DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: Will you run your “favorite gifts” column again this year? The grandparents and I have begun relying on it. — Joyce, Auburn, CA
Editor’s Web Note: Choosing the right gift for someone is rarely easy. Probably half the gifts we purchase at holidays are discarded, re-gifted, or sit collecting dust. Our annual ‘best gifts’ column is straight from the source each year with everything from the hot tech gifts, top books and board games, and lots of individualized ideas that can trigger inspiration. I shop from it myself. — Lauren
Comments
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For Christmas I usually just ask for money. An iPod or gift cards are always good ideas, though, too. Many malls have gift cards that can be spent at any store in them, so that would be a good option. This is usually what my family gets me when they aren’t quite sure what to buy.
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Dear Lauren:
I don’t understand why you say that it would be “insanity” to give a computer as a gift for a teenagers’ bedroom. Last Christmas our parents gave my brother and me our own computer with Internet service for our room and it’s been great. We don’t have to fight our dad for the family computer anymore and we can play games on the computer in our room when we have friends over without disturbing the rest of the family. Also, we don’t just use it for fun. We also frequently use it for schoolwork. It’s very common these days for teenagers to have their own computer in their room, and I don’t see anything “insane” about it.
Laura
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Some of the things I’m hoping for this year are these really awesome shoes made out of recycled rubber and hemp, some specific perfumes, a shockproof digital camera (since I’ve managed to drop and break nearly every digital camera I’ve had…) and gift cards to various stores so that I can get new clothes, as well as various books.
It can never hurt to ask your teen what they’d like for Christmas. My parents have been asking what I’d like since I was a kid; they’d rather get me things that I want and need than something I’m not going to use. Especially for college students, we’d rather have something we really need then something silly we’ll never use. My grandmother always asks my mother for gift suggestions for us, and then my mother passes along whatever we’ve told her, it works out quite well. -
I’m already into A Song of Ice and Fire but what are some other interesting books by George R.R. Martin?
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Dear Jack,
Here’s a link to the George R.R. Martin page on Amazon. There are a lot more books and they have reviews. http://amzn.to/d5Xp3Y
Other than that, I don’t have any panel feedback except for on Ice & Fire series.
I hope that helps!
Do you have any favorite books you can recommend for our list?
Lauren
