I got this in an email … read to the bottom for my twist.

“We don’t want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let’s mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that’s just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

“There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they’re easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children’s books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they’ll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books.”

Cara again: I love my local bookstores…Carpenter’s Son in Lafayette and Bible Supplies in North Platte carry all of my books. You can get two from Amazon and CBD.com, but you can get all of them from these two stores. So here’s the thing. If you’re looking for a great, small present, think about contacting either of these stores and buying my books. If you do and let me know you did, I’ll send you an autographed copy of Canteen Dreams, the 2008 ACFW short historical Book of the Year, as my thank you for supporting these great stores!

You can reach Bible Supplies at 308-532-4199 and Carpenter’s Son at 765-448-6434. But even if you don’t want to give my books as gifts (LOL), check through the reviews I’ve posted this year for other wonderful ideas. Then go to your local Christian bookstore and buy them. Books are a great gift!