Holiday Gift Ideas: Mark Twain Autobiography and More!

It's the time of year when we start thinking about holiday gifts.  For folks who love history and nonfiction, a great gift idea is Mark Twain's newly published autobiography.  Add to it a Ken Burns video on Twain, a book about food Twain loved, a collection of Twain quotations, or a bottle of bourbon, and you will have a fantastic holiday gift!

1.  Twain's Autobiography.

2.   Twain's Feast  - a search for Mark Twain's favorite foods.

3.  Ken Burns looks at Mark Twain's life.

4.  Mark Twain is definitely quotable.  Get all his gems in one collection. 

Children's Books

A bored child creates unhappy adults. This is indisputable fact. Fortunately, there are books for children. Yes, books. Portable, affordable, quiet books. A child absorbed in reading a good book makes everyone, including that child, happy. This is also indisputable fact.

Recently on NPR author Lesley Blume shared a list of ten classic books for children. Ms. Blume's recommendations are not only useful right now while summer vacation is still on, but also for future birthday and holiday gifts.

I've matched Blume's recommended book titles to various age groups. If you disagree with the match-ups, let me know.

Ages 4 - 8

The Devil's Storybook (Sunburst Book)
by Natalie Babbitt.

Ages 9 - 12

The Boxcar Children Books 1-4
by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

The Witches
by Roald Dahl.

The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer.

The Twenty-One Balloons
by William Pene du Bois.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E.L. Konigsburg.

The House With a Clock In Its Walls (Lewis Barnavelt)
by John Bellairs


Ages 11 - 14

Daddy Long Legs
by Jean Webster.


Young Adult

Watership Down: A Novel
by Richard Adams.

Freaky Friday
by Mary Rodgers.

Food and Drink: Gifts of Wine

Thinking of giving someone a bottle of wine as a holiday present? Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of public radio's The Splendid Table, a fabulous program about food produced by American Public Media, and her guest Joshua Wesson, Senior Director of Wine, Beer and Spirits at the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, recently discussed what wine to give as a gift.

Mr. Wesson's recommendations are below. For an explanation on each item, check out the podcast. I particularly like Mr. Wesson's suggestion of giving a bottle of Hardy's Whiskers Blake Tawny Port NV. This is good port and a great idea for a present. For someone special go one step further: Add to the port a chunk of nice Stilton and a package of walnuts and you have created a fantastic gift.

• For your supervisor/boss/partner: Estancia Meritage 2005, a California Bordeaux blend "Meritage" in a tall, heavy bottle. In the $25 to $30 range.

• For the parking attendant or mail carrier: An Argentinean red or white. About $6.

• Friends looking to try the next new thing: Sicilian Nero d'Avola such as Rapitale Campo Reale Nero d'Avola 2005. About $15.

• For people who buy wine frequently: Hardy's Whiskers Blake Tawny Port NV for about $14.