Over the

next several weeks, shoppers will flock to area malls,

searching for the ever elusive perfect gift.

The gift

could be anything, and unless the person you're buying

for has pointed you in the right direction, this could be

a near impossible task. The Weekend section would like to

help and will offer several suggestions in several

different categories until the holiday season passes.

This week, we will examine some gift ideas that can be

found at your local book store.

The most

popular gift idea for children surprisingly doesn't start

with P and end with N; it is actually the Harry Potter

books, a series about a young British magician. If your

children are fans of Harry Potter, they may already have

all of the books in the series, but if not there are four

books to choose from, including a box set that has three

of the four novels.

The stories

deal with Harry Potter learning about his gift of magic

and using it for good. Much like the acclaimed Narnia

series from C. S. Lewis, the Potter books have fun using

magic and mysticism as a backdrop to good literature.

Some

children may not be ready to read books like Harry Potter

on their own, but there are plenty of books available for

them. One author that belongs in every reader's

collection is the late Shel Silverstein. Appealing to

readers of all levels, Silverstein wrote several books of

poetry and one classic, "The Giving Tree."

Other ideas

in a similar vein include books by Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl,

R.L. Stine, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume and E.B. White.

These may only scratch the surface of children's

literature, but they will at least give you a good

starting point.

For the

older crowd, there are several new books from some of the

greatest authors of the last part of the century. Michael

Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and Congo, gives

readers a trip back in time with "Timeline."

The novel is about a corporation experimenting with time

travel, to give people an authentic vacation in history.

Stephen King strays from the path of horror and

supernatural things with his book, "Hearts of

Atlantis." The book is a collection of short stories

based in the 1960s, during a time that King feels shaped

the rest of the century.

If the

reader you are shopping for is interested in the

historical aspects of this century, Tom Brokaw's

"The Greatest Generation" also comes highly

recommended. Brokaw's book deals with the men who proudly

served in World War II and then returned to this country

to rebuild it into the power that it is today.

Presidential hopeful John McCain also has a biographical

book of sorts out called "Faith of my Fathers."

The book deals with his family's history with the Navy

and his personal experiences in the Navy and in Vietnam.

Another

popular book, just recently made into a movie of the week

for television, is "Tuesdays with Morrie" by

Mitch Albom. It's an account of Albom's weekly

discussions with Morrie, an old man that Albom

befriended. If you are a fan of ESPN, Albom is a familiar

face. He regularly participates on the program "The

Sports Reporters" on Sunday mornings.

Two popular

books by Frank McCourt have made a big splash in the

literary world, "Angela's Ashes" and

"Tis'." "Angela's Ashes" is the first

book and it deals with McCourt's early life in America

and Ireland. "Tis'" deals with McCourt's later

life. The books are rife with humor and raw emotion, as

the reader follows McCourt from poverty to prominence.

Another

popular series of books is the "Left Behind"

series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The books deal

with the Rapture and those left behind are the ones that

did not make it on the first go round. Combining action

with Christian beliefs, the series has attracted millions

of readers to the fast-paced novels.

Again,

these just scratch the surface of what is sitting on the

shelves of your local bookstores. Other recommended

authors are John Irving, William Shakespeare, Jane

Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy, James

Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark. Each of these authors

has dozens of books for sale and can launch readers off

to dozens of other authors or types of novels.

If you have

trouble finding any book at the bookstore, check out

Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. It usually takes only a

week to deliver books ordered on-line.

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