Books for Holiday Gifts

I was listening to Laura Knoy on NHPR's The Exchange yesterday and caught the tail-end of her interview with two booksellers, Dan Chartrand of Water Street Bookstore in Exeter and Michael Hermann of Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, as they discussed their suggestions for Holiday reads. You can find the list on NHPR's website.

During the interview some of the callers mentioned a few good titles with animals as their subject, such as this year's best seller and Oprah pick, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, which I had reviewed in an earlier post. Also mentioned was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The story is told from the point of view of Enzo, a loveable and wise dog who is owned by a race car enthusiast. Right from the start we know that Enzo is at the end of his dog years here on earth, but we are not saddened by this knowledge because Enzo fully believes that all of his life experiences as a dog will earn him the right to come back to this life as a fully realized human being. Though there are many struggles and sad events that Enzo and his master must experience before they can achieve their goals, the end of the story is hopeful and uplifting. Enzo teaches us all how to learn from life's lessons and how to have faith and courage when the course gets rough and you need to learn how to 'race in the rain'.

And don't forget to stop by the library and pick up the latest free copy of the BookPage. It is a good source for ideas of newly published books to give as gifts.

Posted by: Susan Amann, Reference Librarian