Buy a Friend a Book (Week)

Did you know we're approaching the end of Buy a Friend a Book Week? Well, now you do, and I sure hope that kernel of knowledge somehow guilts you into buying a friend a book! After all, you have an explanation for your book gift during BAFAB Week -- every other week of the year you're just being nice for its own sake. So get with the program!

BAFAB Week actually comes four times a year -- the first weeks of January, April, July, and October. The entire notion of the project is encapsulated in its title, so I won't belabor it with more procedural explanation. Where it gets interesting is figuring out what book to buy and for whom?

If you need suggestions for books to buy, the BAFAB site has a blog with recommendations. If those aren't up your alley, check the comments on this recent post listing favorite authors or Jason's Friday Happy Hour: Book Club Edition from July. Powell's Books (my hometown bookstore) has a great Staff Picks section, which has sold me many times on new and old titles. (They also have a Gift Ideas section, but I prefer the staff picks.)

Oh, you thought I was done with links to sources for books? Not hardly. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has a list of Australians' 100 favourite books, the Harvard Book Store staff's top 100 are a bit more literary, and Art Garfunkel's 135 favorite books may appeal to you. (If you haven't seen it, check out David's post on Art Garfunkel the bookworm -- including a link to Garfunkel's list of every book he has read for the past 30 years.)

So, book-buyers -- are you going to take the challenge and buy someone a book? If so, what book did you choose and who's getting it?