When a judge is being urged to give a convicted criminal the harshest sentence possible, he or she is urged to “Throw the book at him/her.”
I say we should ALL “throw books” at people—only, don’t literally THROW the books—please—just GIVE them, gently.
Books are wonderful gifts—for any occasion or no occasion at all.
One size fits all. You don’t have to worry about color choice. Books are suitable both for males and females, both for adults and for kids. (Even for pre-readers. Their parents or other caregivers can read the books to them.) You only have to worry about the recipient’s taste in reading matter…and if you guess wrong, you may just introduce the gift-getter to a whole new genre he/she will find most enjoyable.
Books are suitable for any occasion: Birthdays, Christmas/Chanukah/Kwaanza, graduation, or other times that call for recognizing a date or event with a gift.
Books are also suitable for no-occasion gifts. (What’s a no-occasion gift? My grandmother called them “love presents.” They’re presents you give someone either just to say “I love you,” just to say, “I was thinking of you,” or with the explanation, “I saw this and thought you would like it, so here it is.”)
My grandmother was a smart woman…and what better way to say “I love you” or “I was thinking of you” than with a book?
If you know the intended recipient’s taste in reading matter, great! Is he/she a fan of mysteries, historical documentaries, romances, humor, courtroom dramas, or books with a religious or spiritual theme?
If the intended recipient is a child, all you need to know is what level he/she is reading at. His/her tastes in reading are likely largely undeveloped at this time, and you can be the one to introduce him/her to a classic juvenile title, a currently popular children’s author, an “unknown” who shows promise, his first book about baseball, her first book about famous women trailblazers, or…?
Give a book—whether to a man or woman or boy or girl—and you open a door. Give a book and you open a door to a new world, or a new door to an already-familiar world.
A book is always a suitable gift, always in good taste, and always welcome. And most books are within most people’s budgets.
So the next time you’re browsing through books, whether here on the Roundtable/GreatReads site, or in your fave bookstore, or on Amazon.com, or elsewhere, don’t look with only yourself in mind. Who do you know who has an occasion coming up for which you would normally buy a gift? Who do you know whom you’d like to give a book to as a “love present”? Who do you know who would really love that book you just had your eye on a minute ago?
Although you’re not a judge and they aren’t guilty of any crime, “throw the book at them.”