In Libris Veritas

Before Christmas, or ‘the holiday season’ as it is now more inclusively called, marketing departments at publishing companies, such as the one I work for, are fond of telling us that books make great gifts. That strikes me as an obvious statement to make, but that’s only because it’s true.

I suspect that if we are readers, chances are our relatives and friends are readers too. An aunt, a dad, a best friend, a sister, a child: someone will drive us into a bookstore to get the gift we think will be appreciated on December 25 (or whenever it is we do the gift thing), whether we’ve been pushed to do so by marketing departments or not.

Wine blogger (In Vino Veritas) Alice Feiring, says this about what she looks for in a vintage:

I’m looking for the Leon Trotskys, the Philip Roths, the Chaucers and the Edith Whartons of the wine world. I want my wines to tell a good story. I want them natural and most of all, like my dear friends, I want them to speak the truth even if we argue. I’m trying to swell the ranks of those who love the differences in each vintage, who abhor homogenization, who want wines that make them smile, think, laugh, and feel sexy. For better or worse, it seems as if I am a wine cop traversing the earth, drinking and recommending wines that are honest.

Alice Feiring’s reading tastes may be a bit odd, but we probably have much in common. What she looks for in wine is what many of us look for in a book: something that has a great structure and balance, surprises us with its depth and complexity, and leaves us satisfied yet wanting more.

We are in a recession now, but we know from experience that two things tend to be recession proof: books and booze. Marketing departments at publishing houses may want to point that out.

But look at the price of hardcovers, I can hear someone say. Yes, hardcovers are the most expensive books. Yet I read in a recent Maclean’s that there is a bookstore in Montreal where corporate tycoons shop for presents for other corporate tycoons. They can and do spend $999,999 for a single book. Why would they choose to buy such a book? Because books are very special, last much longer, and make a bigger impression than a bottle of Highland Park 40-year old single malt or a Chateau Lafite Bordeaux found in Thomas Jefferson’s wine cellar. If you want to impress someone, you can’t beat spending $999,999 for a book.

A $30 hardcover doesn't seem too pricey, now, does it?

You don’t have to spend a lot, but some of us (no one I know) clearly has the dosh. Check this out if you can from a wonderful on-line used bookseller: http://www.abebooks.com/books/most-expensive-2008.shtml

For the rest of us, consider what Tory McNally of McNally Robinson Booksellers, a small but growing chain based in Winnipeg, did this past holiday season. In PW Daily, she had this to say about Christmas sales: “We made a table with books under C$20 and sign saying
‘A big screen TV never changed anyone’s life’ - It worked.”

Simple and inexpensive, yet radical. In Libris Veritas.