Sunday Salon: The Gift Edition

Thanksgiving came late this year. So now it seems as if Christmas is barreling towards me like a freight train and I might not even have time to brace myself for the impact. I have my children's and my husband's Christmas wish lists, not that any one of them needs one darn thing. And I'm not feeling very inspired to get gifts this year. Bah humbug. I even spent the other day walking around the bookstore listlessly and came away with no ideas. But I always get books. It's sort of my thing (duh!). I just don't have any ideas on what to get them since they've gotten to be pickier about books than I am (because let's face it, if you bind pages between two boards, there's a pretty good chance that I'll be interested in it). Here's where you all come in. Throw your best suggestions at me. My 17 year old son has actually asked for one book, the latest in the Iron Druid Chronicles. He tends to like WWII and some dystopian fiction. My 16 year old daughter likes realistic fiction (she loved If I Stay), teenaged chick lit, and some time travel stuff (the latest she enjoyed was Time's Edge by Rysa Walker). My 12 year old son is the hardest. He sometimes likes dystopian stuff but sometimes not. He's not big on realistic fiction but also not on over the top fantasy. He likes the Greek gods. Happy soul that he is, he does like books that make him laugh. And finally, my husband, I try to find something that hasn't come across his radar yet to surprise him amidst the books he's actually asked for. So thrillers or well-written mysteries or great histories that maybe haven't gotten a whole lot of buss are the sorts of things I'm looking for. Any ideas?

This past week I have been reading a lot. It's like I have to speed up and cram as many books into the end of my year as possible or something. Weird. In any case, my bookish travels have taken me back to Regency England twice to visit with both a rake and a rogue as they each fell in love with completely unsuitable women. I went to an artsy summer camp and then to New York City with a group of friends. I traveled out to California with an unconventional family and the neighbor they antagonized with their happiness. I stayed in California as a woman figures out what is most important in her life and her marriage. I went to Sri Lanka to see the unrest, the fighting, and the personal cost of their civil war. And of course, there are the page places that I am still visiting. Where have your bookish travels taken you this past week?