Via James Fallows, a perfect holiday shopping idea from writer and Wait Wait! panelist, Roy Blount, Jr.:
I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards.
We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!
I direct this specifically to readers I know I have in Durham, N.C. (Regulator Bookshop), San Francisco (Stacey's Bookstore), Chicago (Powell's and, though they're going out of business, Brent's), and New York (pick one). You know who you are. Shop.