Some Books We Think Would Make Great Gifts

Writing in The New York Times, Michiko herself said of this book, "Ms. Schiff strips away the accretions of myth that have built up around the Egyptian queen and plucks off the imaginative embroiderings of Shakespeare,Shaw and Elizabeth Taylor. In doing so, she gives us a cinematic portrait of a historical figure far more complex and compelling than any fictional creation, and a wide, panning, panoramic picture of her world. . . . Writing with verve and style and wit, Ms. Schiff recreates Cleopatra's lavish courting of Antony (including one dinner in which there was a knee-deep expanse of roses and some of the attendees received not gift baskets but furniture and horses decked out in silver-plated trappings) and his even more extravagant offerings to her (including the library of Pergamum and a host of territories that gave her dominion over Cyprus, portions of Crete and all but two cities of the thriving Phoenician coast). For that matter, Ms. Schiff even manages to make us see afresh famous scenes like Antony's painful death after his defeat at the hands of Octavian, and Cleopatra's subsequent suicide."

It has been 15 years since the last monograph on David Lance Goines. Famous locally for his Chez Panisse posters, this lovely book features 155 full color reproductions of his arts and crafts style graphic design, including labels for Ravenswood wines and St. George Whiskey.

Brand new from the author of the classic On Food and Cooking, is this fantastic guide to cooking every type of food in the best way possible. Harold McGee gives concise, priceless information on shopping for ingredients, basic preparation, and serving tips. Think of this as the book version of a cooking helpline - if you can't decide which of a dozen pie recipes will turn out best, or if you forgot exactly how to prepare a poached egg, this book will give you quick, reliable information on how to proceed, and how to prepare and eat foods at their very best. Highly recommended, and utterly indispensible. A must-have for any cook.(Also, he was kind enough to stop by and sign our copies.)

For those of you who were not fortunate enough to grow up with an Italian grandmother who loved to cook, I am very, very sorry. As a consolation, I give you this, perhaps the next best thing. Jessica Theroux travelled throughout Italy and met dozens of Italian women who offered up the very best of their cooking expertise - compiled here into a fantastic volume that rivals even my grandmothers' recipes. Charming anecdotes pair with each woman's recipes, making this a great book to read, and cook from.

In this children's book set in the land of Moomins, Tove Jansson has come up with some completely unique characters, Toffle being one of them. Toffle sure is lonely in his home, so lonely in fact, that he sets off on a treacherous journey to find a friend. A great story for anyone who has ever needed a friend. Rhyming prose and exquisitely detailed illustrations make this a perfect book.

Louis Bleriot saw a flying machine and immediately knew that he, too, must fly. 18 years before Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic, Bleriot's journey is re-told in striking paintings and words by Alice and Martin Provensen. For anyone who loves adventure and perhaps yearns to fly, The Glorious Flight is truly wonderful.