In our house, we tend to give books for Christmas.

Older hardback volumes are especially prized - not so much because of potential value (as most are not worth much themselves) but specifically because they are not cheap paperbacks or new reissues with tacky dust jackets.

This is what my wife had waiting for me this AM, all wrapped in a pretty bow...

I especially like the Everyman LIbrary volumes because they are inexpensive and yet sturdy enough that I don't feel bad throwing them in my camera bag when I go out for a shoot.

I'm heading to Germany soon, and at least one of these will accompany me on the long trip eastward.