Marta, 17
Well, I don’t really like getting books because I never get what I want. My aunt always buys me a book I read when I was twelve – like “Anne from Green Gables”! I think it is not easy to buy books for teenagers, but she could at least ask my mum. I often give books as presents, however, because my parents love reading. My mum is a fan of criminal stories, she simply loves them and my father loves books about stars and the universe – there is always something I can get. It’s a safe present.
Antek, 16
I hate getting and giving books. I don’t buy them because for me they are too expensive. I don’t like getting them because I always get some lexicons or encyclopaedias. Everybody wants to educate them and they simply get on my nerves. I would love to read something for pleasure instead.
Monika, 17
I love books and I could spend hours in Empik. My family knows about it and they always try to guess or even ask me what I would like to get and I am always happy about my presents. Last year I was fascinated with “The Hopscotch” and I got five other books of Cortazar for Christmas. I also like giving books for presents. When I was a child I made my own books, but of course not now! Now you have to spend a lot of money when you love books. But I prefer it to clothes.
Tips to buy books as presents
1. Don’t think what books you like, think what books they like.
2. Don’t buy a book which is nice thinking later you will decide who you will give it to.
3. Check what kind of books the person likes. If she likes detective stories, buy her a detective story.
4. Try to buy a book the person doesn’t have. You can ask somebody from the family to check on the shelves.
5. A very good idea is to buy a book associated with people’s interest. If somebody is interested in Japan, you can buy her an album, a guide or a novel set in the Japanese reality.
6. Buy books associated to what people like doing. For an aunt who likes cooking you can buy a good cookery book – she will love it. For a teenager girl with artistic talents you can buy a book about how to make jewellery.
7. Don’t think only which authors the person likes, but also which she might like – of course if you know anything about books. It is lovely when the gift is a completely unknown author and title and then the person says it was the book of the lifetime.
8. Buy beautiful editions and choose hard covers if available. They cost a little more, but it is a present – so don’t choose to be economical.
Improve your vocabulary!
criminal stories – kryminały
lexicons – leksykony
encyclopaedias – encyklopedie
detective stories – opowiadania detektywistyczne
guide – przewodnik
novel – powieść
cookery book – książka kucharska
hard covers – twarda oprawa