerk! Here's what you're going to do, you're going to put a screenshot of your achievement on your website, and then you are going to drink some champagne and it's going to be fine.)
Here are some paperbacks I enjoyed in 2011 that you may find useful for your gifting needs:
For the current events addict taking a busman's holiday: I never get tired of talking about Leslie Chang's great investigative book FACTORY GIRLS, on China's marketing boom and its effects on young members of the population leaving their homes to chase new opportunities. I thought of it even more after reviewing (and liking) Tom Scocca's BEIJING WELCOMES YOU this August, in case you want to splurge on a hardcover and a paperback (for that special someone). Potential 2011 hooks: The death of Steve Jobs and the controversy over worker deaths in Apple factories abroad; the fact that three women were named as sharing the honor of the Nobel Peace Prize; American unemployment rates and the Republican presidential field's solutions (or, depending on the relative, failure to come up with solutions).
For anybody obsessed with THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO: Symptoms include desire to read about mysterious murders constantly, supernatural motive assignation, inability to stop talking about DRAGON TATTOO, and the fruitless purchase of other novels whose authors bear vaguely Scandinavian last names. Try Laura Kasischke's THE RAISING, which brings the creepiness crossed with some SECRET HISTORY-style coverup on a college campus -- but no lessons. No hugging and no learning!
For friends who are girls, or possibly girlfriends: I didn't realize how well Elaine Dundy's THE DUD AVOCADO went over as a pick at my book club until we were going over the year in pints 'n' discussions. Originally published in 1958, it's a kind of zany travelogue anchored by Sally Jay Gorse, an American wannabe actress in Paris who gets herself into a variety of scrapes and to me was reminiscent of the plucky Lucy Maud Montgomery heroines of my youth -- though not without consequences.
For fellow Top 10 list junkies: One of the problems with end-of-the-year best-of book lists is that keeping up with them can be so pricey, and if you can drop $200 on the New York Times best books of the year without blinking, I envy your resolve. So I'm happy to highlight two books making frequent appearances on these lists that also just came out in paperback, Tea Obreht's THE TIGER'S WIFE (also a National Book Award finalist) and Karen Russell's SWAMPLANDIA -- as examples of a trend I would like to see more of in the future.
For your younger cousin who is planning to major in English just like you and wants to talk about how theories are blowing his/her mind all the time: Yeah, I don't know anyone like that here... but if I did I would definitely go back in time and give that girl a copy of THE BROOM OF THE SYSTEM for that inevitable moment when Winter Break feels completely claustrophobic and the ol' thinking muscles are starting to atrophy.
Additionally two of the new books I put on my Top 10 of 2011 So Far list, THE BLOW-OFF and THE MOMENT, are available in paperback -- read and love them, please! (And BOSSYPANTS is out Jan. 3, in case you are planning to swap presents late enough to make that information useful.)
(While we're on that topic, I recently read a Salon op-ed by an author who made one of these interim lists, only to feel completely destroyed when she didn't make the top 10 of the year on Amazon. What I would like to say to this author, and I don't mean to downplay her achievement, but: No one is going to assume that your book lost greatness from now until then. No one's going to remember! And only a real jerk would point out that you were on the list "for a while" -- in part because Amazon's internal layout is so confusing that said real jerk would have to spend a long time rebutting you. So disregard that real jerk! Here's what you're going to do, you're going to put a screenshot of your achievement on your website, and then you are going to drink some champagne and it's going to be fine.)
10 December 2011
Treat Yourself 2011: Gift Sets For The Very Good
(Links are to publishers where I could find them; sure, use Amazon, and I do, but don't forget your local independent bookstore.)
For the aesthete: Whenever I see these Penguin Hardcover Classics with their old-timey printed cloth covers, the craftsmanship to them is just amazing. Single volumes are $20, or splurge on the Major Works of Charles Dickens (GREAT EXPECTATIONS, HARD TIMES, OLIVER TWIST, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BLEAK HOUSE and A TALE OF TWO CITIES) for $125.
For the budding chef: Julia Child, you're so 2009. Raise the stakes with THE ESSENTIAL THOMAS KELLER ($63), a two-volume cookbook by the madman behind French Laundry and Bouchon. For the hipster chef at hipster pricing, look to Christina Tosi's MOMOFUKU MILK BAR ($22), purported to offer the secrets behind the East Village bakery. Compost cookies for everyone (note: much more delicious than it sounds).
