Readers remember their favorite gift books

Cindy Mainella, Minneapolis: The Nancy Drew mysteries were the best books I ever got as Christmas presents. When I was in grade school my Aunt Dorothy gave me my first Nancy Drew mystery. (Was it "The Mystery of the Hidden Key"?) Every Christmas after that for quite a few years she would give me another one, until I was too old for them. (Is any woman ever too old for Nancy Drew?) My three younger sisters also read them in turn, so they were much loved. I still think fondly of Aunt Dorothy's gift of books.

Mary Roening, Crystal: How well I remember getting "On the Banks of Plum Creek" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Christmas 1946 when I was 10 years old. I had received earlier books in the series, but this book was special. Maybe it was because I was about Laura's age and could imagine myself as Laura and experiencing her life living on the prairie. Ten years later, when I was a new bride, I even had a checked tablecloth just like Ma had on her table. It is now 60-plus years later, and I still consider "On the Banks of Plum Creek" one of my all-time favorite books.

Lynne Day, Brooklyn Park: I have received some neat books as Christmas gifts. One was the invaluable 1970 edition of "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer, a great reference for all things cooking. Then, also in the 1970s, I received a coffee-table book of the complete works of Rembrandt -- all of his artwork and his life story. That inspired me to keep on drawing and painting and was a wonderful insight to the wonderment of his genius. Again in the 1970s (my heyday for books, it seems), I was gifted with the book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach from one friend and "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran from another friend. Both of these books prompted me to look inside my soul and see how I must follow my path and to recognize the verities of life.

Teresa George, Prior Lake: My sister and I are children of the 1950s. Last Christmas, she found a "Fun With Dick and Jane" reading book. I am not so sure the kids today would have a clue who Dick and Jane were, but we sure got a giggle about it.

Paula Streiff, Waconia: When I was 12, my father gave me "The Swiss Family Robinson," by Johann Wyss for Christmas. I spent all of Christmas vacation reading about the wonderful adventures of that family making their life in a treehouse and imagining how wonderful it would be for my Minnesota family to have this same great adventure in a jungle. The beautiful writing and pictures sparked my imagination and reminded me how treasured my own family was.

Susan Thurston Hamerski, St. Paul: Without a doubt, a hardcover copy of "Little Women," illustrated by Tasha Tudor, from my parents. My late father (a frustrated artist who made his living farming) loved Tudor's work, and we talked about her skill as we looked at the illustrations together. And Alcott was simply my favorite writer when I was a child. I return to that copy for moments of "comfort literature."

Susan Ager, Northport, Mich. My parents gave me "The Collected Works of William Shakespeare" when I was 12 -- a big, fat book that I read almost cover-to-cover, making me feel very smart for my age.

Laura Hansen, Little Falls, Minn.: In the '60s as a little girl, I got "A Hole Is to Dig" by Ruth Krauss. I still have it and I believe it made me think about words in a different way and to see like a poet.

Adela Peskorz, Woodbury: "Devotion: A Memoir," by Dani Shapiro. An exquisitely written, meditative memoir and reflection -- one of the most grounding books I've read in a long, long time. Got it for Chanukah, though, not Christmas.

Tim McLarnan, Moorhead, Minn. I have received many books over the years for Christmas, but the one that affected me the most is the biography of Raymond Carver by Carol Sklenicka, a present from my son Peter in 2009. I knew about Carver but had not read his short stories. While reading the biography, I learned that he wrote poems based on events in his life, and when I read about the death of his father, I realized I had read a poem by him called "My Father's Wallet." The book took me on the journey of Carver's life. He drank and smoked heavily, filed bankruptcy, fled apartments and landlords in the middle of the night, owned a car that could not go in reverse and toiled as a writer for years prior to achieving success. The last 10 years of his life were good, until he was diagnosed with cancer. On the night before his death, a friend stayed with him in the living room so his wife could sleep. The friend awakened her in the morning, and she held Carver and he died. When I read that sentence, I cried. When I read the passage to my wife later, I cried again. The author projected me into Carver's tumultuous life of ups and downs. I since have sought out his short stories, and especially his poems, and I have thanked my son many times, telling him the book put me under Carver's spell.

