Best Holiday Gifts for Book Worms

There are plenty of great books of all genres out on the shelves at stores like Barnes and Noble, Borders, and your local independent. However, holiday shoppers don't have the time to go wading through piles of books to find the best gift for your friends and family. I hope that this list is able to give a highlight of some of the best in graphic novels, nonfiction, and fiction books. At the very least, it should give you a few more books to add to your own list of books to read in the future.

One of the most popular genres in book stores and online providers these days is the graphic novel, which combine the artistry of the comic book with the intricacy of long form writing. If you are going to get your family's resident book worm started on a graphic novel collection, then there is no better starting point than Alan Moore's Watchmen and V for Vendetta. The lesser known Watchmen, printed by Vertigo and available for $14 at Barnes and Noble, shows the lives of super heros after the glory is over. While the idea of reading a serious novel about super heros may not be particularly appealing to adults, Alan Moore's sophisticated approach to aging super heros will make you forget your trepidation. I recommend reading Watchmen first, if only to appreciate one of the few vestiges of the comic book world that hasn't been touched by movie studios. The more popular V for Vendetta is a haunting look at an authoritarian society in the not-to-distant future of Great Britain. The eloquent protagonist of this graphic novel, known as V, will make you wonder whether terrorism in any form is an effective tool of protest.

If you are looking for more traditional fare for those loved ones that love books, then there are a few nonfiction selections that are must-haves this holiday season. If you want to get a comprehensive look at the sum of knowledge in humanity, then look no further than Peter Watson's Ideas: A History of Thought from Fire to Freud. Watson's detailed look at the inter connectivity of ideas ranging from monotheism to the written word demonstrates the complexity of history and the origins of some of the world's greatest ideas. Ideas is available for around $20 at most major book stores, a steal when you think about the amount of knowledge detailed in this work. Another new work is Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, published by Simon and Schuster and available for $12 on Amazon. Goodwin's reputation as a historian was built by an earlier biography of President Lyndon Johnson and she does justice to the pragmatic genius of President Abraham Lincoln. Goodwin looks at the brain trust that Lincoln assembled during his two terms in office to deal with the Civil War and his unrequited plans for Reconstruction.

There are a few fiction offerings that should be part of any book lover's collection. This listing is by no means comprehensive (in fact, not even close) but two books will keep your friends and family turning pages and interested in reading more of the same. New author Penn Jillette, of the comedy and magic duo of Penn and Teller, came out with a wonderful murder mystery called Sock in the summer of 2004. Sock, printed by St. Martin's Press and available for $11 at many bookstores, tells the story of a police diver solving a murder case from the perspective of the diver's sock puppet. This book is especially wonderful for pop culture vultures from the 1980s who will get many of the references Jillette tosses in casually. Another great page turner is Bret Easton Ellis' sophomore effort The Rules of Attraction, available through Vintage Press for $11 on Amazon. Ellis is one of the better American fiction writers of our time and The Rules of Attraction is an underrated book. It details the raucous and immature behavior of college students through the lens of individual diaries. However, Ellis weaves these individual threads of debauchery and avarice into a fine tapestry that defines American excesses and a wayward youth cultural.