For the fashion-minded (fashionista is kind of sexist, do you think?): Patrick Demarchelier's DIOR COUTURE ($70) for the old avant-garde; ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: SAVAGE BEAUTY ($45) for the new.
For those who can take a joke: By the time I got my first issue of MAD Magazine it was already in its sunset years (down to 6 issues/ year right now, from what I can find). Soon there will come a generation of kids who don't understand how a fold-in joke panel works... but by God, not this one. Chronicle Books just published THE MAD FOLD-IN COLLECTION, 1964-2010 ($125), whose digital reproductions mean you won't actually have to fold in the pages to get the joke.
For your favorite bartender, friend in imbibing, uncle or party host: It takes a university press to do service to such a serious subject as THE OXFORD COMPANION TO BEER ($65). Also consider for your recently-of-age sibling who could stand to learn a thing or two about the finer points of not drinking from kegs any more, ahem.
20 December 2007
Santa Special: Books I'm giving for Christmas.
Are you done with your holiday shopping yet? I hope so. (Especially if you're buying Hanukkah presents... that ship, I fear, has sailed. Sorry, friends of mine who celebrate Hanukkah and haven't gotten their cards yet!) In case you need a few last-minute ideas, here are some books I'm giving this year. If you are related to me, TURN BACK NOW. Here be spoilers.
For Grandma: Francine du Plessix Gray, THEM: A MEMOIR OF PARENTS. My maternal grandmother loves it when we recommend books to her, so while she's visiting us this December I hope she'll enjoy this memoir of Russian expatriates in Paris and New York which I so loved earlier this year. The author's mother had an affair with the man who would be her stepfather in wartime Paris, and later they moved to New York City and joined the cultural elite through his job at the Condé Nast Corporation. What I loved about this book was the way the author both described these lives, so full of boldface names and fancy parties, and her own experiences on the margins of all that excitement, never fully understanding her mother and stepfather until she started working on the book.
For my traveling aunt: I drew Aunt Mel in this year's family gift swap and my other aunt clued me in that she was going to Vancouver this year, so I picked her out two books about Vancouver: Douglas Coupland's CITY OF GLASS, a series of short nonfiction sketches about his home city, and M. Wylie Blanchet's THE CURVE OF TIME, about a single mom raising her kids on an island outside Vancouver. I hope in '08 they inspire her to have a great trip (even if they're not proper guidebooks).
For my mom, who has everything: Mom's kind of infamous for buying things we had been planning to get her during the holidays, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't had time to get into THE MITFORDS: LETTERS BETWEEN SIX SISTERS, edited by Charlotte Mosley. She went through a Mitfords phase a few years ago (and recommended me a few books from it which I haven't gotten around to... sorry, Mom!) and this ought to occupy her nightstand for at least a few nights.
What books are you giving for the holidays, if any?
For Grandma: Francine du Plessix Gray, THEM: A MEMOIR OF PARENTS. My maternal grandmother loves it when we recommend books to her, so while she's visiting us this December I hope she'll enjoy this memoir of Russian expatriates in Paris and New York which I so loved earlier this year. The author's mother had an affair with the man who would be her stepfather in wartime Paris, and later they moved to New York City and joined the cultural elite through his job at the Condé Nast Corporation. What I loved about this book was the way the author both described these lives, so full of boldface names and fancy parties, and her own experiences on the margins of all that excitement, never fully understanding her mother and stepfather until she started working on the book.
For my traveling aunt: I drew Aunt Mel in this year's family gift swap and my other aunt clued me in that she was going to Vancouver this year, so I picked her out two books about Vancouver: Douglas Coupland's CITY OF GLASS, a series of short nonfiction sketches about his home city, and M. Wylie Blanchet's THE CURVE OF TIME, about a single mom raising her kids on an island outside Vancouver. I hope in '08 they inspire her to have a great trip (even if they're not proper guidebooks).
For my mom, who has everything: Mom's kind of infamous for buying things we had been planning to get her during the holidays, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't had time to get into THE MITFORDS: LETTERS BETWEEN SIX SISTERS, edited by Charlotte Mosley. She went through a Mitfords phase a few years ago (and recommended me a few books from it which I haven't gotten around to... sorry, Mom!) and this ought to occupy her nightstand for at least a few nights.
What books are you giving for the holidays, if any?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
