One more word about "books as gifts"...

... following Roy Blount Jr's testimonial two days ago on behalf of independent book stores,  here are two other sites, one from the Association of American Publishers and another from Random House but concerning books in general. All make the case for this year as the Year of the Gift Book.

Judge for yourself, but I'm persuaded: placing online orders now with various independent bookstores in the US. For searchable directories of such stores, check here; for a subjective top-10 list of indie bookstores, go here. Read up!

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2008/12/one-more-word-about-quot-books-as-gifts-quot/9201/