Gift Guide 2011 Part 1: Book Tower Edition

It's no secret that I spend endless hours in my week walking around Fully Booked. For the first edition of my holiday gift guide this year, I decided to focus on something that everyone would be able to easily find in our store: book towers. 

Ever since I started hanging around here, I always noticed how creative the staff is in presenting the books. I think they have a lot of fun when we get a lot of stock of a particular title, making different patterns with the spine side and page side.  I, for one, love noticing how the book towers evolve as the stock lessens each week. 

So here, as the first part of many, I present the most easily found titles and for whom I think they would make appropriate gifts. Let the holiday shopping hoopla begin!

The atrium of the Fort branch is always the perfect place to find a book tower -- whether very tall from the floor, or very simple from just a table. Here, we see the different tables dedicated to the Childrens section, with The Graveyard Book, Envy, Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Beastly, Torment, and Zombies vs. Unicorns in plain sight!

For the Collector: I always find myself staring at special editions of titles, wanting to add them to my shelf, but never willing to spend as much as they cost to actually own them.  After all, they're like a nice bonus: a story you already know, but you would also love to browse through the pages of illustrations and symbols and maps that are related to it.  This special illustrated edition of The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown would be the perfect holiday gift for a loved one who you know loves mystery and adventure fiction and would enjoy the story and images this particular printing of the book offers.

 

For the Fantastical Feel: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin has been a best seller for almost the entire year, mainly because of the release of its television counterpart. We always try to have a lot of stock of the book (and always run out, still!), and now, we also have multiple copies of the UK edition box set. Take a friend into the world of dragons and direwolves and have them experience a real winter this Christmas!

For the Fiction Fanatic: I remember when this book tower was as tall as me! Hahahaha! :-) Now, a few inches are all that is left of the mass market edition of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. Only a few more copies left for the book-loving friend you have! 

For the Fiction Fanatic: A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles was also another book that had an intricate display before now consolidated into a mini-tower. Take a friend through the turn of the century, from World War and from different points of view of Americans, Europeans and fellow Filipinos. Were you able to catch Amigo, John Sayles' film, this year?

Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 is another of this year's hot topics in literature. For any Murakami fan that you know (if they hadn't already grabbed a copy of this), this double-cover hardbound printing of the book would be a great gift.

For the Motion Picture Maven:  Two book titles with movie adaptations and a lot of stock in our stores: World War Z by Max Brooks is a fun first person narration of a zombie apocalypse (whose movie version will star Brad Pitt), while Drive by James Sallis is a sullen story of a stunt driver turned dark knight, whose film counterpart is played with so much charm by Ryan Gosling. Both short, easy reads for the film fanatic getting ready to watch the cinema release! Drive is actually in theaters now!

 

For the Business-Minded Buddy: The 4-Hour Workweek sounds like a dream to anyone who works (at least) nine hours a day. But thankfully, here is a way to achieve that stability in one's career. For the business-minded buddy who always knew there is so much in life to work towards, this would be the perfect present to plan his future!

For the Business-Minded Buddy: Robert Kiyosaki has been a large player in the business book market since Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  In Unfair Advantage, he talks about getting on top in the financial world, and being able to reach the same success as those with experience and education in banking have.

For the Curious Cat:  Freakonomics has been around for maybe five or so years now, and it is always a mainstay in our list of top 20 business books! This pile was one of those that was as tall as me as well, and here, it now lies beside one of the shelves in our third floor. Perfect for the curious cat in all of us!

For the Music and Media Lover: Steven Tyler's all-access pass to his mind, misadventures and musings would be a great holiday addition to one's bookshelf, especially for rock fans and Aerosmith fans. Parked right beside the hilarious My Book Wook 2 by Russell Brand, these two would make a great pairing for holiday gifts!
 

For the Music and Media Lover: Two of music's most mysterious figures, Lady Gaga and Keith Richards, and their books! Give your Lady Gaga loving friend a dose of the inner-workings of her mind, or let the rock and roll fan have his share of the Rolling Stones' debauchery in Life by Keith Richards. The legendary guitarist pens his own story, and even wins a GQ Writer of the Year recognition for his effort.

Stay tuned for more of holiday gift items available at Fully Booked fullybookedonline.com!

The titles and book towers featured in this entry are all available as of Sunday, November 13, 2011. Please call 8587000 or e-mail me at lucy@fullybookedonline.com to reserve or request a transfer to your branch of choice.