Holiday Shopping Guide: Recession Edition

With more government bailouts, more people losing their jobs and homes and more panic spreading across the nation, it's pretty hard to think about the approaching holidays. Most years, we'd be gearing up for the after-Thanksgiving sales, strategizing how to hit as many stores as possible for the early bird deals. Now, people are scaling back, not buying the extravagant gifts they did last year.

But there is one thoughtful gift that won't break the bank: a book. Giving books this holiday doesn't only support authors, the publishing houses and your local booksellers. A book is the perfect way to show people you put thought into their present and reading is the perfect activity for holiday traveling or being holed up on snowy winter days. And so I offer my recommendations for every person on your holiday shopping list:

Gift For: Your father who doesn't read anything except the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the occasional presidential biography.

• THE NINE: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
• WARLORD: A Life of Winston Churchill at War
• JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough**
• THE ACCENT OF MONEY: A Financial History of the World

Gift For: Your mother who always reads the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winners and who has never missed an Oprah Pick:

• SHADOW COUNTRY by Peter Matthiessen
• THE BRIEF AND WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz**
• THE STORY OF EDWARD SAWTELLE: A Novel by David Wroblewski
• THE WHITE TIGER: A Novel by Aravind Adiga

Gift For: Your school age sister, niece or cousin who's going through a goth phase:

• TWILIGHT by Stephanie Meyer
• The Sookie Stackhouse boxed set by Charlaine Harris**
• THE LAST VAMPIRE by Patricia Rosemoor and Marc Paoletti**

Gift For: Your high school brother, nephew, or cousin who thinks reading is stupid:

• HAIRSTYLES OF THE DAMNED by Joe Meno**
• PLEASE KILL ME: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain**
• BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE by Ben Mezrich**

Gift For: Your Grandpa who loves watching Law and Order and CSI:

• TRIGGER CITY by Sean Chercover**
• DARKNESS TAKE MY HAND by Dennis Lehane**
• IMMORAL by Brian Freeman**

Gift For: Your uncle who does a lot of business traveling and enjoys "quick reads":

• GOOD PEOPLE by Marcus Sakey**
• COLLISION by Jeff Abbott
• SLIDE by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr**

Gift For: Your friend from Art School who's into "weird shit":

• SURVIVOR by Chuck Palahniuk**
• REQUIEM FOR A DREAM by Hubert Selby Jr.**
• NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs**

Note: Because a lot of these books aren't my personal preference, many of them I haven't read. The books marked with a ** are those that I have read and can truly recommend. The others are just suggestions based on the opinions of others.