Christmas Shopping in August

I am pretty big on doing Christmas shopping early and that is exactly what I did today! Since I am a librarian, my family expects books (like you didn't see that coming!). My mother is not too big on reading because it sucks her in and two days will be missing from her life. But my dad and my older sisters are big readers!

I got four books today at 2nd and Charles (ie Heaven) which is a massive used bookstore in my town. The two on the left are a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories and  World War Z by Max Brooks,which for my sister. She loves the classics and I recently found a collected works of the Bronte sister that is from the same set, which I gave her for her birthday. I'm thinking she will like World War Z, even though I have never read it. But wait, how will I know she will like it? Based on the reviews of my friends, I know that this book is awesome (I just haven't had time to experience said awesomeness).

The two on the right are for my dad. One is With the Old Breed by Sledge, who is an Alabama native. The one of the far right is Where the Bird Never Sings by Sacco. My dad loves nonfiction WWII books (along with Civil War...well now that I think of it, any war really). I haven't read either of these but my boss recommended With the Old Breed and his taste pretty much runs the same as my dad. Where the Bird Never Sings was recommended to me by two of my former coworkers who are both librarians. They both got this book for their dad and told it me it was definitely a successful gift.

Now I need to find some books for my oldest sister, but since she has her ipad to read on, ebooks are more her style now.

A classic

How I killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

Think back to 2006. Do you remember the first time you heard that a group
of astronomers had decided that Pluto was not a planet anymore? Remember
that sad feeling of “Oh, poor Pluto” or maybe you got angry and thought,
“Why are they picking on Pluto? What did Pluto do to anyone?” Now you have
someone to blame. Meet Mike Brown, the astronomer who discovered “the
tenth planet”, which ultimately led to the downfall of Pluto. In How I
Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, Brown raises the question of what
exactly is a planet. You think that the answer would be simple, but Brown
raises several important arguments that might change your views on the
former planet.   How I killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming made me wish
I had paid more attention in astronomy class in college. Who knew an
astronomer could write so charmingly? By the end of the novel, I was
rooting for Brown’s cause. This story is filled with intrigue,
backstabbing, love, and even a baby. Sandra Tsing Loh said it right when
she wrote, “Mike Brown is the funniest, smartest, and most surprisingly
poetic Caltech astronomer who ever made my daughters cry. Certainly their
happy nine-planet childhoods were worth sacrificing for this truly
fascinating and engaging read.”