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November 21, 2017

What Gift Would You Recommend?


By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine 



Charlotte Ahlin wrote “Giving someone a good book is pretty much like sending them on a mental vacation for free. All of the vast new worlds with none of the cramped airplane seats.”

Wouldn’t you love to do that for the people you love and care about? I know when I begin reading a book, I slide into the world the author has created, it’s as if I am sitting there watching a movie. I don’t think about anything going on around me. Even if you talked to me, odds are I never looked up just grunted and doubtful I heard what you said. Here is the link to Southern Writers Magazine's Holiday Catalog.

Neil Gaiman said, “Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it's much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!”

I am sure you agree it’s cheaper to buy the book, than the world. There are worlds inside of books the authors have created. I remember as a youngster, reading, and being transported into another country, another time period; I met people in these worlds that didn’t exist in mine.

I would rather sit and read a book, than do almost anything, other than writing.

Garrison Keillor said “A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

You know some of my family and friends just can’t understand why I won’t throw away, take to
Goodwill or give to other people the majority of my books. They remind me I’ve already read the books; some I’ve had for 40 or 50 years. Well, what can I say? I love my books. Yes, I’ve read them all, but lots of times, I go back and reread them. I justify my keeping them by letting them know one of these days I will retire and I will be able to reread them again. But perhaps one of the reasons is as Garrison Keillor said. Maybe I keep them because it feels like a gift waiting for me to open it again.

I think Alan Bennett said it best. “A book is a device to ignite the imagination.”

These are some of the reasons I think giving books as gifts is important. What about you? What are some reasons you think giving books is important?



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