A few months ago my friend Alix was looking for a new meme and so I made one up for her. That got me thinking, why don’t I just make up another one for fun AND at the same time help y’all with any holiday shopping you might still need to do. You are all buying books for gifts, right? Good. Well, here’s a book meme. Feel free to do it on your site and spread it around too.

1.  Name five books that you read this year that would make excellent gifts.

THREE CUPS OF TEA

TELEGRAPH DAYS by Larry McMurtry, preferably on audio

BORN STANDING UP by Steve Martin

All three of Kerry Madden’s books in her series: GENTLE’S HOLLER, LOUISANA’S SONG, AND JESSIE’S MOUNTAIN

Eileen Cook’s new release, WHAT WOULD EMMA DO?

2. What’s your favourite holiday book?

I love the Betsy-Tacy book BETSY IN SPITE OF HERSELF because she goes to visit a friend in Milwaukee for Christmas and it’s described in amazing detail, circa 1908.

3. Tell us about your fabulous local book store.

Well, we don’t actually have one here, but I come from Portland, so I claim Powell’s. Y’all know all about Powell’s, I’m sure.

4. Who’s your favourite celebrity and what book would you give to them?

I don’t know about favourite celebrity, but I’ve always wanted Mary Stewart’s THE IVY TREE to be made into a movie and so my goal is to get it to Emma Thompson somehow because I always thought she’d do an excellent job with it.

5. What book would you like to see made into a movie?

Hmmm…I sort of just answered this in #4.

6. When you go book shopping for other people, do you buy yourself a book too?

Not usually, but only because I’m generally on a budget. If my pocketbook was deeper, I definitely would splurge for myself!

7. Which author do you wish would write faster because you can hardly wait to read more from them?

Megan Shull. She wrote a great book called AMAZING GRACE. Hmmm…I haven’t checked in a while. Maybe she has something new out.

8. What author did you discover in 2008 that you think everyone should read?

There are so many, but I came across Cecil Castellucci this year and her books are really fantastic.

9. What book did you read as teen that you hated, but then loved when you reread it as an adult?

GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Dickens.

10. Assuming you’ve been nice and not naughty, what books do you hope to find in your stocking from Santy?

Oh, boy! Ummm…Darcy Pattison’s NOVEL METAMORPHISIS. All of Meg Cabot’s PRINCESS DIARIES series, including the new and last one, of course. Any cookbook with a vegetarian theme, especially soup cookbooks. Ohh…there are too many to even contemplate! Thank goodness for the library.

P.S. If you decide to do this meme, leave a comment so I can come check out your answers!