When I think back to holidays that I enjoyed most, books were often part pf them. Even today, holiday time for my family and me often involves giving books. Alex has been studying urban spaces at Middlebury and asked for a copy of a book he read a few chapters in. It was printed some time ago but I took a quick trip down to our wonderful local bookstore and hit pay dirt. Boy do they ever know their books!

One of the very helpful staffers there knew that it wasn’t in urban history but in their sociology section. He ferreted it out for me and I spirited it away after arriving home. I felt like I’d been on a treasure hunt and found a million bucks.

Giving books is great fun, but receiving them is even better! During a recent foray into the field of musical theater, I came up with a book called Word Crazy; it’s about Broadway lyricists. My husband David got on the case and voila! Under our Christmas tree wrapped in penguin paper was a used copy in mint condition. All day as I was making cranberry sauce, turkey, stuffing — the works — for my family, in the back of my mind I was thinking about my new book and longing to curl up in an armchair and dive into it.

Aren’t books wonderful? What a thrill to possess a whole world between two covers! How often I think of the pleasures of spending time with a book. Just recently, I was at my sister Steph’s apartment. Her husband Luis was curled up on the couch reading a historical fantasy with their dog Lucky snuggled next to him. Watching them sitting cozily together, I found myself thinking, That’s exactly what I hope kids will do with my YA novel: curl up and plunge into a whole new world.

How often have beloved books come your way as gifts? There are so many here in my little office that my beloved family and friends have given me. Being surrounded by them, knowing that I can dip into them whenever I choose, what pleasure all this gives me! How about you?