My Wish List

My post over on Buy Books for the Holidays asks people to create book wish lists for themselves.
[Edited 11/14/08]. I was excited to try out IndieBound's wish list feature. I happened upon a minor bug in the system which initially capped my list at 9 books, but it's all fixed now and I'm happy to report two things: 1) there's no limit to the number of books that can be entered, and 2) IndieBound.org offered up a live demonstration of what small businesses have to offer. As soon as he learned there was a problem, the Web Content Coordinator contacted me offering assistance, and the glitch was fixed within twenty minutes of my response. Twenty minutes, people! Now I wish I had more books to wish for.

So, here's the explanation of the 10 books on my wish list:

First of all, I love to read fiction, but you won't find any on my wish list. I don't reread it, so even the books I adore are simply taking up space on the shelves until I find someone to pass them on to. Now, if someone gave me a wonderful novel as a gift, I'd be delighted, as long as they didn't mind me passing it along when I'd finished it.

So what do I want to own?

1. Cookbooks! I love to read a cookbook from cover to cover, marking recipes that I dream of trying one day. I own a lot of cookbooks that I rarely use, and a few that I use often. I love them all. On this year's wishlist I included some vegan cookbooks and Farmer John's The Real Dirt on Vegetables, as well as Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book. But pretty much any cookbook makes me happy.

2. Writing Books! Especially Writer's Market 2009, but there are several others on my list which have been recommended to me or which I've read and would love to refer back to again and again.

3. Material World: a Global Family Portrait and (though I got cut off when I tried to add it to my official list) Women in the Material World. I've gotten the first one from the library many times, and, though it must be somewhat dated now at 14 years old, these photographs of families from around the world, in front of their houses with every possession that they own, never cease to fascinate me and the rest of my family.

4. Song books! I have Rise Up Singing, which has been one of the best book purchases we've ever made. It'd be great to have the updated edition of this so we could share more easily with a group when we're singing around the campfire.

5. Gardening books! I don't have any specific books in mind, but they're always appreciated. My parents always choose better than I ever could in this area.

What's on your wish list? And what types of books do you love to receive as gifts?