Charise Hansen, Lakeville: The best book I ever received for a Christmas present -- easy: "Gone With the Wind." My mother-in-law gave that to me the year I had my second baby. I was lost from the first page. How could I have not known about this book? Me -- an English major in college and now a teacher? I sat and rocked entire afternoons away as my toddler napped and my infant slept in my arms, mesmerized by Scarlett and Rhett. I cursed Ashley for his stupidity and cried for the Tarleton boys when they were lost at Gettysburg. I was amazed by Scarlett's stubbornness and resourcefulness, and admired Melly for her strength and goodness. I loved reading the exchanges between Scarlett and Rhett; it is some of the best dialogue ever written. My heart broke for Rhett, and I still want to curse at Scarlett for losing him. It remains, 18 years later, one of my favorite books ever.

Carol Cochran, Minneapolis: The best children's book I received was not one but 12 books, the "My Book House" set published in 1937, the year of my birth. I never got beyond the first three volumes and, for me, they were enough. Vol. 1, "In the Nursery," was a favorite because it had nursery rhymes from all over the world. The world has shrunk since then, and I think expanding a child's interest and knowledge about other countries, as well as one's own, is a gift. Volumes two and three were full of stories that got my attention, but most striking were the illustrations -- they made the words dance.

Julie Balamut, St. Paul: A few years ago, I decided to study graduate theology. I was doing lots of research on St. Thomas Aquinas, so I thought I would buy his masterwork, "Summa Theologica." After I discovered that it is a five-volume set that cost over $150, I figured I would be spending lots of time in the library, using their set. Imagine my delight and surprise when my dear husband, Chris, purchased the whole set for me for Christmas that first year. Even though it isn't a typical page-turner, I used it constantly during grad school and still study it. I am forever grateful to my husband for giving me my own set.

Linda Backlund, Fridley: The best book, or series of books, I received for Christmas was "The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley. When I was a pre-teen and teenager in the 1950s I would sit and read those books all day long. I was crazy about horses and rode whenever I could borrow my friends' horses.

Linda Rood Shirk, Eden Prairie: On Christmas morning 1947, I unwrapped my first book, "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle," by Betty MacDonald. When my mother heard that the author was going to sign her book at a downtown Seattle bookstore, she took the bus downtown, stood in line and asked the author to inscribe the book to me. My parents had left Iowa during WWII so Dad could work at the Bremerton, Wash., shipyards. Their only possessions were what could fit into their 1938 Plymouth sedan -- including me and my brother. We lived frugally. My mother had saved the new book to give me at Christmas. I read the stories of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle over and over, and have had the pleasure of sharing them with my own children and grandchildren. But the effort that my mother made on my behalf is what makes it the very best book I ever got as a Christmas present.

Catherine Partsch Conlan, Two Harbors, Minn.: It was a coffee-table book of black-and-white photos of steam trains. A friend sent it to me when I was working in Russia; I had seen it in a bookstore with that friend while home on vacation and commented on how beautiful it was. After I left, he went back and bought it and sent it to me for Christmas. We got married a year later. And I have to say it was more the thought than the book itself. That same year, his mother (whom I had met once) sent me "Stones for Ibarra" by Harriet Doerr. I read it in a day and loved it.

Rena Carlson Rasmussen, Eagan: "The Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People." It has beautiful illustrations, and the translation preserved the lyrical, alliterative style of the original so that I can imagine storytellers passing these tales down in English. The Kalevala connects me in a vivid way to my heritage. This book is a treasure.

Amy Lou Jenkins, Milwaukee: My husband gave me the special edition of "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, made with paper milled from scraps of pines that the Leopolds had planted in the '30s and '40s. The scraps were from construction of the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center.

Rachel Coyne, Lindstrom, Minn.: The best book I ever received for Christmas was the boxed set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books. My grandmother gave them to me. She'd noticed that I liked old-fashioned things, and the books got her talking about her own childhood in rural Wisconsin. That was probably the best part of the gift. We had a sometimes difficult relationship, but I value those shared snippets of her as a young girl and think of them often.

Ann Myers, Duluth: "Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree" from my sister, just a few years ago. It was a childhood favorite. She has the tattered copy of our childhood and I had looked for my own copy for years. She finally found one and picked it up for me. With many years and miles between us, it was one of the few things we shared as children and it is a fond memory for me.

Tracy Grimm, Minneapolis: "I Know This Much Is True" by Wally Lamb. The story has stuck with me over the years and introduced me to an amazing author.

Sonya Unrein, Centennial, Colo. The best book gift was a two-volume reproduction of the first edition of "Lolita." From my sister, my first taste of Nabokov. If I wanted a signed original edition of "Lolita" now, it would cost only $15,000 at abebooks.com + $3.50 shipping.