It’s the birthday of one of the Darkcargo writers, and instead of belaboring the point and embarrassing certain people…

…with a completely lame and dorky Happy Birthday post, we’ll turn our talk towards books as usual. So it being the birthday of my friend I started thinking about the role of books as gifts.

I always try to give books for birthdays, no matter who they are…

…because giving a book kinda gives a little bit of yourself, I think, and I feel is more personal than most any other kind of gift because you have to know the birthday person…

…in order to know what book might be of interest to them, right?

I distinctly remember receiving a copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle from a friend of my parents as a kid. The cover image of the winged horse person intrigued me until I was old enough to read it. I don’t think it’s rediculous to state that that gift defined my reading life and therefore maybe even had influence on the person I am now. So books as gifts for your friends’…

…kids is always a great idea.

What great books have you given and received for birthdays? Do you remember any books you read very early in life?

(Pegasus Award Ballot, which is an award for science fiction fan music that anyone, like you or I, can vote for…which has “nothing” to do with this post, of course)