Giving it away

[Redlass]

What books have you purchased numerous times because it was so good you had to make sure others have read it?

I've bought the Chronicles of Narnia several times. Whenever one of my nieces or nephews turned 10, my husband and I bought the complete set for their birthday and then tape recorded us reading the first several chapters.

I've also purchased ten or eleven copies of Sarah Zettel's Fool's War.. I gave them away as Christmas presents after getting her to sign several name plates so that the recipients had autographed copies. I think it's a fantastic book and it can be difficult to introduce readers to a new science fiction author.

Finally, I've purchased and given away several copies of The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. It's one of those books that just can't stay on my shelf. I have one and then along comes some kid whom I just know will love it and then I have to buy myself another copy.

[kchowell]

Perhaps this revelation will expose me as the strange individual that I am, but I've given away countless copies of David Sedaris's Holidays On Ice.

Even if the inclusion of "Santaland Diaries" doesn't get you laughing, the dustjacket photo on the hardcover edition is simply priceless.

[taurusmoon]

Count me in for a lending library containing, at one time, 5 copies of My Uncle Oswald.

I think I have 2 copies left. That one never finds its way back home.


Sara

[jenninca]

Oh, I can't even count how many books I've given away--and actually, I'm giving away about 50 in this year's "ticket raffle" the day before the last day of school. (Double bonus: I get rid of all the duplicates or books I don't want anymore, kids get at least 2 books each for summer reading!)

As for books I've purchased with the intention of giving them away, let me think.

Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
The Music of Dolphins - Karen Hesse
Bloomability - Sharon Creech
Matilda - Roald Dahl
Out of the Dust - Karen Hesse
Running Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix
The BFG - Roald Dahl
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
Charlotte's Web - E.B. White

Of course, I cheat. Whenever a good book is available for a cheap price ($1-$2) from a book order, I buy a handful of them with the intention of giving them away.

Cindy

[jnbmoore]

Probably have given away 10 copies of

Neil Anderson's Victory over the Darkness and 8 copies of the Bondage Breaker

couple of Lee Stroebel's The Case for Christ (KristenNC has a great review on it)

Sent
Everyone Poops! to many new parents

While I was in Taiwan depending on the level all of my private students either got Green Eggs and Ham or Charolotte's Web

Bridgette

[CurtisEdmonds]

That would have to be either Parliament of Whores by P.J. O'Rourke (the only cogent explanation of the American political system extant) or The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.

I can vouch for Howell's choice, as she gave me a copy, but won't tell you that she's not a strange individual.

[caravan70]

Bridgette, your question reminded me of an old friend I hadn't thought about in some time. She kept at least three copies apiece of several Woody Allen collections on her bookcase not because she intended to give them away, but because she was aware that when she lent them to friends they had a strange habit of never returning.

I've given many books away as gifts, but I can think of only a few I've presented to friends on several occasions. Perhaps that's because my selections are usually very targeted; though I can be a bit of a boor in that I sometimes force my musical or cinematic tastes on others, I try to find literature that's very specific to my sense of the recipient (while still forcing my literary tastes on them! Guess I can't evade it...). Books that have met this criterion several times that come to mind quickly include One Hundred Years of Solitude, Call It Sleep, Anais Nin's Cities of the Interior collection, and Hunter S. Thompson's The Great Shark Hunt anthology. They've meant a lot to me certainly, yet I don't foist them upon anyone whom I don't think is likely to be similarly impressed.

I find myself picking up extra copies of magazines with interesting pieces quite often, far more than I do books... I'm frequently struck while reading a magazine article with the notion that there's a particular person who absolutely must read it. If it's short enough, I'll photocopy it, of course, but in many cases it's a lengthy one, so I just drop by the newsstand and grab another... I think it's the immediacy of the thing that's important to me in these cases. I'm also aware that since I have an unhealthy habit of reading K2-ish stacks of magazines and newspapers, the articles I pass on are ones my friends are unlikely to have encountered, so my giving is more frequent in this area. (I won't say cheaper than books... since I indulge my obsession with collectible books at used bookstores, mainly, I can usually find inexpensive copies of the books I casually distribute.)

Darren

[Grouch]

Originally posted by kchowell
Perhaps this revelation will expose me as the strange individual that I am, but I've given away countless copies of David Sedaris's Holidays On Ice.

Even if the inclusion of "Santaland Diaries" doesn't get you laughing, the dustjacket photo on the hardcover edition is simply priceless.

I know exactly what you mean, KC. When I was in B&N the other day and saw Holidays on Ice in the bargain bin, I simply could NOT pass up the opportunity to have a book whose jacket is a photo of Santa standing in front of a urinal. Other versions, I believe, have a rather bland photo of a glass with ice cubes. At any rate, all of my Sedarises are still untouched, making him the Funniest Writer I've Never Read (but I've heard him on NPR, so that counts for something).

I doubt I'll ever give away any of his books, since I hoard them all (or, in his case, that would be "whored" them all). As I do with all my other tomes.

Call me ungenerous, but
YOU CAN HAVE MY LIBRARY WHEN YOU PRY IT FROM MY COLD, DEAD FINGERS.