Are you rushing around looking for last minute Christmas gifts? I have a suggestion for you. Give them books. I don’t mean one of those electronic book reader things. I mean real paper, hard bound books.

There is just nothing like holding a real book in your hands and opening it at the book mark to the last page you read. You can get quality books on all subjects. Whatever your loved one is interested in, there are books about it.

Does she like to cook? There are cookbooks of all types. Every one of the cooking show hosts has one or more book on the market. There are specialist cook books for vegetarian cooks, people with diabetes, dessert books - there is one that is devoted totally to cupcakes.

How many of your friends and family are devoted to their church. Every one of the major TV preachers has one or more books on the market and that includes such names as Bishop T. J. Jakes and Rev Joel Olsten. Bibles and bible commentary are always in order for Christmas giving.

How about politics. You can have your choice from all areas of the political spectrum, from Glenn Beck‘s Arguing With Idiots or Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue to Saul D. Alinsky‘s Rules for Radicals.

You can find the books that were made into block buster movies about vampires, magic worlds, great romances, science fiction. Harry Potter books are still available along with some secondary books that relate to the system.

How about some of the older books that have been in the news recently. Ayn Rands, “Atlas Shrugged” is still on the shelves. New and older biographies of great Americans are out there, and there is no better way to learn about our nation than to read the life stories of the men and women who created her.

Books are works of art. Not only are the words inside the product of creative minds, so are the bindings, the illustrations and pictures often found inside. There is nothing more impressive than to handle one of the “heirloom” books bound in leather and embossed with gold leaf.

Books are great for children. I have never seen a young child who is not thrilled to have his or her very own book. Learning to read from their own special books is a major part of a child’s education.

Books are easy to find, reasonably priced and always in style. So if you are in a rush, or have that one person who is impossible to shop for, consider a book. So what if they don’t read. A good book will likely get them into the habit.

Give books for Christmas. Its easy for you, good for them.

"I cannot live without books." --Thomas Jefferson

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." --Mark Twain

"A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives. A popular government without popular knowledge or the means of acquiring it, is but a prelude to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both." --James Madison