10 Great Gift Book Ideas

Looking over your list, checking it twice?  Here, some suggestions for making the hurdle of holiday gift-giving a little easier to overcome. 

  1.  HIGHEST DUTY: My Search for What Really Matters by Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger with Jeffrey Zaslow (William Morrow, $25.99).  Strong storytelling; great story.

 2.  CHERRIES IN WINTER: My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times by Suzan Colon (Doubleday, $21.95).  Reinvention memoir. Uplifting.  

 3.  FAMILY MEALS: Coming Together to Care for an Aging Parent by Michael Tucker (Atlantic Monthly Press, $24).  In warm, easy prose, the author and actor shares personal dramas.

 4.  U IS FOR UNDERTOW by Sue Grafton (Putnam, $27.95).  Her latest Kinsey Millhone detective novel. Compelling.

 5.  BORN ROUND: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater by Frank Bruni (The Penguin Press, $25.95).  Inside a food critic's life. You won't soon forget it.

 6.  GLIMMER: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World by Warren Berger (featuring the ideas of Bruce Mau) (The Penguin Press, $27.95).  Accomplished take on design and those who create it. 

 7.  CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD-GRADE KIND: Thoughts on Teacherhood by Phillip Done (Center Street/Hachette Book Group, $22.99).  Lively; insightful.

 8.  THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (William Morrow, $25.99).  A young African's brave adventures.

 9.  COME BACK, COMO: Winning the Heart of a Reluctant Dog by Steven Winn (Harper, $23.99).  A dog's life, entertainingly told.

 10. WISDOM OF THE LAST FARMER: Harvesting Legacies from the Land by Davis Mas Masumoto (Free Press, $25).  Personal history, from the ground up.